Alright so I'm looking to upgrade my processor from a Single core P4 to a Dual core. Ive already downloaded a program that tells my my motherboard and processor type. And if I does look obvious it will or wont work im sorry I didn't see it, I'm not to savvy on the inside of my pc.

that should work inside your computer... as long as it is the same type of socket that your motherboard has, it will work....

Core 2 Duos and Pentium 4 use the same socket as far as I know, so I see nothing wrong here.

I see Core 2 Duo E6550 for $170 on NewEgg, by the way. If you live in the US you should go with NewEgg rather than anything else.

I agree with you bjossi... go NEWEGG!!!

Thanks guys Ive got a little cash from Christmas left over so Ill save that up and within the next month I should have enough. I'm gonna go with the one Bjossi suggested thanks

Whatcha guys know about quad cores? They sound significantly more powerful and impressive than dual cores. I found one here that would fit my mobo, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115018

Would it be worth forking out the 100$ for a quad core or just shoot for the dual core?

It seems to have a reasonable price, but the quad cores don't yet live to their full potential. Look at it as future-proofing.

Ah I see, If I get enough money before next April ill seriously consider it.

What is your motherboard? Look on the side and it should say something like "A7N8X" or similiar in big letters. Brand would also be helpful. Although they have the same socket type, a lot of older boards DO NOT support dual core processors.

As for quad core processors, they are currently useless. I can count the number of games that takes advantage of Dual Core CPUs on one hand. Aside from doing 4 major things at the same time (Burning a CD, listening to HD music, possibly defragmenting your hard drive, and something else but I cant think of it). Software really just hasnt been written that would take advantage of 4 streams as of yet. Save your money.

I read that quad core processors are better overclockers, due to a large cache or something. If you plan on overclocking your CPU, you might look into that.

I've been looking at getting a new processor to replace my old P4 2.8Ghz processor. It is a socket 478, so the new dual core or quad core won't fit.

I have heard that the quad cores would be better than the dual cores in the instance that you are running multiple programs or are running a program that is specifically designed for the quad core.

I looked at pricing for a new Dell XPS system with this processor, and it looked like the best value for the money.

I would definitely verify that your motherboard can accept the socket 775 dual cores or quad cores before getting this.

You could also get a combo motherboard with CPU to make sure.

Well I think I have the newest P4 motherboard as for the numbers I'm using CPU-Z to detect everything related to my processor and motherboard. The manufacturer is ECS and the model is Alhena 5

You haven't been following the industry very closely then. Most games since Quake 4 utilize both the 1st and 2nd core of a dualcore processor, at least the games that utilize reputable engines such as Source or Unreal Engine 3.

And why do you say quad core processors are "useless"? They have 4 cores that run at high clock frequency each, I consider that a nice way to future-proof oneself. Plus they aren't much more expensive than dualcores, in some cases you are actually getting more bang for the buck with 4 core investment.


@Echo 419: This reminds me, since you're going for a multi-core processor, expect to get friendly with ImageCfg. I can think of quite a few games that don't like multi cores all that well, the Serious Sam games to name an example. And all games powered by the Dark engine, Thief 1 & 2 and System Shock 2, are especially unstable; you can get nasty freezes that require a forced restart or even a blue screen of death.

This happens mainly with games that were released before the multi-processor craze began. Apart from the Dark engine games you shouldn't have to worry about any major errors, the most common problems are occasional crashes to desktop or random stutters during gameplay. ImageCfg takes care of that easily.

So do not forget to download, install and learn how to use ImageCfg!

Thanks Bjossi ill keep that in mind
Yikes all this time I've only been thinking about the processor and not my stock 300W PSU. Gonna have to upgrade that as well.

You don't want to go the cheap route with the PSU, it is preferable that they last a while. . .
I looked around a bit, and Thermaltake is getting good scores overall.