Upgrading help

[Skizzle]

I am looking to upgrade my computer and was looking at
AMD Phenom 9600 Agena 2.3GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Quad-Core Processor Model HD960ZWCGDBOX - Retail for the processor, but I am unsure if I can just swap mine for this one.

I do not know much about my current prebuilt dell, but I ran Belarc.
Board: Dell Inc 0UW457 A03
Serial Number: ..CN698616B4020E.
Bus Clock: 1000 megahertz
BIOS: Dell Inc 1.1.4 12/09/2006

2.40 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache

I would honestly prefer to upgrade my mobo as well, so that if I decide to SLI vid cards, I have the option, as when I replaced my stock card with an 8800, I saw there was no SLI option.

So I was hoping to get some feedback from a few people on their thoughts as far as if this is a good processor choice, and if theres a significant upgrade compared to my current one.

All advice and links to mobo's and processors would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

(Budget tops is 500, but would like to stick around 200-350$.)

======================================================

3328 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot 'DIMM_4' has 1024 MB (serial number 09074514)
Slot 'DIMM_3' has 1024 MB (serial number 09074815)
Slot 'DIMM_2' has 1024 MB (serial number 09074716)
Slot 'DIMM_1' has 1024 MB (serial number 09074913)

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT [Display adapter]
ACR Acer P241W [Monitor] (24.0"vis, s/n LB4040014300, October 2007)

 

[saltynay]

Build a new pc if your swappiing out the motherboard and cpu your half way there..... If its an xps system there may be parts to be harvested which you can use in a a complete pc build such as; HDD, RAM (although this will probably need to be upgraded eventually as they use lower quality and slower speeds usually), optical drives, graphics card. You will see a massive performance boost by swapping to intel C2D which with your budget you should get either the E8400 or Q9300 or Q9450 and a P45 chipset motherboard. With a Good aftermarket cooler and case you will be able to get 3.6-3.8ghz clockspeeds.

Heres some food for thought
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

 

[Skizzle]

Thank you very much for the speedy reply! Its a dell Dimension E521. Honestly I wish I would have built it myself, but I got this during Tax season. Basically I just want to make sure that there is a significant boost going to the processor you linked me, compared to what I am running. Right now its the only thing that is holding me back gaming wise it seems. I know my card is doing fine, or so I think, I do understand that the GFX card takes over most of the process.

I have never been one for overclocking, as I know it ruins the warranty, and shortens the life. Now mind you, last time I did anything with computers myself was when I was younger, and 1.8 Ghz was the big thing.

Appreciate all the advice, and that food for thought may be exactly what I go with.

 

[saltynay]

Overclocking doesn't tarnish the warranty they usually don't check its not like you can fix a processor its way too complex, its easier for intel to just produce a new one. Overclocking can extend the life of the chip as your putting an aftermarket cooler on which is much more efficient then the stock intel ones, so you instantly lower the temps and stress on the cpu. If you then overclock to a sensible degree it won't degredate the life off the chip its like this theoretically;
standard chip lasts 5 years-->add a cooler and its going to last 10 years--> overclock sensibly you can match that 5 years and get a faster pc its only irresponsible overclockers who are going for the ultimate benchmark scores that have chips with a life span of 2 years but they don't keep it that long anyway as the tech would be old.

 

[Skizzle]

Thanks, I honestly assumed the did not look into the chip that thoroughly. However I always assumed the one time I did it, they would write back saying its voided. But I will look for a better after market cooler and look around to find some safe values and multipliers I can use for it.

Do you think that processor and Mobo is a good upgrade compared to what I am running now? I do not want to spend the money on it if it is going to be a miniscule difference.
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

 

[saltynay]

Post in the overclocking section of the forums they can help you get the full potential out of your cpu once you get it. Good coolers are the Sunbeam core contact freezer and the Thermal take True-120 extreme (its fairly huge so you need to check case compatibility). It will be a lot lot faster Intel are miles ahead of AMD atm personally I only reccomend them when the budget is extremely tight like cpu/motherboard for $120 but once you get to $200+ range intel wins out again as the E5*** (memory block) will beat any Phenom once overclocked.

If you want extreme value for money then get these bits (its my current $414 budget build)
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 Wolfdale 2.66GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops <--- this is fast processor but the E8400 is faster due to the greater ondie memory
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory <--- step up would be the Pi blacks by G-skill
Newegg.com - ASUS EAH4850 TOP/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards <-- step up would be the 4870 then the Nvidia 260's