Recommended CPU upgrade?

Discussion in 'hardware' started by BlackScarletLove, Aug 25, 2011.

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  1. BlackScarletLove

    BlackScarletLove Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 12, 2007
    Posts:
    66
    Hey, my processor is old and slow and it's time for an upgrade so I can run games & programs better. I'm looking for something *substantially faster* but not extreme high end. I'm looking to spend around... $250.

    This is my rig here, could anyone recommend a CPU upgrade you feel would be reliable and fast for midrange price?

    Thanks :)


    -
    Windows XP SP3

    AMD Radeon HD 6850 - 1024MB

    MotherBoard:
    ASUSTeK Computer INC. P5K SE Rev 1.xx
    Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
    BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 0401 07/19/2007
    Realtek Onboard Audio

    3328 Megabytes DDR2 RAM

    Processor:
    2.00 gigahertz Intel Pentium Dual
    64 kilobyte primary memory cache
    1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache
     
  2. roady

    roady Registered Member

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2005
    Posts:
    262
    That's a LGA775 socket board.....it's already "old" ....Try to find a store that sells it's last core 2 quad Q9650 cpu for a dumping price.......otherwise you have to go for a new mobo + cpu...
     
  3. xxJackxx

    xxJackxx Registered Member

    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2008
    Posts:
    8,624
    Location:
    USA
    Socket 775 is not fun to upgrade at this point. You can get a Q8400 for about $180. It will be faster but will it be fast enough to justify the expense at all? Hard to say. I see the Q9550/Q9650 are both currently over $300. Though they are near the top end for socket 775 that is a lot of money for a CPU upgrade on an outdated setup. :(

    If you decide to proceed with this my advice would be to look for a Q9550 (you will not find a good price on a Q9650). If you can find one for $200 or less it might be worthwhile. I got mine for $199 but that was a year ago. As the supply runs out (they are no longer manufactured) and people with setups like yours look for an upgrade the price on these old chips only goes up. :ouch:

    Good luck I hope you find something acceptable.
     
  4. Keyboard_Commando

    Keyboard_Commando Registered Member

    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2009
    Posts:
    690
    I was in this exact same situation with my socket 775. Weighing up if to upgrade what I had, or upgrade to the newest sockets. I decided to wait around for the second gen Intels. So I went a different route in the meantime. I bought an SSD drive ... a tangible performance improvement - prolonging my use of the older kit untill I was convinced it was right for a wholesale upgrade. You can get some of your cash towards a complete upgrade by selling your old components on ebay, for instance I sold my 3 year old Q6600 (which cost me £200 brand new) and sold it for £60 on ebay. The prices for older used quads is relatively high.

    First generation quads are the best CPU you're looking at with a 775 socket. And they were pretty decent overclockers, so you're going to take a risk of having something that has been clockd & overvolted, possibly near wrecked - that is if you buy anything second hand from ebay, etc. IMO buying anything brand new is probably a waste of money (right now) - seeing for the comparable price you could get a newer and much better technology (second gen Intels are well worth the money, IMO). Relying on your older components not going wrong could end up just bringing you misery.

    An SSD drive has definitely given me a decent performance improvement for this last 10 months. It's a pleasing upgrade. Not so sure buying older used/or over priced (but new) older technology will give you that same feeling.
     
  5. rrrh1

    rrrh1 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2007
    Posts:
    211
    I would save up some money and do a "whole house" upgrade.

    Processor upgrades don't give much bang for the amount of money spent.

    You are still using legacy hardware with all the old bottle necks.

    $25 dollars a month will give a pretty good start in one year or $600 dollars.

    For this you could get a decent sandy bridge second generation CPU and motherboard with 8GB of DDR3 RAM, 1 TB Hard Drive, and Optical Drive if necessary.

    If you are a gamer the above probably would not be satisfactory.

    You would want a stand alone Graphics card add about $200 for something usable.

    rrrh1 (arch1)
     
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