To upgrade a processor do i need a new motherboard?

Question

ok, I wanted to add this info to be more exact.
I have an old hp desktop computer with
Intel Celeron Processor
1.10 GHz 256 MB of RAM

Answer 1

YES! It seems that what you have there are all SLOW and pretty outdated; socket 370 Celeron, PC100 or PC133 SDRAM and 4X AGP interface. Not worth upgrading those components.

Consider the budget dual cores like the AMD X2 3600+ or Intel's E2140. It would be a cheap but awesome upgrade to your old Celeron.

Answer 2

I have worked on those before. If I recall it capped out at 1.3GHz. Not much of an upgrade and a complete waste of money.

That computer is at the borderline of being worthless. It will do what most older people do on computers just fine. Check email, browse the web, write papers, play solitare, listen to music, watch videos, etc... Of course if it still has win98 you may have some serious deficiencies. There are ways around them though - one example is using firefox as your browser to take advantage of having a flash plugin, security, etc. But you will not get adobe acrobat 8.0 on there. XP makes a world of difference.

There is nothing salvagable other than the optical drive, the hard drive, and the case itself if it is ATX compliant when doing a worthwhile upgrade. I would look into buying a new computer or building a new computer yourself or have a friend that knows what they are doing build you one.

Answer 3

I think you should wait a while. Your current setup will still play new games rather nicely. I personally went from a 775 setup to a new 1155 socket board and i5 processor for 400 bucks. I can tell you the speed difference is hardly noticeable. The best thing you could probably do is take the money you have and get a nice Solid State drive.

Answer 4

In general, yes.

However, if you figure out the model of your current motherboard, and the socket type, you may be able to identify faster processors that are compatible.

The problems are that the "faster" processor might only be found in museums, and that the chipset on the motherboard may not adequately support the processor.

Answer 5

Not necessarily. To upgrade your processor, make sure that your motherboard can handle the faster speed and, and the power supply can handle the increased power. Of course the processor has to be the same socket.

Answer 6

If you want anything current and really will last ... yes you need a new motherboard ($80-100) and processor ($250) and Ram ($100) and power supply ($50). Now you have to ask yourself is it really worth it ... should you buy new instead.

Answer 7

it would be easyer and cheaper to upgrade ram. you must know if your mother will work wil another cpu. and if so, the system has to be reinstalled from a windows disk.

Answer 8

You'd be much better off replacing both together.