CPU Upgrading

[drfsupercenter]

OK, well, this is probably just an impulse, but I thought I'd try upgrading my CPU.

Currently I have a 2.0GHz Pentium 4. I never bothered before because Pentium chips were $100 and more at computer stores... but looking around eBay I found a ton of them for $20 and less. The problem is, I know Dell uses these weird custom parts and I don't want to buy one that won't work.

Here are a few CPU-z screenshots I took, if they help:

http://drfsupercenter.info/Pictures/cpuz1.PNG

http://drfsupercenter.info/Pictures/cpuz2.PNG

http://drfsupercenter.info/Pictures/cpuz3.PNG

Now, I read from some forum posts (that I found via Google) that the max speed my motherboard supports is 2.8GHz. Anyone know if that's true or not? Regardless, I figured I'd just get the max speed, to save myself from having to upgrade again in a year or two. The problem is, there's so many different types of CPUs I have no idea what will work and what won't.

Here is one I found on eBay:
Type: CPU / Microprocessor
Family: Intel Pentium 4
Part number: BX80546PG2800E
Frequency (GHz): 2.8
Bus speed (MHz): 800
Clock multiplier: 14
Socket type Socket: 478 (mPGA478B)
CPUID: 0F33h
Core stepping: D0
Processor core: Prescott
Manufacturing technology: (micron) 0.09
L2 cache size (KB): 1024
Features: Hyper-Threading technology
Hyper-Threading: Y

Now, I have no idea if Hyper-Threading will work or not, or if any non-Northwoods will work. I just know that it's hard to find a 1MB cache (rather than 512KB)... and that's the cheapest that came up.

Any ideas or suggestions? I'm a complete n00b when it comes to upgrading hardware (other than the obvious stuff like DVD drives).

[atifsh]

i may have to double check but yesterday i was browsing for ur fan, found ur mobo supports just 400 bus cpu, that pretty old and hard to find, common are 533 or 800 bus. this 800 bus wont work for sure.

[drfsupercenter]

Yeah, I know mine's old.

Any idea where to find one then?

[doctorhardware]

You might be able to use the case and get a new motherboard. I bought a CPU and motherboard combo for around $99.99. That was a couple of years ago. It was for my nephew's Emachines computer. Had to replace the power supply also as it pooped when I turned it on.

[dr_ml422]

@drf Build yourself a sweet spot. I know you could do it. It's like connecting the dots. Tiger Direct has a whole lil bundle of case, psu n some other essentials for a great price. Don't break your head on that Dell upgrade. I already went that route n there's so much you can do w/a prebuild.

doc's suggestion is good though. Keep case as I like my Dell E310's case.

[drfsupercenter]

I'm not made of money though.

And I like the 2350 case, it's smaller than most standard ones. For now I just want to max out the one I have, it'll work fine for a while.

[dr_ml422]

Ok. Well if you ever want to you could just do it piece meal. That way it won't drain your pocket all at once. Just a suggestion. And always keep another on hand. They will come in handy. Believe me.