No... I said earlier if I had to change the MB/CPU then I assumed I have to do a fresh install, and if I was to have to do that then I'd so it properly and take the oppportunity of putting Vista on a new (SATA) HD.
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So £100 would give you how much more power than an old 3ghz P4?
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No... I said earlier if I had to change the MB/CPU then I assumed I have to do a fresh install, and if I was to have to do that then I'd so it properly and take the oppportunity of putting Vista on a new (SATA) HD.
Interesting! If you could just plug in the new MB and CPU and XP Pro (corporate) would just carry on as normal that would be great. But I suspect it would require a fresh install
uninstall all drivers, use driver cleaner, swap out hardware, boot into XP, install new drivers.
It is that simple, no need for a fresh install
uninstall all drivers, use driver cleaner, swap out hardware, boot into XP, install new drivers.
It is that simple, no need for a fresh install
Even with a complete MB/CPU change?
indeed, I've done it a few times when I was feeling lazy
As long as you remove the mobo drivers before swapping out your hardware, it'll be fine.
Just don't leave any drivers on.. I once went from a NF3 board to a newer NF3 board, and left the drivers thinking it'd be fine - what with them both having the same chipsets - but it BSOD'd constantly on windows load
But anyhow.. remove all drivers before a Mobo swap, and you'll be fine
indeed, I've done it a few times when I was feeling lazy
As long as you remove the mobo drivers before swapping out your hardware, it'll be fine.
Just don't leave any drivers on.. I once went from a NF3 board to a newer NF3 board, and left the drivers thinking it'd be fine - what with them both having the same chipsets - but it BSOD'd constantly on windows load
But anyhow.. remove all drivers before a Mobo swap, and you'll be fine
OK... Well you've given me another route to possibly look at...
If my 3850AGP doesn't tide me over a year or two, I can either just do a full upgrade (£400-500), or do what you've suggested (£100).... Thanks!
Something like the E8200 (£105) would slaughter the old P4 3GHZ.
My E6600 has around double the power of my old 3.0GHZ P4 Prescott.
Soldato
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I was in a similar situation last year. Wanted to go C2D but couldn't afford the whole MB, CPU, RAM, G.Card upgrade. Went for the Asrock board & a 4400. Kept my 2Gig PC3200 & X800XT-PE (AGP) for a while before upgrading card to a 1950 Pro (PCIe).
Still not got around to changing that board, but it runs most games at a decent resolution (play WoW maily).
My kids XP2800/3000+ rigs with 7900GS/6600GT's, 2Gig PC3200 seem so slow in comparison. Planning cheap C2D upgrades soon so this thread is interesting.
Still not got around to changing that board, but it runs most games at a decent resolution (play WoW maily).
My kids XP2800/3000+ rigs with 7900GS/6600GT's, 2Gig PC3200 seem so slow in comparison. Planning cheap C2D upgrades soon so this thread is interesting.
Interesting! My old P4 3Ghz is actually above average according to Valve's latest survey, which suggests the most common/popular CPU is a single core Intel CPU @ 2.3 Ghz to 2.69 Ghz...
Yeah I've seen some of the Valve stats in detail, they're just nuts. Unless they have vast swathes of ex-Office PC's with Nvidia 7300's chucked in them playing HL2, i have no idea where they get their stats from?
Good luck with Mass Effect anyhow, hope it runs OK on your antique *cough* sorry, Pentium 4
I also agree on the 'strip off all drivers, shut down, new board, reboot and re-install - its worked for me when doing diagnostics between dodgy motherboards! Still a cheaper option, as a SATA disk can always be added in later on.
Good luck with Mass Effect anyhow, hope it runs OK on your antique *cough* sorry, Pentium 4
Thanks! My spec is above the minimum and recommended spec so fingers crossed!
Useful to know! Cheers!
Another piece of Anecdote to drop in here:
My download rig folds with whatever power it has leftover in its 800Mhz P3, taking approx 33 hours to do a work unit.
The P4 3Ghz machine at work that sits 99.9% idle work wise, I have borged and now folds on 100% CPU usage - does a work unit around every 14-15 hours.
My C2D work machine, 1.86Ghz@ stock does a work unit in approx 7 hours, now clocked to 2.15Ghz it'll do it faster. (BIOS password so can only adjust FSB in Windows, hence puny overclock)
Only anecdotal, but gives a rough idea of comparative speeds - and yes, each core of the C2D does a separate work unit, so it completes approx 4x the work that the P4 does per given day.
My download rig folds with whatever power it has leftover in its 800Mhz P3, taking approx 33 hours to do a work unit.
The P4 3Ghz machine at work that sits 99.9% idle work wise, I have borged and now folds on 100% CPU usage - does a work unit around every 14-15 hours.
My C2D work machine, 1.86Ghz@ stock does a work unit in approx 7 hours, now clocked to 2.15Ghz it'll do it faster. (BIOS password so can only adjust FSB in Windows, hence puny overclock)
Only anecdotal, but gives a rough idea of comparative speeds - and yes, each core of the C2D does a separate work unit, so it completes approx 4x the work that the P4 does per given day.