Q: I currently have this motherboard: http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=1705 And I currently have Pentium 4 2.4Ghz w/ 1.5GB of RAM. Do you think it's a good idea to upgrade to Pentium 4 3.0Ghz, or even 3.4Ghz, alos HT or not HT? sushi: Can you possibly suggest me any good cheap motherboard and CPU package?
A: On that outdated platform, the upgrade is not worth it. Performance gain will not be significant and you are stuck with AGP graphics. HT makes the (PRES-HOT) processor really run HOT. Most users just turned off HT. Some OEMs even disabled HT in BIOS to keep temps down. If you just want to improve overall performance, just overclock your current processor. 3.0gHz should not be too challenging. Just spend your money on graphics upgrade. If you consider an upgrade to current platform, take note that you will not be able to use your old RAM and graphics card. Some options: Cheap: Pentium E2200 processor and Gigabyte or Asus mobo w/ G31 or G33 chipset (can overclock the E2200 to ~3.0gHz). Better: E8400 processor on mobo w/ P45 chipset.