OK I have a puny Pentium Dual CPU E2140 1.6 GHZ and would like to upgrade to a newer faster Core 2 Duo. Support for the MB says .......

• Motherboard manufacturer's name: ASUS P5LP-LE
• HP/Compaq name: Leonite2-GL8E

CPU/Processor

• Socket: 775
• Supports the following processors:
  • Core 2 Duo E6x00
  • Core 2 Duo E4x00
  • Pentium E2000 series
  • Pentium 4 6x1 series
  • Celeron
  • Celeron D 3xx series

Front-side bus (FSB)

• 533 MHz, 800 MHz, 1066 MHz (processor dependent)

Chipset

• Northbridge: Intel 945G

• Southbridge: ICH7DH

BIOS features

• System BIOS core brand: Award
• Keyboard combination to used to enter BIOS: F10

Form factor

• Micro-ATX: 9.6 in X 9.6 in

So which one would you go for ? I am already adding an extra 2 GB of RAM to make it 4GB .
I don't play games but do quite a lot of photo editing (Photoshop CS3)
Also I have on board graphics which I hope to upgrade soon .

 

If it were my money, I'd do graphics and RAM now (read up on the 32 bit OS 3 gig ram thing) as performance/pound I think that would be your best bet.

 

Oh right ... So what happens if I install 4 GB of RAM on a 32 bit system .. Also the onboard graphics shares some of the RAM does it use some of the 4 gig ?

 

32 bit os can only address 3 and bit gig so if buying expensive ram, might be wasting money.
Your graphics is currently using shared memory so if you get a better graphics card, you're freeing up memory AND freeing up your CPU to do CPU things rather than GFX things.
No need to spend a fortune, 50-60 quid would do if you're not looking at massive 3d performance.

I've not followed graphics for a while but I'm sure someone will be along shortly with a good buy.

 

Shame your mobo doesn't support the E8xxx series core2duo cpu's, they punch harder n faster, and are a better bang for your buck.

 

Inaccurate statement about 32 bit operating systems only supporting 3 and a bit.

32 bit is the total memory space addressable: 2^32 = 4Gb. This is where the limit comes in.

What you see when in XP when you look at the available memory and it only says 3 and a bit (or whatever) is because the OS uses what is called memory mapped IO. What this means is that main RAM is used to map to video RAM. So whatever Video RAM you have, you basically subtract from the total RAM to give you your initial available.

I have an 8800GTX with 768Mb onboard, so I've lost that for the OS instantly.

Something to think about of you fancy a bit of SLI with uber-cards.

Anyway - going back to the original point. If you want faster games, the processor oddly is lower down the list than more memory and a faster card - A £100 will get you a good one.

Oh, and go dual core, but I can't see a good dual core that you can use with the FSB speed you have quoted...

 

yep, my mistake, incorrect recollection.

 

OK thanks .. I might give the Processor a miss then and just upgrade the Graphics and RAM , Plus I didn't realise the FSB as to match the Processor, Thought I could just slip in a Dual Core 2 6x00 ...

 

remember, more cheaper ram is way better than less (well, less than 2gb) expensive ram.

think about 64bit and E8500s are pretty good cpus

 

Personally, I'd see if you can fit another motherboard to go with the CPU

As it has a Intel 945 chipset....which makes IMPOSSIBLE to use much more than 3.3gig of the installed RAM.

You can fit 4gig, but you won't be able to use it. The i945 chip can't map that much memory, as it has to allocate the memory addresses for other devices (PCI bus, Graphics, HD controllers etc).

It won't matter what CPU you fit or if you run a 64bit operating system, you will still be stuck (just with x64, it will report 4gig installed, but typically 800meg of which is unuseble).

 

E2140 on an Asus MB can probably overclock to something like 3 GHz.

 

OK Thanks, I have ordered another 2 Gig of RAM to go with the other 2 gig .....Wont do any harm

Prolly forget about another Processor, This one is Powerful enough for what I want it for .