Pentium 4 Vs. Pentium D

A

Artreid

Can I upgrade P4 processor to a Pentium D Processor
Machine is DELL OPTIPLEX 170L currently running P4 2.8. I'd like to upgrade
it to a Pentium D 3.4.
 
S

sctvguy1

Can I upgrade P4 processor to a Pentium D Processor Machine is DELL
OPTIPLEX 170L currently running P4 2.8. I'd like to upgrade it to a
Pentium D 3.4.
Click to expand...
You can if the socket is a 775. I have a P4/3.0 and I can upgrade to the
P4/D with dual cores.
 
P

Paul

Artreid said:
Can I upgrade P4 processor to a Pentium D Processor
Machine is DELL OPTIPLEX 170L currently running P4 2.8. I'd like to
upgrade it to a Pentium D 3.4.
Click to expand...
Some Dell computers, use a different cooling assembly when
a more powerful processor is used. That helps prevent
overheating.

Just because the CPU socket type (S478, LGA775 or whatever)
happens to match, doesn't mean the computer has been
engineered to take it. The BIOS could be incompatible,
the Vcore regulator may not have enough power to run
it, the processor could use a config pin to signal
the level of compatibility (which is why some Prescott
processors won't work in older motherboards). There
are a bunch of things that can go wrong.

As "Thee Chicago Wolf" points out, Google can help you.
The experiences of a previous experimenter, are the
best proof an upgrade can work. (If Dell would list
all the compatible upgrades, an experiment would
not be necessary.)

*******

If I look on Ebay, the 170L uses an S478 motherboard
(S478 means a zero insertion force CPU socket with
478 pin holes on it). The power converter is only
three phase. This is not looking good... It doesn't
even have an expansion slot for an AGP video card.

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Dell-U2575-...491744484?pt=Motherboards&hash=item56430760e4

If I look up a Pentium D 3.4GHz on cpu-world, it is
LGA775 so won't fit your S478 motherboard socket.

http://www.cpu-world.com/sspec/QP/QPUT.html

*******

You can start here, to look for processors

http://ark.intel.com/ProductCollection.aspx?familyId=581

Click the "Show spec, stepping, ordering, and socket details"
button. Look for "478" socket processors.

The best reasonable choice, is one like this -

"Intel Pentium 4 Processor supporting HT Technology 3.40 GHz, 512K Cache, 800 MHz FSB"

That would be a Northwood, and runs at 89W. You would
look for SL793 for sale. Since it runs at 3.4GHz,
and your current processor is 2.8GHz, the ratio
is 1.21x and that really isn't going to improve
things enough to waste money on it.

Your current processor, might be similar to this -

"Intel Pentium 4 Processor supporting HT Technology 2.80 GHz, 512K Cache, 800 MHz FSB"

That one is rated as a 70W processor, and the 89W one
is close enough, perhaps the Vcore regulator can
withstand it.

*******

Your motherboard specs are here.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/op170L/en/UG/specs.htm

"Level 2 (L2) cache

128-KB, 256-KB, 512-KB, or 1-MB (depending on your computer configuration)
pipelined-burst, eight-way set associative, write-back SRAM"

The only reason that line is important, is because it indicates
the motherboard can use Prescott or Northwood S478. The Prescott
supports 1 MB L2 cache, while Northwood uses 512KB L2. The
reason I selected a Northwood upgrade for you (with 512KB cache),
is because those processors run cooler. And chances are, the
processor could use a similar family code as well, to the one
you've got, which improves the odds the BIOS has microcode
support.

Paul
 
A

Artreid

Thanks Paul,
"Intel Pentium 4 Processor supporting HT Technology 3.40 GHz, 512K Cache,
800 MHz FSB" Sounds good to me if it will let me run Win7 a bit more
efficiently...


"Paul" wrote in message
Can I upgrade P4 processor to a Pentium D Processor
Machine is DELL OPTIPLEX 170L currently running P4 2.8. I'd like to
upgrade it to a Pentium D 3.4.
Click to expand...
Some Dell computers, use a different cooling assembly when
a more powerful processor is used. That helps prevent
overheating.

Just because the CPU socket type (S478, LGA775 or whatever)
happens to match, doesn't mean the computer has been
engineered to take it. The BIOS could be incompatible,
the Vcore regulator may not have enough power to run
it, the processor could use a config pin to signal
the level of compatibility (which is why some Prescott
processors won't work in older motherboards). There
are a bunch of things that can go wrong.

As "Thee Chicago Wolf" points out, Google can help you.
The experiences of a previous experimenter, are the
best proof an upgrade can work. (If Dell would list
all the compatible upgrades, an experiment would
not be necessary.)

*******

If I look on Ebay, the 170L uses an S478 motherboard
(S478 means a zero insertion force CPU socket with
478 pin holes on it). The power converter is only
three phase. This is not looking good... It doesn't
even have an expansion slot for an AGP video card.

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Dell-U2575-...491744484?pt=Motherboards&hash=item56430760e4

If I look up a Pentium D 3.4GHz on cpu-world, it is
LGA775 so won't fit your S478 motherboard socket.

http://www.cpu-world.com/sspec/QP/QPUT.html

*******

You can start here, to look for processors

http://ark.intel.com/ProductCollection.aspx?familyId=581

Click the "Show spec, stepping, ordering, and socket details"
button. Look for "478" socket processors.

The best reasonable choice, is one like this -

"Intel Pentium 4 Processor supporting HT Technology 3.40 GHz, 512K
Cache, 800 MHz FSB"

That would be a Northwood, and runs at 89W. You would
look for SL793 for sale. Since it runs at 3.4GHz,
and your current processor is 2.8GHz, the ratio
is 1.21x and that really isn't going to improve
things enough to waste money on it.

Your current processor, might be similar to this -

"Intel Pentium 4 Processor supporting HT Technology 2.80 GHz, 512K
Cache, 800 MHz FSB"

That one is rated as a 70W processor, and the 89W one
is close enough, perhaps the Vcore regulator can
withstand it.

*******

Your motherboard specs are here.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/op170L/en/UG/specs.htm

"Level 2 (L2) cache

128-KB, 256-KB, 512-KB, or 1-MB (depending on your computer
configuration)
pipelined-burst, eight-way set associative, write-back SRAM"

The only reason that line is important, is because it indicates
the motherboard can use Prescott or Northwood S478. The Prescott
supports 1 MB L2 cache, while Northwood uses 512KB L2. The
reason I selected a Northwood upgrade for you (with 512KB cache),
is because those processors run cooler. And chances are, the
processor could use a similar family code as well, to the one
you've got, which improves the odds the BIOS has microcode
support.

Paul
 
P

Paul

Artreid said:
Thanks Paul,
"Intel Pentium 4 Processor supporting HT Technology 3.40 GHz, 512K
Cache, 800 MHz FSB" Sounds good to me if it will let me run Win7 a bit
more efficiently...
Click to expand...
It's my best guess as to what might work, but it's only 20% faster.
If the machine feels slow, it'll probably still be slow after the
upgrade.

You really need to find a forum that deals in Dell problems and
upgrades, to get more information, as to what other issues might
show up when you upgrade.

Windows 7 likes RAM. My laptop has 3GB of RAM, and that seems to work
pretty well.

The disk on my laptop is slow, and if you use an SSD for the disk,
that can speed up some aspects of Windows 7. The advantage of the
SSD, isn't necessarily the transfer speed - it's the "zero seek time"
that helps. With no magnetic head to move around, the SSD can visit
more locations in the file system per second, than a magnetic disk could.
(Before buying an SSD, make sure you have a spare SATA connector
on the motherboard surface. Typically a thin red cable is plugged
into a port like that on the motherboard. On your system, there
may be two SATA vertical connectors, near the Southbridge.)

http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/directron/miniitxopticalsatainlg.jpg

My laptop has only a single core processor. The laptop works fine
when no software services are installed. When I install the package
for my webcam, and the webcam software runs even when no webcam is
plugged in, that slows the machine down. I find, with a single core,
there is no room for a lot of bloat installed on the machine. The
machine operates smoothly with a single core (which is surprising),
but the computer cannot take a lot of software services running
on it. Then it starts to feel sluggish.

Older machines may not have room for a lot of RAM. The problem in
your case, is there are only two DIMM slots, which makes RAM
expansion difficult. The datasheet for 865GV, claims 1GB DIMMs
(16 chip ones) can be used, so the best you can do on memory is
2x1GB for a total of 2GB of memory. Using a matched set of DIMMs,
improves the graphics update performance of your integrated
graphics. If the computer had an AGP graphics card slot,
you could upgrade the graphics a bit, making it possible to
run Windows Aero with some speed.

http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=OptiPlex 170L Series&Cat=RAM

You can also run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, for more
information about your situation.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/upgrade-advisor

You meet the "processor GHz". If you had 2x512MB RAM installed,
that would be barely enough to meet the stated requirement. And
the graphics states DX9 with a WDDM 1.0 driver.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/system-requirements

If I look here, the 865GV isn't in the list at the bottom of the page.
Run the Upgrade Advisor, to understand the impact. Vista and Windows 7
share a lot of architecture details, so Vista advice can predict
how Windows 7 will do. Disabling Aero graphics effects isn't the
end of the world, and who knows, maybe it'll make your user
experience better :)

"Graphics - Windows Vista support FAQ"
http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-023606.htm#aero

Paul
 
C

Char Jackson

"Paul" wrote in message
The best reasonable choice, is one like this -

"Intel Pentium 4 Processor supporting HT Technology 3.40 GHz, 512K
Cache, 800 MHz FSB"

That would be a Northwood, and runs at 89W. You would
look for SL793 for sale. Since it runs at 3.4GHz,
and your current processor is 2.8GHz, the ratio
is 1.21x and that really isn't going to improve
things enough to waste money on it.

Thanks Paul,
"Intel Pentium 4 Processor supporting HT Technology 3.40 GHz, 512K Cache,
800 MHz FSB" Sounds good to me if it will let me run Win7 a bit more
efficiently...
Click to expand...
I agree with Paul. The upgrade you're considering will be all but
invisible to you. The performance increase will be so slight as to be
unnoticeable, even if you're expressly watching for it.
 
P

Paul

Char said:
I agree with Paul. The upgrade you're considering will be all but
invisible to you. The performance increase will be so slight as to be
unnoticeable, even if you're expressly watching for it.
Click to expand...
There is one time, when such processor upgrades are noticeable. When
you have a gaming machine, and a slight processor improvement (like
the 20%) causes a game to stop stuttering, that is worth it. I experienced
that on my P4 machine, before I stopped using it. But when it comes
to improving how that new OS behaves, it just isn't enough. The
Optiplex 170L will be as slow as my (single core) laptop. And
that laptop works fine, until you start adding software to it.
Once it's bloated, it's a write-off.

Paul
 
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