Looking to upgrade Sempron LE-1300

[dkablack]

So I got this computer, it was free, a neighbor just got a new laptop and decided she no longer wanted the desktop.

It's an HP DX2450 with one of those cheap Sempron LE-1300 2.3 ghz cpus, 1 gb ram, integrated nvidia geforce 256 mb graphics card. I'm looking to upgrade the cpu, but I don't wanna spend much more than $60 on this thing, and I was looking for a dual-core processor, but i'm open to other ideas. This computer is already an upgrade from my old 2001 HP which had a 2.4 ghz Celeron as i've seen better performance in gaming applications. I play older games... counter-strike on my old computer would give me a solid 25 fps, while this computer is around 60 fps.

Not entirely sure the motherboard manufacturer but if anyone knows an upgrade that would be compatible let me know, the computer is about two years old.

 

[Emerald]

page3 has a list of compatible CPUs

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/12918_na/12918_na.PDF

 

[megamanx00]

I say go with the X4 810. Make sure to update your BIOS first just in case.

 

[dkablack]

thanks a lot guys

 

[dkablack]

by the way, it's an am2 socket so i'm not sure i'd be able to go with the x4 810 because i believe it's an am3 socket... basically anything that's not single core is probably going to end up being almost twice as fast as the one i have now..

i'm actually using vista but on this computer it's still faster than the old computer with xp i was using... does the bus speed affect compatibility?


AMD Sempron LE-1300 Processor (2.3-GHz, 512K L2 cache, HT bus 1.0)

That's exactly what this one has.

 

[dkablack]

nevermind i think this is what i was looking for http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-ASUS/M2N68-LA_(Narra3-GL8E).html, thanks to you guys

 

[dkablack]

hey i have another question for you cpu gurus....

I've decided i'm not going to go very big.. maybe an Athlon x2 4400+, because they seem to be pretty inexpensive on eBay ($25-40 used) and I don't use my computer for hardcore gaming.. mostly Counter-Strike 1.6 .. sometimes MS Flight Simulator X.... anyway, my current setup.. 2.3 Ghz Sempron 1300, 1 gb ddr2 ram, 256 mb inboard nvidia geforce graphics card currently gets about 60-70 fps in Counter-Strike and about 20-30 fps in Flight Simulator.

What do you think would benefit me most? Spending some money on the dual-core CPU (which i'm likely to do) and ram? or perhaps getting the CPU and a larger graphics card?

Really i'm not looking at spending more than $100 on everything, although used.. eBay has some very cheap hardware for sale.. I've bought used ram and a used Celeron from there before and used them for the past 3 or so years with no problem so I don't really hesitate to buy from there anymore (if the part is dead on arrival... ebay makes sure the seller is accountable for the problem, they will even refund you your money if you still have a problem and can't solve it with the seller).

Something else... I noticed the X2 4400's run at 89 Watts? I think my motherboard isn't supposed to go above a TDP of 91 watts... not sure if my lingo is right.. but would this be okay to run in my system?

 

[megamanx00]

AM3 CPUs do run on am2/am2+ boards with proper BIOS support. If you don't want to spend much though I say go with at least an Athlon 5000+. As for the video card you have to remember that you only have an anemic 300W PSU that may not even deliver that much power for a sustained amount of time. As such you have to go with a low power card that draws all it's power from the PCI-E slot. Considering you also are looking for something used I'd say go with a Radeon 4670, a 5570, an nVidia 9500GT or even a Radeon 3650. Any of those cards would be a huge improvement over your current IGP.