Upgrading Processor in a Dell

[spikoman69]

I have a dell with a P4 1.8ghz.SLOW
I used an upgrade advisor and it recomended either a non-HT 2.8ghz p4, or a 3.06ghz p4 with HT, but my mo-bo does not support HT technology. So will it still run the 3.06ghz fine just wont support the HT? or should i just get the 2.8ghz and overclock to 3.0ghz?
Also, one more tiny question. Right now my stock heatsink (Which was told to me directly by dell that it would be sufficent cooling for the 2.8ghz p4) currently has a pink thermal pad on it. Should i keep it? or buy some thermal grease? If grease, how much/where do you apply it?

 

[ricanflow]

First of all, you cant overclock dells, and second, going to a faster p4 would still sucks, i recommend you just build a new system.

 

[RalliArt882]

If you have that slow of a CPU in that system, then I bet everything else is just as slow too. If you expect to run games, it's time to build a new machine.

 

[TheOtis]

Ahmen to that brother.

You definetly don't want to game with a P4. Plus your memory will be slooooooooooooooow still.

 

[Trotter]

While the above is true, buying/building a new system may be more than you can afford.

Yes, you can use a HT CPU in a non-HT mobo... it just won't HT. And, as for memory, you can always upgrade it as you go.

The main thing is that you get a CPU that will work with your mobo (same socket, within the FSB limits of the board).

And if your system is slow, odds are there's crap slowing it down besides the CPU.

 

[Ioanni]

Have you tried getting tid of al that shot that probably on your computer which is slowing down your computer. You might have some problems changing you prpcessor. I took apart a dell computer a month ago at school. They were getting rid of some old systems so I wanted the mobo withe processor. It was a Pentium III, and I noticed that they had some sort of "jail cell" above the heatsink and processor. Which did not allow the removal of the Pentium III. I had the idea to take what I wanted, and then take the rest of the Pentium III's ,the memory, and even the motherboard and sell them on ebay. I figured I would find someone who's looking to upgrade there old system and is looking on ebay for cheap parts. Anyways what Im trying to say is that I wasnt able to remove the processor let alone the motherboard off the case so you might have that problem with you dell computer. You might not be able to remove the processor.
When you go to get the new processor you need to remember a few things. You need to get a processor with a FSB that compatible with your motherboard, a processor that fits in your socket and you might need to get a new heat sink cause your old heat sink may not be strong enough to cool off the new processor. I recommend buying a processer in Retail packaging cause you get the heat sink with it, but if you want to save some money since you wont need a new heat sink then go ahead and buy a OEM processor.

Good Luck and happy holidays.

IoannI

 

[Trotter]

You might not be able to remove the processor.

It's a P4. The cases they use now are very different than those back in the P3 days.

I recommend buying a processer in Retail packaging cause you get the heat sink with it

Good advice.

 

[spikoman69]

please dont flame, i play games, but not any fast cpu requiring games. The most cpu requiring game i will be running is UT 2004.
My pc isnt slow, i can tell that its just the processor, because when i am multi-tasking, it slows a bit, but the pc itself will run like a top just running one thing at a time.
So ive made up my mind, just getting the 2.8ghz.

But ive gotten no response on the thermal pad or grease thing.
Should i keep stock pad? or use some high quality grease?

 

[Trotter]

Thermal grease is better than the pad that comes on the stock heatsink.

ArticSilver5 is the best out there.