Any experts? Need a recommendation for CPU/RAM/Motherboard etc

[Stonerose92]

Hi, i posted a thread a while ago a tad similar to this one, but it wasn't really specific and I didn't really feel like I explained what I meant well..

Basically, I want to upgrade my computer, make it a tad faster. I personally think I could do with a CPU upgrade, maybe you might think different..

Also, If i do go to upgrade my CPU, which will work accordingly with my motherboard, because i have no idea about this motherboard/cpu correlation, and how you know if the motherboard will handle the CPU..

Also, i'm running windows 7 64-bit and i only have 3.25gb available RAM, wondering if someone could tell me what's up with that? I've tried to alter settings in the BIOS, to deal with it , but there seems to be nothing available.

This is my stats, via Speccy:

Operating System
MS Windows 7 64-bit
CPU
Intel Pentium D 820
SmithField 90nm Technology
RAM
4.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 332MHz (5-5-5-15)
Motherboard
Intel Corporation D945GCL (LGA 775)
Graphics
Dell E193FP (1280x1024@60Hz)
1024MB GeForce 9500 GT (XFX Pine Group) 56 °C
Hard Drives
244GB Western Digital WDC WD2500JS-22NCB1 (RAID) 35 °C
Optical Drives
HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GH22LP20 ATA Device
Audio
Line 6 UX1


CPU
Intel Pentium D 820
Cores 2
Threads 2
Name Intel Pentium D 820
Code Name SmithField
Package Socket 775 LGA
Technology 90nm
Specification Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80GHz
Family F
Extended Family F
Model 4
Extended Model 4
Stepping 7
Revision B0
Instructions MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, Intel 64
Virtualization Unsupported
Hyperthreading Not supported
Bus Speed 199.6 MHz
Rated Bus Speed 798.5 MHz
Stock Core Speed 2800 MHz
Stock Bus Speed 200 MHz
Caches
L1 Data Cache Size 2 x 16 KBytes
L1 trace cache 2 x 12 Kuops
L2 Unified Cache Size 2 x 1024 KBytes
Core 0
Core Speed 2794.7 MHz
Multiplier x 14.0
Bus Speed 199.6 MHz
Rated Bus Speed 798.5 MHz
Thread 1
APIC ID 0
Core 1
Core Speed 2794.7 MHz
Multiplier x 14.0
Bus Speed 199.6 MHz
Rated Bus Speed 798.5 MHz
Thread 1
APIC ID 1

RAM
Memory slots
Total memory slots 4
Used memory slots 2
Free memory slots 2
Memory
Type DDR2
Size 4096 MBytes
Channels # Dual
DRAM Frequency 332.7 MHz
CAS# Latency (CL) 5 clocks
RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRCD) 5 clocks
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 5 clocks
Cycle Time (tRAS) 15 clocks
Bank Cycle Time (tRC) 21 clocks
Physical Memory
Memory Usage 48 %
Total Physical 3.25 GB
Available Physical 1.67 GB
Total Virtual 8.00 TB
Available Virtual 3.87 GB
SPD
Number Of SPD Modules 2
Slot #1
Type DDR2
Size 2048 MBytes
Manufacturer OCZ
Max Bandwidth PC2-6400 (400 MHz)
Part Number OCZ2RPX8002G
SPD Ext. EPP
EPP #0
Frequency 400.0 MHz
CAS# Latency 5.0
RAS# To CAS# 4
RAS# Precharge 4
tRAS 15
Voltage 2.000 V
JEDEC #3
Frequency 400.0 MHz
CAS# Latency 6.0
RAS# To CAS# 6
RAS# Precharge 6
tRAS 18
tRC 24
Voltage 1.800 V
JEDEC #2
Frequency 333.3 MHz
CAS# Latency 5.0
RAS# To CAS# 5
RAS# Precharge 5
tRAS 15
tRC 20
Voltage 1.800 V
JEDEC #1
Frequency 266.7 MHz
CAS# Latency 4.0
RAS# To CAS# 4
RAS# Precharge 4
tRAS 12
tRC 16
Voltage 1.800 V
Slot #2
Type DDR2
Size 2048 MBytes
Manufacturer OCZ
Max Bandwidth PC2-6400 (400 MHz)
Part Number OCZ2RPX8002G
SPD Ext. EPP
EPP #0
Frequency 400.0 MHz
CAS# Latency 5.0
RAS# To CAS# 4
RAS# Precharge 4
tRAS 15
Voltage 2.000 V
JEDEC #3
Frequency 400.0 MHz
CAS# Latency 6.0
RAS# To CAS# 6
RAS# Precharge 6
tRAS 18
tRC 24
Voltage 1.800 V
JEDEC #2
Frequency 333.3 MHz
CAS# Latency 5.0
RAS# To CAS# 5
RAS# Precharge 5
tRAS 15
tRC 20
Voltage 1.800 V
JEDEC #1
Frequency 266.7 MHz
CAS# Latency 4.0
RAS# To CAS# 4
RAS# Precharge 4
tRAS 12
tRC 16
Voltage 1.800 V

Motherboard
Manufacturer Intel Corporation
Model D945GCL
Version 300
Chipset Vendor Intel
Chipset Model i945P/PL/G/GZ
Chipset Revision A2
Southbridge Vendor Intel
Southbridge Model 82801GB (ICH7/R)
Southbridge Revision A1
BIOS
Brand Intel Corp.
Version CF94510J.15A.0028.2006.1213.1629
Date 12/13/2006
PCI Data
Slot PCI-X
Slot Type PCI-X
Slot Usage In Use
Data But Width 8192 bit
Slot Designation PCIE X16 SLOT
Slot Number 0
Slot PCI-X
Slot Type PCI-X
Slot Usage Available
Data But Width 256 bit
Slot Designation PCIE X1 SLOT 1
Slot Number 1
Slot PCI
Slot Type PCI
Slot Usage In Use
Data But Width 32 bit
Slot Designation PCI SLOT 1
Slot Number 2
Slot PCI
Slot Type PCI
Slot Usage In Use
Data But Width 32 bit
Slot Designation PCI SLOT 2
Slot Number 3

Graphics
Monitor
Name Dell E193FP on NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT
Current Resolution 1280x1024 pixels
Work Resolution 1280x984 pixels
State enabled, primary
Monitor Width 1280
Monitor Height 1024
Monitor BPP 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Frequency 60 Hz
Device \\.\DISPLAY1\Monitor0
GeForce 9500 GT
GPU G96
Device ID 10DE-0640
Revision A2
Subvendor XFX Pine Group (1682)
Current Performance Level Level 1
Current GPU Clock 550 MHz
Current Memory Clock 400 MHz
Current Shader Clock 1375 MHz
Technology 66 nm
Die Size 144 nm²
Transistors 314 M
Release Date Jul 29, 2008
DirectX Support 10.0
DirectX Shader Model 4.0
OpenGL Support 3.0
Bus Interface PCI Express x16
Temperature 56 °C
ForceWare version 280.26
BIOS Version 62.94.4b.00.81
ROPs 8
Shaders 32 unified
Physical Memory 1024 MB
Virtual Memory 2432 MB
Bus Width 128 Bit
Count of performance levels : 1
Level 0
GPU Clock 550 MHz
Memory Clock 400 MHz
Shader Clock 1375 MHz

Hard Drives
WDC WD2500JS
Manufacturer Western Digital
Interface RAID
Capacity 244GB
Real size 250,059,350,016 bytes
RAID Type Hardware RAID
S.M.A.R.T
01 Read Error Rate 200 (200 worst) Data 0000000000
03 Spin-Up Time 227 (179) Data 0000000E18
04 Start/Stop Count 097 (097) Data 0000000C5F
05 Reallocated Sectors Count 200 (200) Data 0000000000
07 Seek Error Rate 200 (200) Data 0000000000
09 Power-On Hours (POH) 078 (078) Data 0000003F44
0A Spin Retry Count 100 (100) Data 0000000000
0B Recalibration Retries 100 (100) Data 0000000000
0C Device Power Cycle Count 097 (097) Data 0000000C27
BE Temperature Difference from 100 064 (046) Data 0000000024
C2 Temperature 114 (096) Data 0000000024
C4 Reallocation Event Count 200 (200) Data 0000000000
C5 Current Pending Sector Count 200 (200) Data 0000000000
C6 Uncorrectable Sector Count 200 (200) Data 0000000000
C7 UltraDMA CRC Error Count 200 (200) Data 0000000000
C8 Write Error Rate / Multi-Zone Error Rate 200 (200) Data 0000000000
Temperature 35 °C
Temperature Range ok (less than 50 °C)
Status Good
Partition 0
Partition ID Disk #0, Partition #0
Disk Letter D:
File System NTFS
Size 9.00GB
Used Space 4.57GB (51%)
Free Space 4.43GB (49%)
Partition 1
Partition ID Disk #0, Partition #1
Disk Letter C:
File System NTFS
Size 224GB
Used Space 86GB (39%)
Free Space 138GB (61%)

Audio
Sound Cards
High Definition Audio Device
Line 6 UX1
Playback Device
Speakers (Line 6 UX1)
Recording Device
Digital Audio Interface (Line 6 UX1)


Thank you very much, hope you can help

 

[Stonerose92]

thinking perhaps my RAM is faulty, it's about 4 years old.

 

[mike1959]

Mottherboard specs.

This site and page gives all the 'specs' of your board, and the section 1.3 gives a list of all the CPU's that you could fit.
http://downloadmirror.intel.com/15116/eng/D945GCL_TechProdSpec.pdf

 

[SKYSTAR]

i think that the best cpu for your board is intel core 2 duo E7300 , and it is also good for gaming
with your 9500 gt and 4 GB of ram........good luck
E7300 spec : http://ark.intel.com/products/36463

 

[Stonerose92]

i think that the best cpu for your board is intel core 2 duo E7300 , and it is also good for gaming
with your 9500 gt and 4 GB of ram........good luck
E7300 spec : http://ark.intel.com/products/36463

I'm no expert but isn't 2.66 ghz slower technically than the one i've got now?

 

[Stonerose92]

This site and page gives all the 'specs' of your board, and the section 1.3 gives a list of all the CPU's that you could fit.
http://downloadmirror.intel.com/15116/eng/D945GCL_TechProdSpec.pdf

thanks a lot, i'll have a look!

 

[SKYSTAR]

no, E7300 is a lot faster than your cpu , the cpu clock is not everything in cpu, it is about the cpu architecture ,i changed my cpu from pentium dual core 3.0 ghz to E7300 2.66 and i notice a huge difference in performance especially in games.

 

[Stonerose92]

no, E7300 is a lot faster than your cpu , the cpu clock is not everything in cpu, it is about the cpu architecture ,i changed my cpu from pentium dual core 3.0 ghz to E7300 2.66 and i notice a huge difference in performance especially in games.

i see, sorry i'm a bit of a processor simpleton haha

 

[dmill89]

Fyi; your board will support 65nm (Conroe and Allendale) Core 2 Duo /Pentium dual-core CPUs with 1066 and 800 mhz FSBs. Here is the intel Core series processor support list for that board. The core2duo E6600 and E6700 would be the fastest supported cpus, and either one would blow that old Pentium D out of the water. As a bonus both can be found used on ebay for around $50-$70 ea. Just remember they must be the core2duo E6600 or E6700 intel recycled those model numbers for some newer 45nm pentium dual-core CPUs that will not work with your board.

 

[Neil010]

Ask Mr J. O. Beard. He is the expert, and perhaps the perfect guy for your querries.

 

[Neil010]

Ask Mr J. O. Beard. He is the expert, and perhaps the perfect guy for your querries.

He is a TechSpot Ambassador.

 

[Stonerose92]

Alright, thanks for the info..
So how do i tell the difference between a good/bad processor... and which processor would you guys recommend for me to get, regarding my setup?
Also, anyone know about my RAM problem?

 

[Modena]

About the RAM problem/issue the only thing I can think of is that you're integrated graphics are still enabled on you're system. Meaning that a portion of you're RAM is being dedicated to that as video memory. You should go into BIOS and try and disable on-board graphics, so that you have all you're RAM available. (just a guess)

 

[Cinders]

That's a decent guess

 

[Stonerose92]

About the RAM problem/issue the only thing I can think of is that you're integrated graphics are still enabled on you're system. Meaning that a portion of you're RAM is being dedicated to that as video memory. You should go into BIOS and try and disable on-board graphics, so that you have all you're RAM available. (just a guess)

Don't have the option on my BIOS :/

 

[dmill89]

Alright, thanks for the info..
So how do i tell the difference between a good/bad processor... and which processor would you guys recommend for me to get, regarding my setup?

any of the core 2 duo conroe E6x00 series are good the C2D E6600 and E6700 would be the best that board supports since they have 4mb L2 cache rather then the 2mb on the lower end core 2 duos (E6300,6400) the E4x00 are even less desirable since they only have an 800 mhz FSB. Any first gen core 2 duo should be avalible on Ebay or at used computer parts outlets for less than $70 and the price diference between the lowest end and highest end CPUs is only $20 or so; because of this minimal price difference there is little reason not to go with the most powerful CPU that board will support.