[Metall Pingwin]

Aha, a dillema from another barrel.

After a longer while of being unable to decide what I want for my birthday and christmass, my dad and I decided to join the two gifts together and get me Windows Vista so that I can enjoy DX10 with my new 8800GT. (It should be shipped any day now. Or so has ZipZoomFly been saying for the past month.)

But the more I think about it, the more tempted I am to go with a new processor instead. Since we would have spent about 100 dollars on the Vista upgrade, I figure that I can just pay the extra 20-30 dollars and get a 2.2 Ghz Intel Pentium Core 2 Duo.

The problem is that i'm not sure if the performance rise will be worth the money. Right now I have a 2.8 gig 800Mhz Pentium D processor. Ive been thinking about it before, but was told that I will get a larger performance increase if upgrade my GFX card instead, which I did.

Is a Dual Core processor worth it? Or will the improvement be so miniscule that I shouldn't even bother.

The best deal for me I found so far is this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...+Core+2+Duo+E4500+Allendale+2.2GHz+LGA+775+65

And just to make your lifes easier, here are my motherboard specs:
http://support.gateway.com/s/MOTHERBD/Intel2/WMEOEMD945GCZG1/WMEOEMD945GCZG1sp25.shtml

Sadly, As far as I know, overclocking is out of question due to bios restrictions.

 

[emosun]

According to you mother board specifications it doesnt support core two duo processors. Only celeron , pentium 4 and pentium d's. Also the pentium d that you have now is infact dual core. thats what the D stands for. Essentialy its a pentium 4 with two cores that share the cache. A core two duo would be a great upgrade but your board doesnt support it.

Also vista will technically slow your machine down more then it will speed it up. I have the same cpu as you do and when im playing the dx10 games the cpu lags behind alot. You wont see much of an increase in gameing visuals or performace if you change to vista either.

 

[Metall Pingwin]

Hmm, that's a real shame. Provided I would want to upgrade my motherboard, How much would one that supports Core 2 Duo cost?

Also, I head somewhere about Pentium D not being an actual dual core processor, is any of that true or am i just making things up?

 

[emosun]

Also the pentium d that you have now is infact dual core. thats what the D stands for. Essentialy its a pentium 4 with two cores that share the cache.

As for a motherboard I would get this motherboard an cpu combo

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3312417&CatId=2406

Then just use your old heat sink on it.

 

[1 g0t 0wn3d]

you soulc get a quallity one for like 135

yes it is a dual core (i have one to)

 

[Metall Pingwin]

As for a motherboard I would get this motherboard an cpu combo

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3312417&CatId=2406

Then just use your old heat sink on it.

The problem I saw with that one is that I think it only takes a max of 2GB of ram. It seems awfully strange but it said: This board can support up to 2GB of dual channel DDR2 667 / 533 SDRAM memory

unless the dual channel means i can have 2x2Gigs of ram.

 

[1 g0t 0wn3d]

I would stay away from intel boards but it does mean a max (total of 2gb ram, however if you are low on cash you could get and it will work together. (also better then the d)

 

[emosun]

then get this

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3433136&CatId=2406

 

[Metall Pingwin]

Hmm I doubt I can afford that... Remeber, i was gonna spend 100 not 200 dollars. I was thinking, though I doubt it's possible. Would A Dell Dimension motherboard be compatible with my Gateway? I have yet to confirm this but my dad's motherboard, which is newer might support a Core 2 Duo, if i were able to switch them, my problem would be solved.

 

[emosun]

Your gateway os isnt compatible with other motherboards, noir is the gateway board compatible with regular windows os's. i happen to know this because one of my rigs uses a newer gateway motherboard and it only boots useing the gateways windows xp version.

 

[Metall Pingwin]

Now I'm confused. I actually decided that I would be able to buy the motherboard and processor you posted. But will it be compatible after all or not?
The one I'm refering to is this one:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3433136&CatId=2406

 

[emosun]

The board will work in your pc, but im not sure if your os will. Once your gateway version of windows xp detects its not attched to its gateway motherboard anymore it may not boot. If this happens you could use a regular windows xp disc to reinstall the os.

 

[Metall Pingwin]

Ah, the confusion has been cleared up. I was wondering as to why you started talking about the OS. Now i know.

Ill probably be ordering today, as it is a great deal you found.

 

[emosun]

yea i reccomend it to alota people cuz it really is a heck of a deal. the thing with the os happend to me but i hope it doesnt happen to you and you can go straight to playing with it.

 

[Metall Pingwin]

Hmm, I found another motherboard, which also looks like a great one. It's called MSI P35 Platinum. Any thoughts on it compared to the XFX nForce 680i LT?

I'm gonna try to order tonight.

 

[1 g0t 0wn3d]

Thats a great one (are you sure its intel i believe my friend has one that is amd)

 

[linderman]

decent motherboard


http://www.mwave.com/mwave/ViewProd...MOBO&DPDID=&Rebate=0&ST=&page=2&SortMethod=11



look at this one for $61.00 (they come as new retail boxed mobo's with 15 day warranty)
INTEL BOXDQ35JOE INTEL Q35 CHIPSET MICRO ATX FORM FACTOR 1xPCI-E(X16)/2xPCI-E(X1)/1xPCI/4xDDR2 W/INTEGRATED VGA,SATA2,LAN(Gb),1394,USB 2.0 & AUDIO (Refurbished Bare Product No Accessories w/15-day Warranty) (*Limit 1 pcs/customer)

 

[Metall Pingwin]

Interesting, I'm looking into the the Operating System issue right now.
I just don't want to have to end up buying another XP.

Gateway technical support told me that there should be no Windows problems and that i'm ready to change my motherboard.

 

[1 g0t 0wn3d]

You should prep your xp before switching over (mainly vista that has the problems) i personally do not know how to but linderman does and he will probably tell you when he gets on next

 

[Metall Pingwin]

I'm waiting in suspense for linderman. I just ordered the Processor and motherboard so im hoping it will be here by friday, and my 8800GT is supposed to be here tomorrow afternoon. I'm holding out on installing it though so i get to see a huge leap in performance at once. It's going to be juicy.