CPU upgrade advice please

[ad441]

Hello,

Can anyone advise me on a cpu upgrade?

My system info is below - I've got an older motherboard and I'm not sure if that restricts my choice or not. I want to improve my system's performance, primarily for video editing type stuff, but also a bit of gaming. I've already got 3gb of RAM and added an 8800GT a few months ago.

I realise I'm probably at the stage where I'd be better off putting in a new motherboard, but I really want to avoid re-installing windows if I can.

Budget - I'm not sure... depends a bit on whether this is a temporary solution until I replace the motherboard, or something more long term. I suppose £100-200ish.

Cheers

DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2000 MHz (10 x 200) 3800+

Motherboard Properties:
Motherboard ID 62-172-0000010-00101111-041906-ALI$939M2172_939DUAL-SATA2 BIOS P1.80
Motherboard Name ASRock 939Dual-SATA2

Front Side Bus Properties:
Bus Type AMD Hammer
Real Clock 200 MHz
Effective Clock 200 MHz
HyperTransport Clock 800 MHz

Memory Bus Properties:
Bus Type DDR SDRAM
Bus Width 64-bit
Real Clock 167 MHz (DDR)
Effective Clock 333 MHz
Bandwidth 2665 MB/s

Chipset Bus Properties:
Bus Type HyperTransport
Bus Width 8-bit

Motherboard Physical Info:
CPU Sockets/Slots 1 Socket 939
Expansion Slots 3 PCI, 1 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x16, 1 AGP, 1 Future CPU Port
RAM Slots 4 DDR DIMM
Integrated Devices Audio, LAN
Form Factor ATX
Motherboard Size 190 mm x 300 mm
Motherboard Chipset ULi1695
Extra Features Hybrid Booster

Motherboard Manufacturer:
Company Name ASRock Inc.
Product Information http://www.asrock.com/product/index.htm
BIOS Download http://www.asrock.com/support/index_BIOS.htm

 

[pastymuncher]

The fastest cpu's that you can get for socket 939 is the 4800x2 or the dual core Opteron 185 2.6Ghz. However, you will be paying a big premium for them now as the socket is dead. In my opinion it's not worth spending money on a old socket. Try to clock your current cpu although i fear the motherboard will hold you back. Best to save up to buy a new mobo/ram/cpu.


***Edit*** Actually, you can already do that with a budget of £100-200. How about this:-

Your basket


Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3L Intel P43 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £69.99 (£80.49)

Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5200 "LGA775 Core 2" 2.50GHz (800FSB) - Retail £57.99 (£66.69)

Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C5 TwinX (2x1GB) £18.99
(£21.84)

Sub Total : £146.97
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DHL @ Home Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.49
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £23.32
Total : £178.78

That lot will be a nice upgrade and if you want to overclock the E5200 will easily hit 3.2-3.4Ghz. It would have been a lot cheaper a couple of months ago though.

 

[PaulyD]

I would bite the bullet and do the upgrade as well, worth it in the long run

 

[ad441]

Thanks, that's what I suspected - really wanted to avoid upgrading the motherboard as can't face reinstalling all my software. Because of my work I can't afford to be without it for long.

On the other hand I don't want to waste money on something that would only be a small/temporary improvement, so I suppose I've not got much choice.

Cheers

 

[pastymuncher]

Thanks, that's what I suspected - really wanted to avoid upgrading the motherboard as can't face reinstalling all my software. Because of my work I can't afford to be without it for long.

On the other hand I don't want to waste money on something that would only be a small/temporary improvement, so I suppose I've not got much choice.

Cheers

You could try uninstalling all of the drivers before you rebuild. Use driver sweeper to make sure all traces are gone and then do a Windows repair instead of a full install. It "should" leave all your software intact. You can't beat a fresh install though.