Another Computer Question For Those With The Knowlege: Processor Upgrade

I am reasonably technically savvy and have built my own machines since forever. I have been down the AMD and Intel routes etc. and I am currently running a P4 3 ghz machine.

I kind of have the bug to do an upgrade but don't feel like doing a full build and as the tech changes so fast and I don't keep up with it until I need to I have a couple of questions.

Current General Specs-I am currently running a P4 3ghz machine with 1 GIG of RAM and a GEForce 6800GT video card on Windows XP. I will hold out with XP as long as humanly possible as I don't like VISTA at all.

I am thinking about throwing another GIG of RAM in and upgrading to a Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 2.2 ghz. Since I am not fully versed in the architecture I want to know if I will see a reasonably increase is power while dropping my temps a bit. The reason for the E4500 is my Mobo only supports 800mhz FSB.

I have always grasped the differences between AMDs clock speeds vs. Intels with the former usually performing on par with much higher Intel clock speeds but I am not sure if the Core 2 Duo is a worthwhile enough upgrade as I am not too sure as to how the 2.2ghz compares to my current P4 3 ghz.

So what say you?

I have no real need to do this, just a bug up my rear so to speak.

Thanks
Chris

First a disclaimer that I'm an AMD fan.

The Core 2 Duo parts are very nice. The Pentium 4s were absolute pieces of (insert vulgar term for feces here*). Yes you will get a decent increase in performance, assuming that you are getting held up with CPU intensive tasks like encoding, decoding, heavy math, etc.

The Intel setups have for awhile now been held up by a bottleneck in their antiquated Front Side Bus. You won't get much better performance in memory intensive tasks because the Mobo still controls the memory, and won't get a big boost in video performance because the video card is responsible for that.
You should get lower temps and power consumption though.

I assume you're currently running a P4 524 (3.06ghz) Prescott LGA 775 socket. I know that P4s also ran on another socket so be sure you have an LGA socket before you buy.
Honestly if I'm going to spend ~$145 I'd pay the extra $30 bucks and go up one step to a conroe core with 4mb L2 cache. If your board won't take 1333fsb it will still work at 800. You just have to now your way around a bios to optimize performance.
But if you don't know your way around bios then just go for the E4500 and look around for another gig of ram and a good deal on a newer video card. A computer can be kept going cheaply for a long time if you slowly upgrade piece by piece.


*thank you to Craig at the LED Museum for this line

edit: reading down the cafe there is a similar topic already, check out here.

I'm going through similar convoluted thinking regarding possible upgrade paths for one of my computers.

Basically I got it organized along three kinds of possibilities:

--do the minimum possible so as to keep the maximum number of components unchanged and keep costs as low as I can.

--do a mid-range upgrade (more components, more improvement, but still keep a lot around).

--do the max. possible within the confines of the computer being upgraded and my budget.

I've priced the various possibilities as ranging from (a) a bit over $200 (as I'd need a power supply as well); (b) over $300; and (c) a very high fraction of $1,000.

As I've owned and either upgraded or junked several computers over the years, I think I've learned that if you have more than one computer it makes sense to do a minimal upgrade for your OLDEST computer, but then ONLY IF it breaks down.

That's the situation I am in, basically, my oldest functioning computer has broken down. So it's either junk it, or fix it with the mininum upgrade.

I agree that it's very tempting to upgrade incrementally. But personally I am not sure that there is a big enough improvement going from a 3 GHz P-4 to a 2.2 Ghz dual-core, even if it is the Core 2 (which is structurally significantly superior to the P-4). Of course, if you are talking about your only (or main) computer, the temptation is even greater. But for most things, the P-4 (especially one at 3 GHz) is still pretty capable.

A second argument for not going from the P-4 to the Core 2 Duo is simply that the quad-cores are now below $300. So next year, you can get a quad-core at a significantly better than 2.2 Ghz frequency at a similar price to the dual-core you are considering today!

So if you can keep going (and, since you are sticking with Windows XP, you can!), why not wait till next year?

Yet a third consideration is memory. It will become harder to stick with any given motherboard since the sockets and memory models are changing and the mobo is tuned to them. So you may wait a year and change both the mobo and the chip together.

So, in effect, you'd have almost a brand new computer next year whereas only a stop-gap solution with the dual-core. Plus, if the mobo gives out, then you may need to change both it and the chip at a double-cost for the chip (since you'd be replacing it twice).

Let me tell you MY story.

I had a AMD xp 2700 PC that went kapoot on me. Don't know what went wrong but it just won't boot any more.

So, I started out with a replacement power supply. That did not help.

So I went and got me-selve a X2 3800 and Mobo combo sale from Fry's.

And I needed a memory, so picked up 2 GB for 100.

So now, I have a new X2 3800, new mobo, 2 sticks of memory.

So essentially I've re-built a brand new PC except the old case and some older harddrive.

If I replace the HD with the newer HD, I can get more out of it. But why bother!!

I'll have to rebuilt this thing again and do about the same or more next year or 3 years (keeping my fingers crossed.)

Oh!! and I need a new PCIE video card (now using the onboard vid, since the new mobo dont have the slot for my old video card!) And I will need a SATA DVD writer (I only have 1 channel of ATA interface and 2 hard disks are taken up.) Only if I get unlimited $ for this crap.

Oh well. My point is updating just the CPU is harder. Just buy a mobo+CPU+mem combo onsale and get a power supply if you need it.

Makes for a better pc and you are saving the money.

Regards.

by the way, a lot more pricing comparisons have hit the news lately (spurred by the new "barcelona" AMD quad-core chips which are putting pressure on prices).

you can now get an Intel quad-core at 1.8 GHz for $237 !! And one of the new AMD opteron quad-cores at 1.7 GHz for $209 !!

So no need to get a dual-core for $175 any more. Going cheap and dual-core probably means $100 or less (the older Athlon 64 X2 can easily be had below $100, or even $80, $70 maybe...).