OEM Processor or New mobo & processor

[Tony Starks]

What do you guys think is best I can't decide? Should I upgrade my cpu and get a very hard to find p4 3.06ghz 533 FSB 512 L2 for $270 OEM which is the limit my current mobo can upgrade to. OR should I buy a P4 3.2 800 FSB 1MB L2 NEW for $235 and a new mobo maybe this one ABIT "AS8" i865PE Chipset $88. Not to sure on which mobo to get. Problem is that if I do get a new mobo I Refuse to buy new Ram or Graphic card. I have no choice but swap my 2 sticks of DDR 512MB 266 and my AGP 6800GT and 1 SATA along with 2 ATA Hard drives. If you guy know of another Mobo that supports my ram has AGP let me know looking to spend no more than $350 CPU ($235) and Mobo ($115 left). My plan before was to max out my current mobo to 3.06 and stick with that for like a year and a half and then start building a new rig with all the new tech out. So performance wise will the new mobo and cpu really out perform and destroy just buying the 3.06ghz. Which is a smarter move?

[glc]

The smart move is wait till you can afford a processor, motherboard, AND ram. Reuse that DDR 266 and it will bottleneck any 800 FSB upgrade you do - and the 3.06/533 is not worth that kind of dough.

[Tony Starks]

I was afraid of that I should have bought the 3.06 at $199 3months ago when I saw it. Never really thought that cpu's would go up in price as new ones come out. go figure
I really need to upgrade now need Hyperthreading any other suggestions?

[Cricket]

Exactly why do you need to upgrade? Your computer isn't that slow.

It's gonna come down to this...it's your computer and you're the one who's gonna have to decide what you want to do with it...use it as is, upgrade just the CPU or upgrade the CPU, motherboard and RAM.

Cricket

[Tony Starks]

Im looking for hyperthreading cause for example when I burn a DVD it uses 100% of my CPU and the computer is untouchable for one hour until its complete. Same goes for other programs. My friend has almost the same PC as me but he has Hyperthreding and it only take hime 30min to make a DVD he can also use his PC while it is burning, like surf the web and stuff.
Question saw this on ebay what does it mean.
pentium 4 3.06 533fsb HT SL6S5 ****C1 Stepping****
SL6S5 Malay Northwood C1 Stepping
what is C1 stepping?? and Malay?

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Tony Starks Question saw this on ebay what does it mean. pentium 4 3.06 533fsb HT SL6S5 ****C1 Stepping**** SL6S5 Malay Northwood C1 Stepping what is C1 stepping?? and Malay?

"C1 stepping" is the core revision identifier. A CPU core goes through several revisions during it's production run.

"Malay" means that CPU was made in Malaysia.

Cricket

[Punked Out Comp]

If all you need is the Hyper threading, then I guess upgrade the processor first and then upgrade the Ram as soon as possible. While you have the old ram and the new processor, youll get the hyperthreading benefits (I believe) but the speed will stay more or less the same until you upgrade the ram.

[glc]

when I burn a DVD it uses 100% of my CPU

I don't think the lack of hyperthreading is causing this. Look elsewhere for your problem - like make sure DMA is enabled. Don't throw money at an issue till you exhaust other solutions.

[Tony Starks]

Whats DMA?

[Cricket]

DMA: Direct Memory Access.

Cricket

[glc]

Open the properties of your primary and secondary IDE controllers in device manager - on the advanced settings tab, all channels should be DMA if available. If any are PIO Only, change them.