Is it the end of my pc's life? CPU upgrade question

RTilbury · Jul 20, 2005, 10:40 AM

OK so I have a p4 2.8c socket 478 and feel that it must be holding my x800xt pe back. The thing is I dont want to upgrade my cpu to the new socket and get a new mobo because my dang vid card cost so much im going to run it till it dies, well for a while anyway.

Would it be worth it for me to upgrade to the 3.4e? I have already upgraded all other parts of my pc: HDs, PSU, I know my ram isnt the best but... So what do you guys suggest.

WIll the 3.4e give me considerable gains, or is there something else that might be better.

BTW I cant oc my cpu because i am using an intel D87PBZ, the highest i can oc is to 2.91 and i do lol.

The_Neon_Cowboy · Jul 20, 2005, 11:21 AM

There are some bottle necks in your system biggest kicks being....

PSU - Enermax 480 watt. CPU - Intel P4 Northwood 2.8ghz. Mobo - Intel D875pbz. Ram - 1 gig of kingston ddr400 in dual config. GPU - Sapphire X800xt Pe. Audio - Audigy 2 platinum. HD - Samsung 160gig sata, Seagate Baracuda 80 gig, Western Digital 120gig external. Display - 2 NEC Multisync LCD1980SXI using ultramon

775 is takeing over that and 64 bit so it a little pointles to upgrade said things now.
Here is what I would do sell you current mobo, CPU, and memory!

Buy
a 775 board 945 chipset of better,
A gig (2x512) of DDR2 667mhz,
Get ya 775 CPU thats 64bit
(even better like the dual core 2.8 ghz p4's that are under $250 now!)

It going to cost and I'm not sure how much of a gain you going to see
but there will be a gain probubly not proportonal to the costs invovled.
Also think of the longer point of view that you be Xp64 bit / Longhorn
readyand probubly wouldn't be forced to upgrade for some time.

(Then again you could consider AMD as well especally if you game)

RTilbury · Jul 20, 2005, 11:34 AM

OK

So how much do you think I can sell my cpu, mobo, and ram for?

And how much would the hardware you reccomended cost?

Maybe I can wait till longhorn comes out and buy a new mobo, ram and cpu then...

Here is the problem.

I dont want to lose my agp card right now. I also dont know what intels are 64bit or what intel cpus are even good for that matter. I knew all about the northwoods and presscots but am out of the loop with the new intels. I dont want to go AMD. Is it better to get dual cpus, or buy single fast?

How long do you think I can hold out with this system, all components included. Will my gpu be able to work if I do upgrade the rest?

swimtech · Jul 20, 2005, 12:08 PM

What I would do is go to Futuremark (the 3DMark05 benchmark people) and look at statistics in the ORB by differing processors for your video card - you should be able to determine what the difference in performance in their benchmark (as a guide...) is for your present processor vs. the processor you are looking to buy - is it worth $300.00?

From what I could see there for your processor, the difference in the benchmark looks to be about 20% - don't know exactly what that would translate to in actual gaming - but my guess is it's close...

Sandok · Jul 20, 2005, 12:20 PM

trust me dude, i'm in the same dilema as you (cept X850XT PE for the vid a 3ghz CPU) and all (still AGP) and well, in the end the extra money (I was ready to buy a 3.4EE but in the end) it just ain't worth it. That system won't and can't be upgraded. Use it and meanwhile, already plan your next one (i fantasize non stop about that sorta stuff

)

Necrosis · Jul 20, 2005, 07:33 PM

I can only recommend a processor upgrade myself if you can find a great deal on one. Higher clock speed means higher multiplier; so you can OC higher. Hmm but you have an Intel board though, not great for OC'ing. You should just save your pennies, and get some thing better say in a year.

The_Neon_Cowboy · Jul 20, 2005, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RTilbury

OK

So how much do you think I can sell my cpu, mobo, and ram for?

And how much would the hardware you reccomended cost?

Maybe I can wait till longhorn comes out and buy a new mobo, ram and cpu then...

Here is the problem.

I dont want to lose my agp card right now. I also dont know what intels are 64bit or what intel cpus are even good for that matter. I knew all about the northwoods and presscots but am out of the loop with the new intels. I dont want to go AMD. Is it better to get dual cpus, or buy single fast?

How long do you think I can hold out with this system, all components included. Will my gpu be able to work if I do upgrade the rest?

That depends were and to whom you sell it. I useally use ebay but there is alot
of risk invovled but to caculate a fair price for your used stuff to take the current
lowest cost new minus 15%

Some for when you buy have a look at www.newegg.com www.zipzoomfly.com But for
the lowest prices iuf you can sort threw the mess find a board that you want for example
then search on http://froogle.google.com http://www.pricewatch.com http://www.pricegrabber.com

Look carefully and you'll see that are are boards with AGP and PCIe slots!
But many of the the AGP's are "crippled" meaning you'll have a loss of performance
over a regular AGP slot. There are however some new boards such as ULi that now
offer a "full" 8X AGP soultion.

Sandok · Jul 21, 2005, 02:09 AM

Or just wait and do a full change with time...