Need help choosing new CPU

[Milla Maxwell]

Hi all,

When it comes to fixing, upgrading or modding any one of my six PC's, I always end up spending more time researching & learning than doing the task itself. And here I am again in the same situation that I have been in many times before. Where I need to buy components but my PC has quietly & suddenly became a dinosaur. I'll just stop right there and get to the reason for creating this thread. I am shopping for a CPU. I currently have a socket 775, Pentium 4, 3.6GHz, 1MB Cache, 800 FSB. I believe it's the Pentium 4E, 560 Prescott, not sure. I know this is really old stuff, please don't run away. But I am trying to find out what CPU would be best to use for gaming. I was thinking about the Pentium D CPU but have a couple questions, 1st: This PC was built in March 2005 but the Pentium D's were released in 2006-2007 so would they still be fully functional in an older motherboard? The Mother Board is an ABIT Fatal1ty AA8XE. I have BIOS update files but the latest one is compiled date: 10/17/2005 . 2nd: Since the Pentium D is a dual-core CPU, I get the impression it is better for multi-tasking, would that also improve the performance for games?

 

[johnb35]

New computer time.....

 

[_Kyle_]

The LGA 755 socket only supported single core CPU's. The Pentium D was a LGA 775 socket by the way.

 

[Milla Maxwell]

The LGA 755 socket only supported single core CPU's. The Pentium D was a LGA 775 socket by the way.

Why are you talking about the LGA 755?
I already know the Pentium D is a LGA 775 socket, That's why I was talking about upgrading to it.
Thanks for trying to help but we'll be just fine.

 

[Milla Maxwell]

New computer time.....

Actually it's 12 years old. I'm just stocking spare parts for it so I can keep it running till I go to heaven.

 

[Intel_man]

A Pentium D will not work on your ABIT Fatal1ty AA8XE. They may share the same socket, but the ABIT AA8XE uses the older Intel 925XE chipset and the Pentium D requires the 945/955 chipset that was launched between mid-2005 to 2006.

 

[Jiniix]

The LGA 755 socket only supported single core CPU's.

No such socket exist. AMD had a 754. Intel had 771 and 775.

 

[johnb35]

Actually it's 12 years old. I'm just stocking spare parts for it so I can keep it running till I go to heaven.

Well unfortunately, there is nothing better you can put into it as it doesn't support the pentium D cpu's. Thats why I said, new computer time.

 

[Milla Maxwell]

A Pentium D will not work on your ABIT Fatal1ty AA8XE. They may share the same socket, but the ABIT AA8XE uses the older Intel 925XE chipset and the Pentium D requires the 945/955 chipset that was launched between mid-2005 to 2006.

Thank you, That's exactly what I needed to know. I am just shopping for a 2nd CPU to use as a spare and thought if I'm going to get one I might as well see if a better CPU would work.

 

[Milla Maxwell]

Well unfortunately, there is nothing better you can put into it as it doesn't support the pentium D cpu's. Thats why I said, new computer time.

That's fine, It's not too unfortunate because I'm happy with the PC just the way it is. You see I have newer more powerful PC's already. I also have a Gaming PC that I bought 20 years ago. I'm sentimental toward some things I own and they keep me in touch with the past. The PC that I posted this thread about is an Alienware Area 51 that I bought directly from Alienware in 2005. Which was a few years before they teamed up with Dell. It is completely stock, no mods, and still doesn't have a scratch on it. It's a Big Black Beautiful Beast and I love it. See ↓

 

[Intel_man]

What sort of games are you typically playing?

 

[Jiniix]

My 2008 Alienware with the same chassis had a spider living in the space near the front grill there. There was about a baseball worth of unoccupied space in there. Just pure looks

 

[Milla Maxwell]

What sort of games are you typically playing?

Simulation, FPS, role play, survival horror or any game that interest me.
My research tells me the Intel 925XE chipset supports the Pentium 4 & the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition CPU's. Right now it has the Pentium 4 560J in it, 3.6GHz, 1MB L2-Cache.
So yesterday I bought a Pentium 4 660. The only difference between it and the 560J is it has 2 MB L2-Cache. Same 3.6GHz, 800 FSB. I wonder if I will notice improvement.

 

[Milla Maxwell]

My 2008 Alienware with the same chassis had a spider living in the space near the front grill there. There was about a baseball worth of unoccupied space in there. Just pure looks

Are you sure it wasn't a "Face Hugger"?
The front grill is an air inlet, you want empty space in there.
Your is a 2008? That's about the last year for this chassis right? Do you know what model name these Area 51's are called? I mean like the 1st Area 51 that Dell made was the "R1" and the triangle shape one is the "R2". I've heard it called the "Predator".

 

[Intel_man]

Simulation, FPS, role play, survival horror or any game that interest me.

I'm going to assume... nothing made in the past 3-4 years, at least not for your Pentium 4 computer? Like current generation CPUs has significant advancements in computing power over the Pentium 4 days.

So yesterday I bought a Pentium 4 660. The only difference between it and the 560J is it has 2 MB L2-Cache. Same 3.6GHz, 800 FSB. I wonder if I will notice improvement.

You won't notice much unless you run it through a benchmark and it spits out a slightly higher number.

 

[Milla Maxwell]

I'm going to assume... nothing made in the past 3-4 years, at least not for your Pentium 4 computer? Like current generation CPUs has significant advancements in computing power over the Pentium 4 days.

Oh no not any software or games from like 2010 - 2017. I have a i7-980X 6core PC for those newer games. I've got 5 different PC's to cover games from 1992 - 2014. 1 DOS 6.22 w/Pentium MMX , 2 Windows 98 w/Pentium 3 , 1 Windows XP w/Pentium 4 , and 1 Windows 7 w/i7 980X.

 

[Intel_man]

Even the i7-980X is starting to get "dated". I know because I run the Xeon rebadged 990X equivalent and I normally OC it to around 4.2-4.4ghz. There's a few games I know for sure that I can get more frames out of with the current gen processors.

 

[aldan]

im not even gonna ask.have fun fellas.

 

[Intel_man]

im not even gonna ask.have fun fellas.

Umm... ok. So why did you even bother posting this?

 

[Milla Maxwell]

Even the i7-980X is starting to get "dated". I know because I run the Xeon rebadged 990X equivalent and I normally OC it to around 4.2-4.4ghz. There's a few games I know for sure that I can get more frames out of with the current gen processors.

Yeah the 980x is old technology. If your OCing the 990x 100% of the time in order to get smoother gameplay then I think you should go ahead and get a 6th gen CPU. The prices have come down a lot. If I wanted to play games made from 2014 - 2017 I would buy a new game PC (Self built, Not an Alienware) but I still have a bunch of old games that I have never played yet. Only because I haven't had the time. So the last thing I need is to buy more games. Too, I love to sandbox. Building levels in FPShooters, Trainz 12, Morrowind, etc. sucks up the days.
So what are the games you been playing lately?