To upgrade CPU/RAM or to not upgrade?

[relikpL]

Greetings,

I just got my dad's old desktop which has an Asus P5LD2 revision 1.02 motherboard.
It has only 2gb of Corsair DIMM 240-pin - 800 MHz ( PC2-6400 ), which I run at 677MHz (I heard I could run it at 800mhz with specific voltage, but haven't tried yet). The processor is a single core Pentium 4 3.0GHz.

I've done hours of research on this topic, and got conflicting responses as to CPU compatibility, so here I am.

The question is mainly about the motherboard interacting with the processor. I'd love to upgrade to a Dual-core, but I've read that my mobo's revision (1.02) only supports Pentium D processors, whereas revision 2.0 supports all sorts of more capable processors. Is this true?

The reason I'm considering a CPU/RAM upgrade is because I have 7.2 scores on graphics, 5.4 on my HD, and a measly 3.9 on the processor and ram, according to the Windows Experience Index. I'd like to get a little more life out of this rig.

What type of processors would be compatible and worth it (~$150), if any at all at this point?
Would an extra 2GB, total of 4GB, help out in windows 7 x64?

Appreciate it,

rlk

 

[Muffin Man]

the windows exp. index is crap, that's no accurate way of measuring your system performance.

you're right, if you look at asus's spec page for that board, they note that only boards with pcb revision of 2.x or higher support core 2 cpus, 1.x only support old pentiums.
http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=gD1ljCkUWy1Y3yMG

if you're sure that's your board's rev. # then there's no point in spending your money just to "upgrade" to another pentium.

if you're not sure, take a look at your board. it should have the rev. # printed next to the model # (next to the NB heatsink that has "ASUS" printed on it).

if your board is indeed a newer rev., it looks like the best cpu you could probably upgrade to that's officially listed on that board's cpu support list is an e6700 with a bios update, which you can find on newegg for $87 shipped.

 

[relikpL]

thank you, it is revision 1.02 :L

 

[Muffin Man]

yea, then there's nothing worth upgrading to on that board.

if you don't mind putting your money towards a different upgrade, you could get these.
Newegg.com - AMD Athlon II X3 445 Rana 3.1GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor ADX445WFGMBOX
Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TA785GE 128M AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
a triple core cpu and a motherboard that would allow you to use your current ram (and should allow you to reuse everything you already have), and also has support for amd's newest 6 core cpus. those would cost about $139 shipped.

 

[relikpL]

Muffin Man! thanks so much for your extra research. I think i'll sit on what I currently have and spend the money on skiing

 

[relikpL]

yea, then there's nothing worth upgrading to on that board.

if you don't mind putting your money towards a different upgrade, you could get these.
Newegg.com - AMD Athlon II X3 445 Rana 3.1GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor ADX445WFGMBOX
Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TA785GE 128M AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
a triple core cpu and a motherboard that would allow you to use your current ram (and should allow you to reuse everything you already have), and also has support for amd's newest 6 core cpus. those would cost about $139 shipped.

actually that board is looking better and better, especially for the price and combined with the CPU. i would probably just use the pc as a media station and maybe play a bit of WoW.

i know this is changing the subject of the thread, but do you think onboard sound these days is better than my audigy 2 ZS? i love the card to pieces but it's starting to crackle, and i've been trouble shooting it for ages.

once again, big thanks!

 

[relikpL]

yea, then there's nothing worth upgrading to on that board.

if you don't mind putting your money towards a different upgrade, you could get these.
Newegg.com - AMD Athlon II X3 445 Rana 3.1GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor ADX445WFGMBOX
Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TA785GE 128M AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
a triple core cpu and a motherboard that would allow you to use your current ram (and should allow you to reuse everything you already have), and also has support for amd's newest 6 core cpus. those would cost about $139 shipped.

I ordered the items + got 4GB RAM. Will make it a media station/server for now
Thanks

 

[Muffin Man]

oh, sorry i didn't respond to your previous post, just missed it for some reason. anyway, to be honest i wouldn't know how your sound card would compare. i'm not an audiophile so i probably wouldn't notice the difference, aslong as there's sound coming out of my speakers, i'm good . you could see for yourself if you want though, it looks like that card has a pci interface and that board has 2 pci slots, so you could try it out.

i had suggested those parts so that you could migrate your ram and wouldn't have to spend some more money. it's not that those parts are bad, but if you woulda posted that you were shopping around again, and this time for some ram too, we might've been able to squeeze an am3 board and ddr3 ram in there, since they're almost the same price now.

those parts will still be a nice upgrade for your though.

 

[relikpL]

oh, sorry i didn't respond to your previous post, just missed it for some reason. anyway, to be honest i wouldn't know how your sound card would compare. i'm not an audiophile so i probably wouldn't notice the difference, aslong as there's sound coming out of my speakers, i'm good . you could see for yourself if you want though, it looks like that card has a pci interface and that board has 2 pci slots, so you could try it out.

i had suggested those parts so that you could migrate your ram and wouldn't have to spend some more money. it's not that those parts are bad, but if you woulda posted that you were shopping around again, and this time for some ram too, we might've been able to squeeze an am3 board and ddr3 ram in there, since they're almost the same price now.

those parts will still be a nice upgrade for your though.

no worries.

actually, the order didn't go through, so i can upgrade a bit more. like you said, if the price difference isn't huge, i could go for an am3 board and ddr3 ram.
if you have any ideas for those components, definitely let me know.

thanks

 

[Muffin Man]

if you can change it, you could get these
Newegg.com - MSI 870-G45 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
and the cpu would remain the same.