PC Upgrade...

[janzman]

..My PC uses an Intel Pentium 4 CPU. Can I simply change the CPU for a more modern,powerful unit or would I have to change the whole tower.Any suggestions greatfully received.

[Old_Geezer]

My guuess is that if you have to ask it may not be ideal just changing the CPU. I usually find by the time a CPU is a candidate for change, so is the motherboard and much of everything else.

[deggers316]

what u using your comp for ?
pentium 4 is powerful enough for general use but as old geezer says if your changing that you might as well buy a whole new tower unit

[VHG]

Motherboards and CPUs tend to go "hand in hand" in terms of technoloogy.

When a generation of CPUs come out then the motherboards of the day support these CPUs.

But then a new generation of CPUs come out which will often have a different number of pins, or use different sockets or voltages or whatever.

So to use these CPUs you need a motherboard of the same "generation".

So the answer is that NO you cant put a new modern CPU in an older motherboard.

You will need a new motherboard, and CPU, and probably memory as well, so it is often easier to "start again"..

[ChuckFickens]

If you can find one then you may be able to fit a slightly faster P4 than you have at the moment, but you wouldn't be able to fit a later processor type without changing the motherboard which would mean you'd need to also change at least the RAM and possibly the graphics card and power supply too.

So basically.... no, you can't change your CPU unless you change a lot of other parts and by the time you add up the cost of all the parts it would probably be cheaper to replace the whole tower with a newer one.

[janzman]

Thanks for your thoughts OG and degger.I think maybe I'll treat myself to a late (or very early) Christmas pressy and get a new tower

[janzman]

Oops..previous answer without seeing VHG and Chuck,thanx to you both,you've reinforced my mind to upgrade system.

[AlBags]

Just go for the fastest CPU that your motherboard supports.
If the clock speed is not at least 1/3 more than yours is at the moment, it's probably not worth doing.
Upgrade Motherboard, CPU, memory and Graphics card together.