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Will this CPU work? Some help please!!!!

Cartho

Cartho

Cartho

Associate
Joined
5 Dec 2006
Posts
570
Location
Hampshire
Hi All
I am interested in buying a Pentium D 945 3.4 GHz to replace my old Pentium 4 3.00 GHz.

I dont want to dop a totaly motherboard upgrade, and so just want to get me a moderately decent Dual Core processor.
I know it is not in the same league as a C2D or Athlon 64 in terms of sheer grunt, but as I said I dont want to do a motherboard upgrade..

My motherboard is socket LGA 775 and the chipset is:
i945P/PL/G/GZ

will this run the pentium D 945?
Just how much of a performance increase will I see going from a 3.00 GHz P4 to a 3.4 GHz Pentium D (which has 4 MB of L2 chache)?
 
What do you do with the PC (as in games, encoding, photoshop etc)?

What are the rest of the specs?

You gotta model name on that motherboard?
 
Hi,

You should try and fine some more info about your motherboard. e.g. download sisoft sandra and get some details the have a look on the manufactures site for CPU compatability.

From a quick google search the 945 chipset seems compatable with core 2.... you may just need a BIOS update in which case the Pentium D is a non starter.

Pentium D with be a little faster mainly and will give you a boost in applications that use dual cores. But the run very hot and use a lot of power so your mainboard may not be able to cope with the strain. Core2 uses approx half the power of Pentium D



Regards

AD
 
You mean I can run a core 2????
*faints with excitement*

My motherboard model number is:
0X8582

I thought that Core 2 was only for 965 / 975 chips...

I googled it, my chipset seems fine!
However apparently you need something called VRD11 support on your motherboard, which is a special thing for the low voltage used by Core 2....

Not sure wheither I have that....
 
Last edited:
It is unlikely you have a Core 2 Duo compatible motherboard, the chipset may be able to support it but your board is prolly too old :(
 
Yeah that is what I think..... :(

So for the purposes of gaming, will I see much of an improvement over a 3.00 GHZ Pentium 4 by adding a Pentium D 3.4 GHz?
 
decto said:
Hi,
Pentium D with be a little faster mainly and will give you a boost in applications that use dual cores. But the run very hot and use a lot of power so your mainboard may not be able to cope with the strain.
Click to expand...

bare in mind he is talking about the 9** series Pentium D processors which are 65Nm flavour - they dont run anywhere near as hot as the 8** series which are commonly flamed for being toasty. Check my sig for the temperatures mine runs at.
But back on topic, assuming your board will accept the processor then you should see a fair improvment in the things you do , especially if you use multithreaded apps.

Rgds,
Nomisf
 
It's a Dell!!!! No, it won't run Core2Duo. You wouldn't see a huge benefit in games by going to a Presler, but it will probably run cooler. Unfortuantely Dell's are really not made to be upgraded. The Chassis is BTX, not ATX so you can't easily put a new motherboard in it. You would be better buying upgrade parts that could be swapped into a new PC eg. graphics card or faster HDD.

Realistically though - save up a bit, sell the Dell and either buy one of OcUK's off-the-shelf ones or build yourself a new system. The easiest way to waste money is to try and upgrade an unsuitable system.
 
I need to dispell some myths here
It is a Dell 9100
These use a new system. NOT BTX
It uses a STANDARD ATX set up.
I have already upgraded the PSU in it, replacing the standard Dell one with a Cooler Master Real Power 550

I intend to purchase a 7950 GT 512 MB and get another 1GB of RAm, taking me up to 2 GB.

Upgrading it is not really a problem. With the 9100 + series they have removed a lot of the proprietary Dell parts and replaced them with standard ones.

As a gamer, I will mainly be using it for games, and so with newer games coming out Like UT 2007 and Supp Comm which all like Dual Core processors, will I be better going for the Pentium D 945?
It is faster in terms of what I have already, but I suppose my other alternative is to get a Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.8 GHz, but these are highly expensive....

The Graphics card is coming first, should get that in a couple of months, then the new RAM, so the CPU is the last thing I am gonna be upgrading....
 
If it's an ATX motherboard (are you sure?) then don't mess about with 945's. It's a waste of money. Swap the motherboard for something else and get a COre2Duo.
 
It may be standard ATX wiring / PSU but it doesn't mean the board layout is not BTX. Dell PSUs/mobo have used standard format since some of the Pentium 4 systems.

As already said above (by me and others :p) I really don't think you'll see much benefit out of the 945 and the P4 EE really is a waste of money, you could build an entire new system with that much dosh (including a Core 2 Duo mobo and CPU that would knock it out of the water).

If you have the money to burn it (945) certainly wouldn't be a downgrade and it is quite capable of matching a 7950 GT (as can a 3 Ghz P4 to a reasonable degree) and may be of greater benefit in those particular games you mention (and others that support dual cores).
 
A pentium D 945 will happily work with an Intel 945 chipset based motherboard.
Intels stance on the Core 2 is that it will work with a 945 chipset but I've found it to be very hit and miss.
Don't ask me why but some motherboards based on the 945 chipset won't work with a Core 2 even after a BIOS update.

Personally I wouldn't want to run the risk of paying for a Core 2 only to find it wont work.

The other thing to consider with a Dell is that they don't generally follow the industry standard for the panel wiring.
Dell tend to use ribbon cable for their panel wiring whereas motherboard manufacturers use 'paired' wires for the power switch etc.
So replacing the motherboard would mean you need to work out the pin outs on the panel wiring header connector.
This is of course based on Dell not using the same pin outs as motherboard manufacturers do.

Personally I loath Dell desktops and I really can't be bothered with them when a customer brings one into work hoping to upgrade the motherboard.
It would mean wasting time only to find out Dell still can't be bothered to confirm to industry standard wiring.
 
Yeah I too hate them.
This was my first PC you see, and I did not know that much when I got it.
Suffice to say I would never buy a Dell again.
even changing the PSu was a pain in the ass, I had to totally unscrew the CPu heatsink just to get at some of the wires...

To be honest the best thing to do would be to buy a new case, a Core 2 Motherboard and a Core 2 CPu. Then just take all of the other stuff (RAM, GPU, PSU, Optical drives HHD etc from my current rig and put it in...
However I dont really want to do that yet.

I think I will buy the 7950 GT and the RAm, then see how I go from there....
 
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