Celeron D 331 2.66GHz 1080p Playback

[Durvelle27]

I wouldn't really recommend buying a Pentium D, but if you can get one "almost for free", it should be a good option, it would definitely be a huge upgrade from a single core CPU for video...

No not buying one as if I did that I might as well just get a Athlon II x2 and motherboard but I'm going to try and get a Pentium D 915 free if i can find one

 

[NTMBK]

No not buying one as if I did that I might as well just get a Athlon II x2 and motherboard but I'm going to try and get a Pentium D 915 free if i can find one

Don't know about US prices, but they're dirt cheap on the UK eBay (as in the cost of a trip to the cinema). Might be worth buying at that stupidly low a price. (It'll also save you the hassle of reinstalling Windows!)

 

[Durvelle27]

Don't know about US prices, but they're dirt cheap on the UK eBay (as in the cost of a trip to the cinema). Might be worth buying at that stupidly low a price. (It'll also save you the hassle of reinstalling Windows!)

Haven't installed any software yet as i still need a heatsink, RAM, and gpu

 

[Durvelle27]

Also should i go with Windows 7 or Windows XP i'm kinda pushing towards 7 since its pretty lightweight

 

[VirtualLarry]

A lot of advanced video-acceleration stuff seems to need Windows 7.

I had a heck of a time getting decent 1080P MKV playback on a 780G board with a 2.85Ghz dual-core under XP, even with the newest ATI drivers and newest MPC-HC.

All of my problems went away when I finally upgraded that box to Windows 7.

 

[Durvelle27]

A lot of advanced video-acceleration stuff seems to need Windows 7.

I had a heck of a time getting decent 1080P MKV playback on a 780G board with a 2.85Ghz dual-core under XP, even with the newest ATI drivers and newest MPC-HC.

All of my problems went away when I finally upgraded that box to Windows 7.

thx for the info

 

[Durvelle27]

Just decided to get a Pentium D 915 to replace the Celeron D 331. Do you guys think it was worth it. Cost me $5

 

[NTMBK]

Just decided to get a Pentium D 915 to replace the Celeron D 331. Do you guys think it was worth it. Cost me $5

If it works, then hell yes. You just tripled the performance of your PC for the price of a Big Mac and Fries. If it means you can now use your PC for what you want to use it for, then job done.

 

[SPBHM]

Just decided to get a Pentium D 915 to replace the Celeron D 331. Do you guys think it was worth it. Cost me $5

in my opinion that's quite good,
the 331 is a lot slower, while I think the Pentium D paired with a newer VGA is pretty decent for basic usage, better than Atom and Brazos (obviously power usage is a lot worse), and a new MB+CPU will cost you probably $60 or higher.

 

[Durvelle27]

If it works, then hell yes. You just tripled the performance of your PC for the price of a Big Mac and Fries. If it means you can now use your PC for what you want to use it for, then job done.

yes it works all i need now is the graphics card to complete it

 

[Arkaign]

Just decided to get a Pentium D 915 to replace the Celeron D 331. Do you guys think it was worth it. Cost me $5

Great deal! Obviously it's not the speed demons that are out now, but you can't argue with that price, and it's hard to justify spending more if your needs are well met by that 915 build. The great thing about the 9xx, and the 915 in particular, is that the lower-clocked Pentium Ds actually ran pretty cool. They only really started to get hot at the 3.2Ghz and above range. 3Ghz and under are surprisingly modest, TDP wise.

 

[Durvelle27]

Great deal! Obviously it's not the speed demons that are out now, but you can't argue with that price, and it's hard to justify spending more if your needs are well met by that 915 build. The great thing about the 9xx, and the 915 in particular, is that the lower-clocked Pentium Ds actually ran pretty cool. They only really started to get hot at the 3.2Ghz and above range. 3Ghz and under are surprisingly modest, TDP wise.

Yea i read that. the 9xx series runs cooler than the 8xx series and is overclockable

 

[NTMBK]

After giving this advice to you, I caved and bought a faster processor for my parents' ancient P4 computer. It's only an upgrade from 1.7GHz 400FSB to 2.8GHz 533FSB, but it's the highest their motherboard will go- and it only cost me £3.50! Might as well make it a bit more bearable for them to use... (Not to mention that includes the Willamette->Northwood die shrink, so it hardly runs any hotter.)

 

[Durvelle27]

After giving this advice to you, I caved and bought a faster processor for my parents' ancient P4 computer. It's only an upgrade from 1.7GHz 400FSB to 2.8GHz 533FSB, but it's the highest their motherboard will go- and it only cost me £3.50! Might as well make it a bit more bearable for them to use... (Not to mention that includes the Willamette->Northwood die shrink, so it hardly runs any hotter.)

I also have a P4 2.8GHz and it gets the job done

 

[Durvelle27]

It's almost finish got a Pentium D 915 w/HSF and ASUS HD 5450 for $25 so all i need now is some DDR2 RAM preferably 2GB

 

[VirtualLarry]

Were you looking for 2GB total, or 2GB sticks? I think I have 4x512MB somewhere. Not sure if it's tested or not.

Edit: After looking at Newegg, I would ask $22 shipped for 4x512MB.

You can also get a single 2GB stick for $18. But it's Ballistix, which is known to have "issues".
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148550