Is there any way for me to upgrade to a new CPU?

Question

Ok, about two years ago, my dad purchased the emachines T3422 Desktop PC. Ever since then I have been spending hundreds of dollars upgrading it to be more of a "gaming" pc. I now have a 500 watt power supply, 2 GB of RAM, the Evga Geforce 8800 GTS 320 mb, and well...that's it. The only problem with the gaming is that it always has slowdowns with my two favorite games: F.E.A.R. and Oblivion. The reason is that I have now found out, is my processor. It is an Intel Celeron D processor with 3.06 GHz and 533 MHz, also with a 256 KB L2 Cache if that means anything.

My whole question is this, Is there any way I can upgrade to a new faster processor without possibly damaging my computer?

and if so, where can I find this "faster and smoother gameplay mechanics" CPU?

ok, i have found out the processor info, here it is: Intel Celeron D 346 3.06GHz / 256KB Cache / 533MHz FSB / Socket 775 / Processor

for those that wanted to know the "xx" thing (not sure what that is...like 64xx or whatever) here is what I found: Celeron 3xx (775)

thank you, everyone for the reassurance on the ability as to upgrading from this stupid CPU to a new one, thank you all for the help.

Answer 1

I would say yes, you can upgrade the cpu. But first you must determine what cpu socket your mother board has. If it is a socket 775, then you can probably go as high as a Pent. D 8xx processor. If, on the other hand, you have a socked 478, you may not be able to locate a faster processor because they are getting pretty hard to find.

Take a look at either Tiger Direct or ZipZoomFly. Tiger has much better product discriptions, but the Zipper does not charge for shipping, when you use their ground service.

Before you do anything see if you can locate the specs on the board that you have. That way you can match the cpu's buss speed to that of the motherboard.

Answer 2

You need to know what motherboard you have.If it is a socket 775 then there will be some options for you.But it all boils down to your motherboard.

Answer 3

you have the msi ms-7173 motherboard

any p4 will work goto newegg.com as most have free shipping and are about $75-90

Answer 4

Do a websearch for your motherboard and see what CPU's will fit. It should be easily upgradeable.

Answer 5

definitely upgradeable...

check your mobo [motherboard] to see what type of socket it is and which CPU's it can handle

what specs to look at... CPU Socket Type & CPU Type

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Category/category_cpu.asp

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/deptcpu.hmx?

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=343&name=CPUs-Processors

Answer 6

YOU DID NOT WRITE THE TYPE OF YOUR MOTHER BOARD. IF YOU ARE USING D9xx SERIES MOTHER BOARD, YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR PROCESSOR WITHE INTEL PENTIUM D PROCESSORS. BUT IF YOU USING INTEL D94x SERIES MOTHER BOARD, YOUR CAN CHANGE YOUR PROCESSOR WITH PENTIUM D OR INTEL DUAL CORE PROCESSOR