Hello Cpu Upgrade Question

Hi, I just joined here, pleased to meet you all.

I need some expert advice

I have HP pavilion m7680n pc with dual processor running Windows 7.

I currently have 4 gigs ram, and a ATI HD4890 video card, and Thermaltake 650 watt psu that i upgraded everything is working great upgraded to windows 7 as well.

my question is what kind of CPU can i upgrade to without changing the motherboard?

the specs are here, http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00739902&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&product=3230688

the cpu upgrade is the last i am going to do to this pc and i cannot get a new one yet but it is still a good pc i just want to upgrade to the best possible CPU for it.

Thanks,

Cabledawg.

 

Just had a quick look and I don't think you are going to get a much better CPU with that motherboard

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&cc=us&docname=c00748726&dlc=en

But I will do a little research, and Dalo will probably look in some time tomorrow (Tue GMT) and tell you for definite what the best processor you can get will be.

 

Thank you for looking! I know it won't be much and it'll be hard to find as well, just want to know what options i have. a little more is better than none.

 

by the way I currently have Intel 6400 @ 2.13GHz

 

OK just had a quick look around and found this

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20071230113154265&board_id=1&model=P5B&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

The last post in the thread states

But if you wait for Dalo's opinion he will give you a definite answer. :c00l:

and I'll carry on digging to see what I can come up with in the spec/Data sheets for the board and CPU's

 

I would say that the best CPU that I think you could run on that board would be the Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q6700

Going by the motherboard specifications

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&cc=us&docname=c00748726&dlc=en

with the Intel P965 Chipset

http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/chipsets/p965/p965-overview.htm

and the CPU's that I can find

Intel Core 2 Duo's

http://www.intel.com/products/processor/core2duo/specifications.htm

and the Intel Core 2 Quad's

http://www.intel.com/products/processor/core2quad/specifications.htm

but we would also have to look at your Power Supply Unit to make sure it would be able to power the CPU.

what say you Dalo? am I right or can you find better?

 

Hi,

From looking at that board and the fact that it cannot be found on ASUS website it must just be a one off that they have done for HP, while most 'newer' versions of chips are made available via BIOS updates, I would not like to put anything in that MOBO other than the original chips stated by HP.
That being said it does support an FSB of 1066 so technically any 1066 (Kentsfield or Conroe) CPUs will do MAKE sure they are the 65nm ones though
You can still get the Q6600 CPU online for around £150 and is regarded by myself as the best CPU EVER made........

You would be far better off buying a new MOBO that supports faster RAM and CPUs than try and upgrade an old technology.

 

Is the Q6600 faster than the Q6700?

 

The Q6700 is listed as having a clock speed of 2.66Ghz the Q6600 is listed as having a clock speed of 2.4Ghz so [acronym='To be honest']TBH[/acronym] you wouldn't notice, unless you are going to pay for digital timing equipment to monitor it.

 

The thing with the Q6600 is that it has the 'GO Stepping' it is a proven overclocker and basically ruled the CPU market for a VERY long time, I have a few machines based around a Q6600 and DirtyPolo has one too - they overclock to 3.3-3.4GHz on air and can be pushed as far as 4.0GHz (I have one doing this 24/7) on water.