Should I bother upgrading from a 2.4 to a 3.06 PIV

[tnitsuj]

I have a really old Dell Dimension 8250 desktop that I have had since I think..2003?

Specs are:

Pentium IV 2.4 processor
1.5 gigs of PC1066 RDRAM
PCI SATA 1 Controller
1 Samsung 1 terabyte F3 Hard Drive
ATI Radeon 3650 AGP card driving 1 23 inch and 1 19 inch LCD
Hercules Gamesound PCI Audio Card
USB 2.0/Firewire PCI Card
Windows XP Pro SP3

I use this system for watching movies (more and more 720p ones now), general office work, web surfing, file serving to my laptop, Hulu, no games to speak of.

I can get a 3.06 HT Pentium IV on Ebay for about $30 dollars now + a larger Dell Heatsink needed for that CPU for a total of about $50. This will bring me to the fastest Norhwood Processor made and max out my computer.

Is this a worthwhile upgrade? I have noticed the system struggling a bit when I play some of the newer HD movies while still web surfing on the other monitor. WIll a 3.06 PIV be able to play 1080p HD videos with my AGP Radeon?

 

[Blain]

For $30 I would do it. :thumbsup: I'd hold off on the HS until you see what kinds of temps that 3.06 throws off.
The 3.06 runs on a faster FSB and has HT.

 

[tnitsuj]

For $30 I would do it. :thumbsup: I'd hold off on the HS until you see what kinds of temps that 3.06 throws off.
The 3.06 runs on a faster FSB and has HT.

Actually the 3.06 will be on the same FSB 533..my board does not support an 800mhz FSB

 

[Blain]

Your current 2.4GHz CPU runs on a 533MHz FSB?

 

[0roo0roo]

you might as well if ur stuck with that. it'll make a minor difference, but modern processors still beat that thing like a baby seal.
if moneys tight, it'll do.
frys bundles are so cheap these days, but your rd ram is not transferable so that gets expensive. wait a little too long for upgrade and it gets expensive, just last year or so 4gb of ddr2 was like 20 bucks AR, now its several times that. back then i woulda told u to just upgrade to a new system, but now the gaps gotten wide, so get the 3ghz
i never tried to play hd 1080p mkv on anything less than a pentium d, and that was spreading the load over two cores. core avc might save you on that bit though.

 

[Maximilian]

$30 for an extra 660mhz on a pentium IV, i wouldnt bother personally. Im not sure if it would make much of a difference playing HD content.

 

[Spikesoldier]

wait for a combo from one of the B&M electronic stores if you have one in your area.

last week frys had athlon ii x3 2.9GHz tri core and biostar 785G mainboard for only 68 dollars & -$10MIR + tax OTD.

its not worth mentioning how badly that combo right there would destroy a p4 class system, but i would say that the cpu upgrade is not worth it but I would put the fifty dollars towards the next special or even just getting something new and sipping less power and making less noise.

back in the day i had a p4 2.4(b) @ 3.33. the cpu did not support hyperthreading. I recall playing back the HD wmv videos on my computer; it struggled with keeping a steady 30fps on 1080p even with the OC, but would play back 720p with no hiccups. mind you this is all software decode on the CPU itself and wmv video.

however im sure the 3650 will help with video decode, so that is something that is different from my softmodded 9500 to 9700 radeon i was running. the 3.06 supports HT, but HT does not have as much of a performance bonus on the p4(c) chips compared to the chips today in intel's 2010 lineup.

 

[shabby]

for a total of about $50.

That's a waste of $50, don't bother.

 

[fffblackmage]

I'd rather spend a bit more and get a cheap Athlon II + mobo for under $100. But since you have a Dell, I'm not sure if upgrading the mobo will work with their cases...

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Nope. Last week FRYS had a single core Sempron 2.9ghz and a board for $37. It has had unlock potential in the board as well. A K10 Sempron @ 2.9ghz absolutely obliterates any Pentium 4 variant.

 

[Fayd]

edit: guess i'm wrong on that one. finally demand caught up with the fact that it sucks.

 

[Blain]

Nope. Last week FRYS had a single core Sempron 2.9ghz and a board for $37. It has had unlock potential in the board as well. A K10 Sempron @ 2.9ghz absolutely obliterates any Pentium 4 variant.

Then he has to more than double that for memory.
Last week is not now, so does Fry's have that same combo for that $37 price, and does the $37 price include sales tax that must be paid?

You guys see where I'm going with this don't you? :\

 

[Fayd]

Then he has to more than double that for memory.
Last week is not now, so does Fry's have that same combo for that $37 price, and does the $37 price include sales tax that must be paid?

You guys see where I'm going with this don't you? :\

http://frys-electronics-ads.com/ads...I-X2-255-Processor-MSI-K9N6PGM-V2-Motherboard

i'd prefer that over a single core sempron, personally.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Then he has to more than double that for memory.
Last week is not now, so does Fry's have that same combo for that $37 price, and does the $37 price include sales tax that must be paid?

You guys see where I'm going with this don't you? :\

How about I stop you there, and tell you that they have deals like this ALL THE TIME. That was the point.

You're really smart.

 

[Blain]

1. His old system uses RDRAM, not DDR or DDR2, therefore he can't use it on any current combo deals.
2. His old system probably uses an old OEM 20pin PS, which may work with an adapter to 24pin, adding yet more to the cost of an upgrade.
3. His old AGP card won't work with current combo deals, adding even more to the cost of an upgrade, unless he uses a MB with onboard video.

If it were my P4 system, I'd toss it aside and build fresh. But he asked about a simple $30 upgrade path.

 

[0roo0roo]

wait for a combo from one of the B&M electronic stores if you have one in your area.

last week frys had athlon ii x3 2.9GHz tri core and biostar 785G mainboard for only 68 dollars & -$10MIR + tax OTD.

its not worth mentioning how badly that combo right there would destroy a p4 class system, but i would say that the cpu upgrade is not worth it but I would put the fifty dollars towards the next special or even just getting something new and sipping less power and making less noise.

back in the day i had a p4 2.4(b) @ 3.33. the cpu did not support hyperthreading. I recall playing back the HD wmv videos on my computer; it struggled with keeping a steady 30fps on 1080p even with the OC, but would play back 720p with no hiccups. mind you this is all software decode on the CPU itself and wmv video.

however im sure the 3650 will help with video decode, so that is something that is different from my softmodded 9500 to 9700 radeon i was running. the 3.06 supports HT, but HT does not have as much of a performance bonus on the p4(c) chips compared to the chips today in intel's 2010 lineup.

yea the scale of difference is this, on my x4 2.8ghz bundle system that cost 89 bucks for the combo i can play 1080p on one screen, and team fortress 2 on the other and time stretching hd video is no issue.. playing it at 2x. it goes even better with cuda coreavc decode..basically very little cpu used.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

It's a good chip. It will overclock to 3.4Ghz on an Asus P4T 533-C. Mine did. I still have it.

 

[0roo0roo]

from cpu forum
http://techreport.com/articles.x/18448/8

 

[tnitsuj]

I went ahead and ordered the CPU and heatsink..I think mostly because I just have had this computer so long..I want to see how long I can push it. Maybe I will throw Windows 7 on too..who knows.

The smarter move would have probably been to buy a new computer...but I also still have an IBM model M13 keyboard from 1998.

 

[VirtualLarry]

The smarter move would have probably been to buy a new computer...but I also still have an IBM model M13 keyboard from 1998.

Hey, if you ever want to get rid of that keyboard, PM me. (It's the Model M with the trackpoint widget, correct?) I could use a spare.

 

[Sust]

I have seen a friend's Athlon XP downclocked to 1 Ghz and undervolted running HD movies stutter-free with MediaPlayerClassic, but it had a PCI 8400GS on it doing all of the hard work(CPU pegged @20-25% during playback). Perhaps you can invest in a cheap NVIDIA card that is listed here as being NVIDIA Purevideo HD >= VP3.

 

[0roo0roo]

Its the gpu, i remember on a barton it choked horribly on hd video. it was not pretty at all.

not sure what uses less, pure video which is a pain to use or coreavc cuda. coreavc cuda works fine though...play games on one screen, hd video on the other...damn sweet.

 

[Sust]

Its the gpu, i remember on a barton it choked horribly on hd video. it was not pretty at all.

not sure what uses less, pure video which is a pain to use or coreavc cuda. coreavc cuda works fine though...play games on one screen, hd video on the other...damn sweet.

I agree that the problem probably lies with OP's GPU and that a P4 speed-bump will likely not help him/her with HD video playback.
It's very probable that coreavc cuda with MPC-HC would result in even lower CPU utilization, but I dont have any way of figuring that out so i'll take your word for it.
I do know that my jaw dropped when I saw an 8 year old CPU downclocked to half its stock speed play high-def without stutter when the PCI 8400GS was installed.

 

[Chiefcrowe]

I'd wait to upgrade to a better overall system.