Would I benefit from a cpu upgrade?

Looking to go for a temp upgrade before a new build in a few months.

Currently have an old S754 Sempron 1.6ghz cpu - 2gb ddr - Gecube HD3850 grfx card but think the CPU is limiting it alot.

Thinking of upgrading to a 2.4ghz athlon cpu, with 512kb l2 cache. Mainly use photoshop on the pc, few games like pro evo, battlefield 2.

Here is a screenshot of cpu usage during 'general' use.
http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/2671/slowwwwts3.gif

Do you think this needs an upgrade, and I will benefit with faster loading times with general use?


Also.. is a new cpu just a case of getting old cpu out, putting new one in, applying grease, fit fan. and thats it?

Yeah you can swap the CPU you like that no problem. I assume thats a single core 2.4GHz. You will get an improvement, whether it's worth it or not is another story, but probably considering its a 50% boost. When are you planning a major upgrade, i7?

Are you sure you can still buy socket 754 Athlons?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by nick1

Are you sure you can still buy socket 754 Athlons?

---

2nd hand market such as ebay

I dunno...I think it'd be better to save your cash and do a major mobo/CPU upgrade in a few months when the i7 (formerly called "Nahalem") chips come out, but thats just me. I've never been real big on small or temporary upgrades; I'd rather do big ones and not have to worry about it for a while. :D

My previous rig has the same CPU as yours, the sempron 2800 (see thing on the left), i built a whole new machine (see sig), and the processor has made a huge improvement, before the smepron i had an athlon 2600 i think it was, 2.2ghz version and it was better then the sempron, but i wouldnt upgrade to that, get a dual core, it will help with photoshopinga dn all that and much beter performance too, i would recommend upgrading the motherboard and processor, to soamething like a e2180 and p35 board, would make a massive improvement!

I'm still using a S754 Athlon 64 3000+ and I wouldn't advise you to upgrade. The CPU will be better then your current one but not enough to justify spending money on it. Get a new motherboard and dual core chip.

Waiting for i7 would be good only if you have a very high budget, otherwise there isn't much point in waiting.

You can get relatively cheap S775 boards and CPUs and ridiculously cheap DDR2 RAM at the moment.

It will obviously cost more then just upgrading the CPU but will be a much better return on your money, both in the short- and long-run.

Might be a few good second hand deals as well. Lots of the older E6xxx and E4xxx CPUs are being sold dirt cheap at the moment, plus a number of 975/965/P35 boards.

DDR2 RAM is so cheap is hardly worth buying second hand.

The older hardware such as the 754 kit often has a very over-inflated price due to being so rare.

IMO - Don't bother, or try OC'ing.

Ok got a 3200+ 754 cpu with 512kb L2 for quite cheap.

Should be here in a few days.

Now just wandering, is the retail sempron heatsink ok to use with the athlon cpu, or should I get a new one?