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[DarienA]

One of my PC's here at the house is a Compaq Deskpro EX 866. How can I find out what faster CPU's I can swap in for the existing one? I'm not a PC gamer so I'm just looking for ways to boost my current PC slightly. Already have the max memory it can take.

 

[pestul]

Most likely a coppermine 1gig is the max.. I'll do some research though.

 

[DSN2K]

not worth it, its a Pentium 3 right ?

these cost a bomb now.

 

[Nerevar]

first find out what your motherboard is. Then use that information to determine the socket-type your CPU sits in. Then, go to any web store and search (or sort, like you can in newegg) for that socket. Find the highest processor available, and that should tell you.

 

[DarienA]

Ok it looks like I have a Socket 370 and there are a few of those out there... Newegg only carries the 1ghz cpu, but I've seen them as high as 1.4 at other stores.... will any of work? or should I just go for the 1ghz? Can I use the fan that sits on top of my existing 866 or should I purchase a 1ghz w/fan?

 

[pestul]

The fan will probably be fine (or the same) for the same class of cpu (ie. coppermine). I think socket 370 celeron's go as high as 1.4GHz, but I doubt the Tualatin's will fly on that Compaq board. I'd say stick with a 1.1 Celeron or a 1 PIII coppermine. You can certainly get a socket 370 adapter which will enable Tualatin support however.. admittingly, I don't know much about Compaq boards.

 

[Bregor]

You have an 866 Mhz CPU currently? Going from an 866 to 1000 will result in a pretty insignificant gain. You might not even be able to notice the difference.

 

[pestul]

You have an 866 Mhz CPU currently? Going from an 866 to 1000 will result in a pretty insignificant gain. You might not even be able to notice the difference.

Yeah, almost no difference at all.. since it's not used for games anyway.

 

[Vlad]

Yeah, it looks like you're at the point where in order to get the best performance, you're going to have to do quite a bit of an upgrade.

Not only will you need a new motherboard and CPU, but maybe new RAM (I haven't followed the PC scene for years, though, so it's possible that you'll just be able to use your old stuff), and maybe even a new power supply, if your old one isn't strong enough.

I'm in the exact same situation as you, except I not only have an increasingly aging CPU (1.5 ghz just doesn't go as far as it used to), but also a video card that could use replacing (Radeon 7500).

 

[Bregor]

I think he is at the point where a new PC would be the best upgrade route. You can get low end ones pretty cheap, but it still is probably more than he is willing to spend.

 

[xsarien]

One of my PC's here at the house is a Compaq Deskpro EX 866. How can I find out what faster CPU's I can swap in for the existing one? I'm not a PC gamer so I'm just looking for ways to boost my current PC slightly. Already have the max memory it can take.

Find out what motherboard is inside, and go to the manufacturer's website. Most should have some kind of list of which processors it can handle.

 

[DaCocoBrova]

That PC is a dinosaur. Use the money to get a good one.

 

[DarienA]

Yes the PC is old, however it accomplishes what I need to do with it just fine. I don't play games on it, we browse the web, VPN in to work, and do some photoshop work with home photos, as well as create some multimedia presentations with our photos/videos.

I simply don't feel the need to spend even $500 to buy a new PC when this one does what we need it to do just find. I was curious about what kind of increases in performance I'd see in a CPU upgrade and that question has been answered in this thread, negligible.

Thanks all.