Upgrading my Processor Question-

[SmokinLoon]

Currently I am running a Pentium Dual Core E2200 2.2GHz, and I'm thinking of buying a Pentium Dual Core E6700 3.2 GHz.

Are they interchangeable on the motherboard? 

Any thoughts or comments on that E6700 3.2 GHz processor?

Thanks!

[The Fugitive]

Go to the MB manufacturers site and type.in your model. It will tell you which cpus it can take.

[Tigger29]

Those are LGA775 processors so technically you should be able to pop in any LGA775 processor and be good to go.  The problem is that some motherboards simply don't work well with processors that were made after the motherboard.

I ran into that problem with my old system.. after upgrading from an E6300 to an E7400 processor it refused to boot, even with its newest bios installed.  I eventually found a "custom" bios that made it work but it was buggy with frequent lockups and crashes.  I ended up putting the E6300 back in and giving that system to my brother while building a new system around the E7400.

If you want my honest opinion you should consider spending a few extra bucks and at least going for a Core 2 Duo processor instead of a Pentium (if your motherboard supports it).  This is the next generation past that and the improvement of speed is well worth it.  For example my 2.8GHz C2D E7400 will run circles around the 3.2GHz Pentium E6700 - and I actually have it overclocked to 3.15GHz with stock cooling and no ill effects.

From what I've read the E8400/E8500 are the best two C2D processors ever made in the socket LGA775 standard.  Just keep in mind that even if you were to buy an E8500 you're still a couple of generations behind so you need to decide if the money spent in upgrading is even worth it. (versus putting that money aside for saving up for a new build)  Also make sure your motherboard is 100% compatible with anything before you buy it.

If you can tell us what motherboard you have we may be able to help.

[SmokinLoon]

the motherboard is a G31-M7TE.   

[Tigger29]

1>  GO HERE:  http://206.108.48.60/app/en/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=500

2>  Select your MB version (top right corner)

3>  Click on CPU Support

4>  Enjoy the list of compatible CPUs.

Assuming you have the latest version here is the list of compatible processors:

If you plan to upgrade processor from your existing unit, please update bios first before changing or upgrading processors.
PCB Version : Ver. 6.7/6.8
 
Processor    Processor Model    sSpec/OPN#    CPU Speed    FSB/HT/BCLK    Watts
Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor    X6800    X6800    2.40 GHz    1066 Mhz    75W
Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor    Q9550    SLB8V    2.83 GHz    1333 Mhz    95W
Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor    Q9505s    QMLU    2.83 GHz    1333 Mhz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor    Q9505    QMLT    2.83 GHz    1333 Mhz    95W
Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor    Q9400s    SLG9U    2.66 GHz    1333 MHz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor    Q9400    SLB6B    2.66 GHz    1333 Mhz    95W
Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor    Q9300    SLAWE    2.50 GHz    1333 Mhz    95W
Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor    Q8400s    QLRY    2.66 GHz    1333 Mhz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor    Q8300    QLSG    2.50 GHz    1333 MHz    95W
Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor    Q8300    QHJC    2.50 GHz    1333 Mhz    95W
Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor    Q8200s    SLG9T    2.33 GHz    1333 MHz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor    Q8200    SLG9S    2.33 GHz    1333 MHz    95W
Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor    Q6700    SLACQ    2.66 GHz    1066 MHz    95W
Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor    Q6600    SLACR    2.40 GHz    1066 Mhz    95W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E8500    SLAPK    3.16 GHz      1333 Mhz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E8400    SLAPL    3.00 GHz      1333 Mhz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E8200    SLAPP    2.66 GHz    1333 Mhz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E7600    QLUH    3.06 GHz    1066 MHz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E7500    SLB9Z    2.93 GHz    1066 Mhz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E7400    SLB9Y    2.80 GHz    1066 Mhz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E7300    SLAPB    2.66 GHz    1066 MHz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E7200    SLAVN    2.53 GHz    1066 MHz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E6850    SLA9U    3.00 GHz      1333 Mhz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E6750    SLA9V    2.66 GHz    1333 Mhz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E6700    SL9S7    2.66 GHz    1066 Mhz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E6700    SL9ZF    2.66 GHz    1066 Mhz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E6600    SL9S8    2.40 GHz    1066 Mhz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E6600    SL9ZL    2.40 GHz    1066 Mhz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E6420    SLA4T    2.13 GHz    1066 Mhz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E6400    SL9S9    2.13 GHz    1066 Mhz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E6400    SL9T9    2.13 GHz    1066 Mhz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E6320    SLA4U    1.86 GHz    1066 Mhz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E6300    SL9TA    1.86 GHz    1066 Mhz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E6300    SL9SA    1.86 GHz    1066 Mhz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E6000    QLPP    3.46 GHz    1066 Mhz    65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E4700    SLALT    2.60 GHz    800 Mhz       65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E4500    SLA95    2.20 GHz    800 Mhz       65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E4400    SLA3F    2.00 GHz    800 Mhz       65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E4300    SL9TB    1.80 GHz    800 Mhz       65W
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor    E3000    QLVM    3.40 GHz    800 Mhz       65W
Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core       E5400    SLB9V    2.70 GHz    800 Mhz       65W
Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core       E5200    SLAY7    2.50 GHz    800 Mhz       65W
Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core       E2220    SLA8W    2.40 GHz    800 MHz       65W
Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core       E2160    SLA8Z    1.80 GHz    800 Mhz       65W
Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core       E2160    SLA3H    1.80 GHz    800 Mhz       65W
Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core       E2140    SLA93    1.60 GHz    800 Mhz       65W
Intel® Pentium® D processor    950    SL95V    3.40 GHz    800 Mhz       95W
Intel® Pentium® D processor    950    SL9K8    3.40 GHz    800 Mhz       95W
Intel® Pentium® D processor    945    SL9QB    3.40 GHz    800 Mhz       95W
Intel® Pentium® D processor    945    SL9QQ    3.40 GHz    800 Mhz       95W
Intel® Pentium® D processor    940    SL95W    3.20 GHz    800 Mhz       95W
Intel® Pentium® D processor    935    SL9QR    3.20 GHz    800 Mhz       95W
Intel® Pentium® D processor    930    SL95X    3.00 GHz    800 Mhz       95W
Intel® Pentium® D processor    930    SL94R    3.00 GHz    800 Mhz       95W
Intel® Pentium® D processor    925    SL9D9    3.00 GHz    800 Mhz       95W
Intel® Pentium® D processor    925    SL9KA    3.00 GHz    800 Mhz       95W
Intel® Pentium® D processor    805    SL8ZH    2.66 GHz    533 Mhz       95W
Intel® Pentium® Processor       E6300    QLPZ    2.80 GHz    1066 MHz    65W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    661    SL96H    3.60 GHz    800 Mhz       86W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    661    SL8WF    3.60 GHz    800 Mhz       86W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    661    SL94V    3.60 GHz    800 Mhz       86W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    651    SL96J    3.40 GHz    800 Mhz      86W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    651    SL8WG    3.40 GHz    800 Mhz       86W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    651    SL94W    3.40 GHz    800 Mhz       86W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    651    SL9KE    3.40 GHz    800 Mhz       65W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    641    SL8WH    3.20 GHz    800 Mhz       86W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    641    SL94X    3.20 GHz    800 Mhz      86W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    641    SL9KF    3.20 GHz    800 Mhz       65W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    641    SL96K    3.20 GHz    800 Mhz       86W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    640    SL7Z8    3.20 GHz    800 Mhz       84W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    640    SL8Q6    3.20 GHz    800 Mhz       84W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    631    SL96L    3.00 GHz    800 Mhz       86W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    631    SL9KG    3.00 GHz    800 Mhz       65W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    631    SL8WJ    3.00 GHz    800 Mhz       86W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    631    SL94Y    3.00 GHz    800 Mhz       86W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    630    SL8Q7    3.00 GHz    800 Mhz       84W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    630    SL7Z9    3.00 GHz    800 Mhz       84W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    550    SL7PZ    3.40 GHz    800 Mhz       84W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    540    SL7J7    3.20 GHz    800 Mhz       84W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    540    SL7PX    3.20 GHz    800 Mhz       84W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    540    SL7KL    3.20 GHz    800 Mhz       84W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    530    SL7KK    3.00 GHz    800 Mhz       84W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    530    SL7J6    3.00 GHz    800 Mhz       84W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    524    SL9CA    3.06 GHz    533 Mhz       84W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    524    SL8ZZ    3.06 GHz    533 Mhz       84W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    520    SL7KH    2.80 GHz    533 Mhz       84W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    520    SL7KJ    2.80 GHz    800 Mhz       84W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    520    SL7J5    2.80 GHz    800 Mhz       84W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    520    SL7J4    2.80 GHz    533 Mhz       84W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    516    SL8PM    2.93 GHz    533 Mhz       84W
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor    516    SL8J9    2.93 GHz    533 Mhz       84W
Intel® Celeron® Dual Core       E1600    Q9DM    2.40 GHz    800 Mhz       65W
Intel® Celeron® D Processor    365    SL9KJ    3.60 GHz    533 Mhz       65W
Intel® Celeron® D Processor    360    SL9KK    3.46 GHz    533 Mhz       65W
Intel® Celeron® D Processor    356    SL96N    3.33 GHz    533 Mhz       86W
Intel® Celeron® D Processor    352    SL96P    3.20 GHz    533 Mhz       86W
Intel® Celeron® D Processor    351    SL7TZ    3.20 GHz    533 Mhz       84W
Intel® Celeron® D Processor    351    SL9BS    3.20 GHz    533 Mhz       73W
Intel® Celeron® D Processor    351    SL8HF    3.20 GHz    533 Mhz       84W
Intel® Celeron® D Processor    347    SL9XU    3.06 GHz    533 Mhz       86W
Intel® Celeron® D Processor    336    SL98W    2.80 GHz    533 Mhz       84W
Intel® Celeron® D Processor    336    SL8H9    2.80 GHz    533 Mhz       84W
Intel® Celeron® D Processor    336    SL7TW    2.80 GHz    533 Mhz       84W
Intel® Celeron® D Processor    335    SL7SU    2.80 GHz    533 Mhz       84W
Intel® Celeron® D Processor    331    SL98V    2.66 GHz    533 Mhz       84W
Intel® Celeron® D Processor    331    SL7TV    2.66 GHz    533 Mhz       84W
Intel® Celeron® D Processor    331    SL8H7    2.66 GHz    533 Mhz       84W
Intel® Celeron® Processor       E3300    SLGU4    2.50 GHz    800Mhz       65W
Intel® Celeron® Processor       450    SLAFZ    2.20 GHz    800Mhz       35W
Intel® Celeron® Processor       430    SL9XN    1.80 GHz    800Mhz       35W
Intel® Celeron® Processor       420    SL9XP    1.60 GHz    800MHz       35W

[SmokinLoon]

Nice.  thanks!  

Did some checking and found an Intel Core 2 E7500 (2.93GHz), that is compatible with the MB for a decent price (I think) at Tiger Direct for $129.99 shipped.  So what is being said is that the Core of lesser GHz is actually faster than a Pentium of higher GHz? 

I'm being the typical consumer and wanting the most bang for the $$$.   

[Bizman]

The GHz only tells the amount of calculations per second. The Front Side Bus tells how much information can be transferred to the motherboard at a given time. Think about it as a garden hose: You get a certain max pressure from the water outlet (processor MHz) to a 1/4" hose (FSB). Filling a bucket takes a certain amount of time (computing speed). Change the diameter of the hose to 1/2" and your bucket gets filled faster. In addition the walls of the bigger hose aren't subject to as much pressure, which enables them to be made thinner without sacrificing durability. If you have a bunch of hoses, thinner walls mean more hoses in a certain place, enabling more buckets to be filled in a given time.

Of course there are many more bottleneck places inside a computer. For best results each component should have the same bus width.

"There's nothing more important than gardening and even that isn't so important"
(Chinese proverb) 

BTW I originally had  an E6750 which I sold on a net auction for €40 after buying an E8500 for €70 from someone who wanted a quad core...

[SmokinLoon]

The GHz only tells the amount of calculations per second. The Front Side Bus tells how much information can be transferred to the motherboard at a given time. Think about it as a garden hose: You get a certain max pressure from the water outlet (processor MHz) to a 1/4" hose (FSB). Filling a bucket takes a certain amount of time (computing speed). Change the diameter of the hose to 1/2" and your bucket gets filled faster. In addition the walls of the bigger hose aren't subject to as much pressure, which enables them to be made thinner without sacrificing durability. If you have a bunch of hoses, thinner walls mean more hoses in a certain place, enabling more buckets to be filled in a given time.

Of course there are many more bottleneck places inside a computer. For best results each component should have the same bus width.

"There's nothing more important than gardening and even that isn't so important"
(Chinese proverb) 

BTW I originally had  an E6750 which I sold on a net auction for €40 after buying an E8500 for €70 from someone who wanted a quad core...

Makes sense.  The Intel Core 2 E7500 (2.93GHz) has a 1066 MHz FSB speed, and my G31-M7-TE MB gladly accepts it according to the Biostar website. My current Pentium Dual Core E2200 2.2GHz is 800 MHz FSB speed. 

Just how much of an improvement am I going to notice in speed and/or graphics quality?  My graphics card is a ATI Radeon HD 4650 1G DDR2 (PCI-E). 

[Skuzzy]

Just a nit, but the frequency of a CPU is the number of T-states per second.  Each instruction executes in X number of T-states.  

This is where Intel got into performance troubles a few years ago with the Pentium designs.  They kept upping the clock rates, but adding more T-states to each instruction until it got to the point they were running slower at 3Ghz, than a previous generation was at 2.4Ghz.

When the Core design came along, the real gains in performance was the reduction of T-states per instruction.  It was substantial.

[Bizman]

There's a study made about people noticing differences in computer speed. I'm not sure about the details, but as a rule of thumb some 10% noticed a 20% raise, the rest 90% of test participants couldn't tell any difference until the speed was raised by over 50%. When I was planning my first computer upgrade, I was told to at least double the processor speed for a long time noticeably satisfying effect. Unfortunately today's processors don't have names which would clearly indicate the horsepower, but luckily there are benchmarking sites like Tom's Hardware, and don't forget Wikipedia about Intel and AMD processors.

For upgrading, find out your motherboard's socket, look for the fastest models in a certain category (2 or more cores, e.g.) and double check if your motherboard accepts them. Then try to find one and buy it. And I repeat: There's always someone who wants to have the latest model with all bells and whistles, giving totally intact components away for a nominal price.

[Tigger29]

Nice.  thanks!  

Did some checking and found an Intel Core 2 E7500 (2.93GHz), that is compatible with the MB for a decent price (I think) at Tiger Direct for $129.99 shipped.  So what is being said is that the Core of lesser GHz is actually faster than a Pentium of higher GHz? 

I'm being the typical consumer and wanting the most bang for the $$$.   

I'm still EXTREMELY happy with my E7400 (2.8GHz) and it runs Aces High very well with an ATI HD5830 Video card.  No I can't crank shadows all the way up but it does handle 2048 shadow textures (as long as I keep other planes' shadows turned off).  Personally I leave shadows off completely as I don't care how they look in the game.

I will add that I run the new MS Flight at MAX settings very well also.  (Let's not turn this into a MS flight discussion) I'm just noting that even newer games perform well.

You should be very happy with the E7500.  I have mine overclocked to 3.15GHz with stock cooling and it stays extremely stable and never even starts to get warm.  You should easily be able to see 3.3-3.4GHz as well if you care about that sort of thing.

No it's no i5 or i7 but I think the bang for the buck factor is very good.

[guncrasher]

I'm still EXTREMELY happy with my E7400 (2.8GHz) and it runs Aces High very well with an ATI HD5830 Video card.  No I can't crank shadows all the way up but it does handle 2048 shadow textures (as long as I keep other planes' shadows turned off).  Personally I leave shadows off completely as I don't care how they look in the game.

I will add that I run the new MS Flight at MAX settings very well also.  (Let's not turn this into a MS flight discussion) I'm just noting that even newer games perform well.

You should be very happy with the E7500.  I have mine overclocked to 3.15GHz with stock cooling and it stays extremely stable and never even starts to get warm.  You should easily be able to see 3.3-3.4GHz as well if you care about that sort of thing.

No it's no i5 or i7 but I think the bang for the buck factor is very good.

my e8400 processor with single 9800gtx+ video card worked just as well as my sandy bridge 2500k and dual evga 465 cards.  true I have 3 monitors now, but i dont really see any more eye candy than before in the game.  nor do i see an increase in fps as it always stayed at 60 with everything on and shadows at 2048.  but i see a big difference when editing videos.  or even when looking at the films and i switch from full screen back to regular it cuts the time from literally 20 or 30 seconds to 1 or 2.  that's the only reason i upgraded.

glad you are happy with yours 

semp

[SmokinLoon]

Thanks for all the info, fellas.  It is appreciated.

The local computer shop has an Intel Core Duo E7600 (3.06GHz) for $127, which is the same price as Tiger Direct's E7500 (2.93GHz), so I'm going to go ahead and get that for an CPU upgrade (it is compatible w/ my MB as well).

The same shop also has the ATI Radeon HD 5750 for $105, which is $10 cheaper tha nTD, so I'll go for that too [unless I hear Darth Vader howl out "NOOOOOOO!!!" hinthinthint].

Thanks again!

[Chalenge]

About a year ago I found five Q9650s on Amazon used for an average of $199 each. I just looked and the Q9550 is available for $250 used. All of those I purchased are still working just fine though I havent pushed them through overclocking. The difference between it and the E8400 was not substantial for AH but it did speed up video processing and helped with certain other programs.

[Tigger29]

I saw 5870 video cards on sale for $120 new ($125 with shipping) on a deal-a-day website a couple weeks ago.  I really wanted to pick a few up but just couldn't foot the bill for it.  It was an incredible price that's for sure!