old LGA775 CPU upgrade?

[Psi*]

I have a low ball system with an older P4 560 or (660?) CPU in an ASUS P5Q. This CPU is 800 MHz FSB.

I am thinking about splurging & upping the CPU to quad core & faster, but wondering if it will be faster? I do not plan on upping the memory unless I decide to go over the installed 4 GB. I am running XP 64, FWIW.

This CPU, at 3.6 GHz, sounds pretty fast compared to the current offerings. Actually that clock speed is as high or higher than most for the LGA775. But, not one to get caught up in clock speeds given the variation in technology, are the newer chips faster?

I am also wondering if I am limited to CPUs that support only the 800 FSB or could CPUs supporting 1600 FSB be compatible with my 800 MHz RAM?

 

[Rob Williams]

Am I reading this right? You're using an old single-core Pentium 4 660 3.60GHz in an ASUS P5Q motherboard? If so, then whoa. When you bought that board, you probably paid 4x what the CPU was worth, hah! I have to ask... what led you to this kind of setup?

Believe it or not, the Pentium 4 660 is older than this website, so that kind of shows just how out-of-date its technology is. There's been many improvements since. Such as? Well, the 660 is a 90nm chip, while all of today's are 45nm. This means far-improved power efficiency and much lower temps. Then there's added features such as SSE 4, improved versions of SpeedStep and VT, and generally much-improved architecture design that, when comparing a new chip to old at the same clock speed, there's just no comparison.

Just how much faster would a new chip be over that one? It's hard to say, really, but I wouldn't get too caught up with the fact that that one is 3.60GHz. From a single-threaded standpoint, today's CPUs at a far lower clock speed will outpace it. Even today's Pentiums, such as the E5200 (dual-core, 2.5GHz), despite sharing the same amount of cache and equal FSB as your chip, will beat the pants off of it, even from a single-threaded scheme of things.

Don't worry about the support from your board. ANY Core 2 processor is going to work fine in it. It was just released last year, after all. There's certainly no FSB limit.

As for an upgrade, it depends on what you want to do. You could get either a capable dual-core chip, or a quad-core for hardcore multi-threading. Given what you usually seem to crunch out on a PC, I'd be willing to bet that a quad-core would be a good idea. If you want to get a good bang for the buck, you might want to consider the Q8200.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115055

 

[Psi*]

You read right & it is obvious that I don't know what is in the socket! ! It has been a couple of years. I thought I had back tracked adequately to figure out what it is ... NOT.

It is dual core. It is 3.6 GHz & not over clocked. It is LGA775. I built 3 machines at the time & this was the cheapest is the only mental note that I kept.

Looking again, perhaps it is a Pentium D Processor 960. Ugh. Current price on it is ~$150. So before I get too excited about tossing, I'll probably pull the HSF and actually read what's on it. This is what I get for being lazy.

Intel's CPU ID doesn't really convey more than the above for identification. That I get from boot up & Task Manager.

Interestingly just to show what a bottom feeder I am, CPU ID does identify it as a an engineering sample. I did buy some engineering sample CPUs from Stalliontek.com for next to nothing.

 

[Rob Williams]

To find out the CPU model, just download CPU-Z:

http://cpuid.com/cpuz.php

If the current price is $160, it's a total rip-off. I have little doubt that the $70 Pentium E5200 would kick that chips ass in every-single regard.

 

[Psi*]

Thanks. I have gone thru so many utilities I can't keep those straight either & wasn't sure that one provided it so clearly.

cpuz 64 bit confirms that it is the Pentium D Processor 960.

Hmmm, an E5200. Great, thanks. Business is starting to pick up in a very big way so I am all over this. Oh, for $2 more at Newegg I can get 0.1 more GHz in a E5300!!! I have to stop looking & just get it done.

 

[Rob Williams]

Haha, to be honest, I'd just get the E5200 and overclock it to 3.0GHz. Ours hit 3.3GHz without a single voltage increase, so no doubt you'd be able to do the same with your nice motherboard:

http://techgage.com/article/intel_pentium_dual-core_e5200/11

I should also note that if you are looking for the best bang for the buck, that's a great CPU, but if you want a better multi-media and multi-tasking chip, the $150 Q8200 is also a great choice.

 

[Psi*]

...
I should also note that if you are looking for the best bang for the buck, that's a great CPU, but if you want a better multi-media and multi-tasking chip, the $150 Q8200 is also a great choice.

That's not nice ... you can tell that certain things I have difficulty making a decision about.

 

[Rob Williams]

That's not nice ... you can tell that certain things I have difficulty making a decision about.

Haha, well to be fair, the Q8200 is a lot more capable, but it's also more than twice as expensive, so that might make the decision easier. If that PC was a main machine, I'd get the quad without question, but since it's more of a secondary PC for you, the dual-core will suit you fine. It'll be even more capable if you overclock it to 3.0GHz or beyond.

 

[Psi*]

Soooo I see the Q8200 for $140 shipped. mmmm ...

 

[killem2]

I don't know if you bought anything yet, but as far as dual core, E8400, mine is rock solid and super fast and overclocks easy.

As far as quad see if you can land a q6600.

 

[Psi*]

Thanks!

I haven't bought anything yet. I am still in awe of a new i7 system that I built last month. I use my machines mostly for work & am wondering if I will ever spend anything on any system that is not X58 ... for the coming year at least.

 

[Rob Williams]

Depends on what you want to do with it, really. The Q8200 is a fantastic CPU, it goes without saying, but you have to decide whether you want a longer life, which you'd get with a newer CPU. For working, I have come to enjoy hyperthreading quite a bit, and I had that my PC here doesn't even have the capability. I'm planning on upgrading to Core i7 at some point in the future. Couple that with an SSD... wooh, good stuff.