[triffidfood]

Sorry for such a basic, dumb sounding question, but I'm looking to replace my Celeron processor with a less hopelessly slow one, but I don't feel I know enough about processers to make any sort of intelligent decision (also, I don't want to spend <>£100 & find I've bought something incompatible & wasted my money).

My current pc specs (main specs) are:

Machine name: YOUR-Y0MKAZ8JAQ
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: n/a
System Model: n/a
BIOS: n/a
Processor: Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 2.60GHz
Memory: 766MB RAM
Page File: 171MB used, 1702MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

Card name: Intel(R) 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV Graphics Controller
Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
Chip type: Intel(R) 82845G Graphics Controller
DAC type: Internal
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2562&SUBSYS_3186109F&REV_03
Display Memory: 64.0 MB
Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)

.. etc, etc (not sure what else is relevant here?)

The reason I included graphics card specs are that I'm hoping buying a new, faster processor will have the effect of making my useless (more or less) onboard graphics card work better too.

Anyway, do I have to go for an Intel (i.e. Pentium 4?) processor or are there any others that would be compatible as well? Also, how important is "system bus" in terms of compatibility?

Actually (finally) I'm not even entirely sure I can change the cpu on my pc ~ the motherboard user's guide explains how to do this, but the manual that came with my pc (emachine) doesn't mention changing the cpu: does this mean I can't, or just that they didn't bother including this in the instructions?

Thanks for any help (sorry about the extremely basic questions)....

 

[crazijoe]

The results from changing your CPU may be negligible. You might notice a slight improvement. I would look more towards a better graphics solution as the integrated graphics is probably your bottleneck.

 

[triffidfood]

The results from changing your CPU may be negligible. You might notice a slight improvement. I would look more towards a better graphics solution as the integrated graphics is probably your bottleneck.

This is what I can't figure out ~ ideally, it would be nice to replace both, but I can't afford that right now .. if I buy a better graphics card (I've only got regular PCI slots, the best I can find online to fit these are Geforce 6200 cards) won't my Celeron cpu just get slowed down even more, so I'll just get beautiful graphics @ horrible, draggy speeds? :4-dontkno

 

[linderman]

you should have an AGP slot for video cards on your board ?????


please check


also download (free) Everest Home edition / see MY favortite tool & links in my signature / then look under monitoring utilities

run everest then system summary >>>> paste the system summary in here for evaluation it should give us a motherboard make and model

from there we can definetly offer some accurate suggestions

I think C-Joe is right though, right now your biggest bottleneck is at the video level and lack of ram

if its gaming your looking to improve you want at least one gig for your system

 

[triffidfood]

you should have an AGP slot for video cards on your board ?????


please check

Sadly not, I'm fairly certain it's just 3 PCI slots...

also download (free) Everest Home edition / see MY favortite tool & links in my signature / then look under monitoring utilities

run everest then system summary >>>> paste the system summary in here for evaluation it should give us a motherboard make and model

Okay, here goes with the summary:

Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name YOUR-Y0MKAZ8JAQ
User Name ######

Motherboard:
CPU Type Intel Celeron, 2600 MHz (26 x 100)
Motherboard Name Unknown
Motherboard Chipset Intel Brookdale-G i845GEV
System Memory 768 MB (DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type Phoenix (07/30/03)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port ECP Printer Port (LPT1)

Display:
Video Adapter Intel(R) 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV Graphics Controller (64 MB)
3D Accelerator Intel Extreme Graphics

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter Intel 82801DB ICH4 - AC'97 Audio Controller [B-0]

Storage:
IDE Controller Intel(R) 82801DB Ultra ATA Controller
Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
Disk Drive Maxtor 4R080J0 (80 GB, 5400 RPM, Ultra-ATA/133)
Optical Drive HL-DT-ST CD-RW GCE-8483B (48x/32x/48x CD-RW)
Optical Drive HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM GDR8162B (16x/48x DVD-ROM)
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions:
C: (NTFS) 78152 MB (24526 MB free)

Input:
Keyboard Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse PS/2 Compatible Mouse

Network:
Network Adapter Realtek RTL8139/810X Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC
Network Adapter WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface (86.128.94.120)
Modem Conexant SoftK56 Modem(M)

Peripherals:
USB1 Controller Intel 82801DB ICH4 - USB Controller [B-0]
USB1 Controller Intel 82801DB ICH4 - USB Controller [B-0]
USB1 Controller Intel 82801DB ICH4 - USB Controller [B-0]
USB2 Controller Intel 82801DB ICH4 - Enhanced USB2 Controller [B-0]
USB Device BT Voyager 105 ADSL Modem
USB Device Generic USB Hub
USB Device Lexmark X1100 Series
USB Device USB Printing Support


.. I'll leave out all the debug information, but the debug headings are:

B00 D00 F00: Intel 82845G/GL/GV/GE/PE Memory Controller Hub [B-1]

B00 D02 F00: Intel 82845G/GL/GV Graphics Controller

B00 D1D F00: Intel 82801DB ICH4 - USB Controller [B-0]

B00 D1D F01: Intel 82801DB ICH4 - USB Controller [B-0]

B00 D1D F02: Intel 82801DB ICH4 - USB Controller [B-0]

B00 D1D F07: Intel 82801DB ICH4 - Enhanced USB2 Controller [B-0]

B00 D1E F00: Intel 82801DB I/O Controller Hub 4 (ICH4) [B-0]

B00 D1F F00: Intel 82801DB ICH4 - LPC Bridge [B-0]

B00 D1F F01: Intel 82801DB ICH4 - IDE Controller [B-0]

B00 D1F F03: Intel 82801DB ICH4 - SMBus Controller [B-0]

B00 D1F F05: Intel 82801DB ICH4 - AC'97 Audio Controller [B-0]

B02 D02 F00: Realtek RTL8139 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter [A/B/C]

B02 D0B F00: Harmonics (Conexant) HSF 56k HSFi Modem

[........]

Motherboard 31861.EM.0000.D.0307301727
Motherboard DMIMOBO: TriGem Computer, Inc. Imperial
Motherboard DMISYS: eMachines, Inc. Imperial
Motherboard Unknown


......I think that's about it! :4-dontkno

 

[crazijoe]

Digging into the chipset, as far as I can find, It supports 400MHz and 533MHz FSB processors. From the specs you have, right now your system is running @ 400MHz FSB.
You should be able to get a 3.06MHz P4 for it. But like I said before performance increase may not be noticible or negligible.

 

[linderman]

If I were in your shoes I think I would be considering a motherboard & CPU change


for a reasonable amount of money you should be able to find a board like the Asus P4P800-E Deluxe or Abit IC-7G

and an Intel P4 socket 478 3.2 Prescott

then you would have access to an AGP slot video card such as the ATI 9800 PRO 256mg

all of these should be able to be found on ebay "used" very reasonably

they are dated parts no doubt but you would see a big diff in system perfromance especially in the video card department!

 

[triffidfood]

Okay, thanks for the extremely helpful replies .. I think for now I will go for a new graphics card rather than cpu (I don't think I could afford a new motherboard @ the moment, so I guess I'll try to make the best out of what I've got......)

So, a quick follow up question ... apart from the slot (PCI, AGP, PCI Express), are there any other compatability issues I should be aware of? Do the GPU & Memory clock speeds matter at all in this sense?

I found a PCI~slot card on ebay earlier with the following specs:

* Manufacturer's Part Number: G606200PUD24LPB
* Video Memory Installed ( Max ): 256 MB - DDR SDRAM
* System Requirements: Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 SP6, Microsoft Windows 2000 / XP
* Manufacturer Warranty: 3 years warranty
* Core Clock Speed: 300 MHz
* Product Description: PNY Verto GeForce 6 6200 PCI - graphics adapter - GF 6200 - 256 MB
* Interface Type: PCI
* Enclosure Type: Plug-in card
* API Supported: DirectX 9.0
* Device Type: Graphics adapter
* Graphics Processor / Vendor: NVIDIA GeForce 6200
* TV Interface: TV out
* RAMDAC Clock Speed: 400 MHz
* Package Type: Retail

.. does this look okay to people (in terms of compatability, anyway)?