Intel core 2 question

[moneer]

Hey guys. So currently I have an Intel core 2 duo dual core cpu clocked at 2.33ghz. Is it much of an upgrade if I get the same cpu but clocked at 2.9ghz?

 

[Ketchup]

Very little. Probably not noticeable. What tasks are you trying to make faster?

 

[Morbus]

I owned a Core 2 Duo E6550 @ 2.33GHz, which I assume is what you own. I can tell you that mine overclocked up to 3.2GHz stable, with the stock cooler, and I was running it at 2.8GHz all the time, with the stock cooler, and it was rock stable and marginally faster.

When you say "the same cpu but clocked at 2.9ghz", I don't think you mean the same CPU at all: it's probably the Core 2 Duo E7500 € 2.93GHz (which I've never tested), about a year younger and with less cache.

However, judging by this:
http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/597/Intel_Core_2_Duo_E6550_vs_Intel_Core_2_Duo_E7500.html
I'd say you'll get about a 25% increase in CPU intensive tasks. You probably won't notice the difference most of the time, but that depends on what you do with your computer, and what the rest of your computer is.

Speaking of which, are you sure the motherboard socket is the same. From what I can tell, they are not the same, so changing the CPU might require changing the motherboard as well.

:EDIT:
Anyway, my advice is: overclock your E6550 and it'll serve you another year before you upgrade to a current gen CPU.

 

[moneer]

I owned a Core 2 Duo E6550 @ 2.33GHz, which I assume is what you own. I can tell you that mine overclocked up to 3.2GHz stable, with the stock cooler, and I was running it at 2.8GHz all the time, with the stock cooler, and it was rock stable and marginally faster.

When you say "the same cpu but clocked at 2.9ghz", I don't think you mean the same CPU at all: it's probably the Core 2 Duo E7500 € 2.93GHz (which I've never tested), about a year younger and with less cache.

However, judging by this:
http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/597/Intel_Core_2_Duo_E6550_vs_Intel_Core_2_Duo_E7500.html
I'd say you'll get about a 25% increase in CPU intensive tasks. You probably won't notice the difference most of the time, but that depends on what you do with your computer, and what the rest of your computer is.

Speaking of which, are you sure the motherboard socket is the same. From what I can tell, they are not the same, so changing the CPU might require changing the motherboard as well.

:EDIT:
Anyway, my advice is: overclock your E6550 and it'll serve you another year before you upgrade to a current gen CPU.

I have a dell optiplex 755 sff... I don't know how to oc. And I'm usually building android roms from source and hope to decrease the time to build. Currently, it takes about 6-8 hours to build..

 

[Ketchup]

I have a dell optiplex 755 sff... I don't know how to oc. And I'm usually building android roms from source and hope to decrease the time to build. Currently, it takes about 6-8 hours to build..

OK. How much money would you have to put into an upgrade? What size are we talking about on these compilations? Do you know how many cores your program can use?

 

[Cerb]

Also, how much RAM do you have, and have you tracked how much building the ROMs uses?

 

[moneer]

OK. How much money would you have to put into an upgrade? What size are we talking about on these compilations? Do you know how many cores your program can use?

Well I don't have much money at all. I just saw that cpu available at best buy for around 30 bucks. When building roms I make sure it uses the two cores.

Also, how much RAM do you have, and have you tracked how much building the ROMs uses?

I have 6gb ram. Ddr2. And no, idk how much is used.



Maybe if I install an older Linux distro I can build roms faster due to less resource hogging and better overall performance?

 

[Ketchup]

Linux could work. A Q6600 should be pretty affordable and a good bit faster with double the cores. Some steppings overckock very well too.

 

[Cerb]

Maybe if I install an older Linux distro I can build roms faster due to less resource hogging and better overall performance?

No. Even a big KDE desktop won't make a difference with 6GB RAM. I also doubt RAM is the issue with 6GB.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1812253

Found that. From that, I think it's safe to say, with the varied RAM and HDDs making little difference, but CPU speed, generation, and core count making a lot, that more and faster cores are what it needs (and likely, cache makes a difference, too, since that indicates that it's dominated by compiling), and that you're not likely to get more than a 15-20% speedup with the drop-in CPU, assuming the Dell motherboard supports it at all.

For now, check pages 2 and 3. The user, KBizzle, found ccache to give immense improvements, with similar hardware (with ccache, there's no need to recompile files that will compile to the exact same image, because it will detect the copy of that image in the cache, and use it).

 

[Matt1970]

I have a dell optiplex 755 sff... I don't know how to oc. And I'm usually building android roms from source and hope to decrease the time to build. Currently, it takes about 6-8 hours to build..

Dell won't allow you to overclock from the BIOS. I have tinkered around with a few programs that will allow you to do it from the desktop but with those you really only able to overclock the bus.

 

[nusyo]

You could check what motherboard you have and see if they support any xeon cpus (even if no xeons are listed, the pc should display a message about the processor not being supported, but it should boot.... however you have a dell so you've got 50% chances it will/not work)

I had a C2D overclocked, but I bought a Xeon for like $35 on ebay (its a quad core) and the speed bump is real nice :>

(You need to do a mod, which is basically a sticker, to run those xeons on LGA775)
http://www.overclock.net/t/1431723/mod-lga775-support-for-lga771-xeon-cpus

If I were you I would try it, worst case scenario you resell the cpu on ebay.

 

[Idontcare]

Hey guys. So currently I have an Intel core 2 duo dual core cpu clocked at 2.33ghz. Is it much of an upgrade if I get the same cpu but clocked at 2.9ghz?

2.9/2.33 = 1.2446 = 24.5% faster

At 24.5% faster, and assuming linear scaling of performance with clockspeed, something that currently takes your computer 60 seconds to complete at 2.33GHz would only take 48 seconds to complete if the CPU were operating at 2.9GHz.

Is 60 seconds too long? Is gaining 12 seconds of process time worth your personal time, effort and expense to perform the upgrade itself?

My own personal rule of thumb is that if I can't make the rig be at least 2x faster than what I already have then it isn't worth the effort and expense to go to all the time and trouble of doing the upgrade.

Your threshold may be different, so only you can determine if the upgrade makes sense for you.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Assuming you're looking at that E7500, your Dell doesn't officially support that processor. (Though it supports 1066MHz bus C2Q's so there's at least a chance it'll work.)

http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/optix/en/opti_755_techspecs.pdf
Page 10 is what your computer supports. Q6700 on the top end. Looks like you can pick one up on Ebay for $50, which is perfectly reasonable for its performance.

 

[moneer]

Thanks to all your answers. I'll do a little more research and come back if any more questions pop up.