Processor upgrade on D4790Y

[nr1958]

How high can I go?  I'm running an HP D4790Y with

Core 2 Duo E6600 (C) DC (2.4GHz / 1066 MHz) 4 MB L2 cache; Dual Core

What are my processor upgrade options?

Thanks,

NIck

[Big_Dave]

Here is the link to the D4790Y motherboard specifications.  The big unknown is what the bios will support for processors.  You will probably have to reinstall the operating system with a processor upgrade.

What OS are you using and what is your current bios level?

The HP PartSurfer is showing the E6700 as an available part.  Your bios should be good for that model.  However, it's not much of a boost. 

Your best upgrade would be a good graphics card but then your power supply will also need upgrading. If your are running a 32 bit OS then max out your main memory for a little boost.

[snipe]

Yes graphics card is always a good jump, but if you go too high you just bottelneck at your processor.  You can probably get a 9800GTX or GTX 260 and still be good.  As for processor you can TRY other socket 775 CPUs but they might not be supported in bios, so that means upto anything with a FSB of 1066, but that is speculation.  What you can do is buy a new microATX mobo and CPU but if you do that you might as well go further. I have a friend who has an e6600 and an 8800GT XXX and it is really good.

If this computer is over 2 yrs old and you are looking for some sort of gaming rig I would build custom (SELL OLD ONE), but if all you want is a faster CPU then you are limited.  I would say build custom anyways as you have more options.  You can build a really fast gaming rig Core I7 930 (Cheaper then 920 and faster), 6GB OCZ Platinum DDR3, Asus P6T Motherboard, Nvidia GTX 285, OCZ ModXStream 700w PSU, for $1327.91 before tax and shipping, then just add the cost of a new case (ANY CASE), CD/DVD drive and OS. I just threw this together in like 5 mins, you can probably build this system or one very similar to it for less, hey you may not want such a high end video card or you may want to go even faster like to DX11 with the ATI 5xxx series. 

I just wish I had built custom instead of buying HP for my gaming rig, I have since made many changes to mine.