Upgrade my Dell to P3 Tualatin. Researched, need comments.

[melayout]

So I have a Dell Dimension 4100 with the following:

- Pentium Coppermine 1GHz 370 socket
- 815 chipset motherboard, A-stepping
- Maxed out 512MB memory

I'm looking into upgrading to the P3 Tualatin(0.13) 1.266 or 1.4 Ghz 512KB cache cpus.

According to Tom's Hardware, I have a A-stepping chipset that doesn't support the pin relocation on the P3 Tualatin and therefore I need an adapter. The adapters I found are:
- Powerleap : $49.99 (Tested to work with Dimension 4100 mobo)
- Upgradeware : $29.99 (Tested to work with Dimension 4100 mobo)
- No name brands : $5-20 (Some work with 4100, some have not been tested)

So I guess I'll go with the the upgradeware adapter since it is tested to work and cheaper than the powerleap.

As for the replacement CPU, I'm considering the 1.266 or 1.4 GHz.

The reviews and benchmarks on the P3 Tualatin 1.266 512KB show that it outperforms the 1GHZ, my current cpu, by 10-20%.

But I haven't found any for the 1.4 GHz chip, but looking at the price difference between the 1.266, $72 at StarMicro and 1.4, $129 at StarMicro, it doesn't look like a <200Mhz increase is worth the near double price.

My Dell is my main and only desktop running Gentoo with Linux 2.6.x.

So what do you think? 1.266 or 1.4? StarMicro's prices are a good amount lower than the competition, is that too good ? Are they reputable enough ?

Thanks in advance

 

[Crashman]

I'd go with the $5 cheapy. Virtually all of them are the same model, marked Lin-Lin on the box, if one works all identicle versions work.

 

[melayout]

So the upgradeware one is just like the cheap no-name brands, but the powerleap is more complicated and that's the one I heard had compatibility problems with the 4100 and they had to rework it.

I assume my current heatsink will just fit on the adapter since it has the hooks for them, right?

As for the CPU, should I go with the 1.266 or is the 1.4 better enough to justify?

Also, is there any cheaper place to get the 1.266 or 1.4 than StarMicro ?

Thanks again.

Edit: So which cheap adapter, this http://www.mycableshop.com/sku/FC-PGA2.htm or http://www.hardwarecooling.com/product_info.php/prod/199/FC-PGA2_Tualatin_Adapter_for_Socket_370_FC-PGA , either better ?

This comment http://www.hardwarecooling.com/product_reviews_info.php/cat/44_66/prod/199/reviews_id/115 about it not working on the old Dell Dimensions is what worries me.

If the upgradeware adapter states that w.r.t. my mobo I don't need any PSU/jumper changes, the cheap no-name ones shouldn't be different?

 

[melayout]

Another question, can I use the 1.2GHz 512KB server CPU on my single cpu i815 chipset or do I have togo with the 1.2GHz 256KB desktop CPU?

Thanks again.

 

[Crashman]

First of all, the two adapters you showed are the same thing. Compgeeks used to sell these for $4. They work fine on most systems.

I'd probably go with the 1.26 with 256k. The 512k will perform a little better, but the motherboard might throw a fit over not recognizing it.