I have decided to upgrade the cpu in my Dell 4600. I just want to up the performance a little to hold me over another year or so. I currently have a 2.4b 533fsb and want to go to a 3.0ht 800fsb or a 3.2ht 800fsb both northwoods. My first question is would a 3.0 1mb l2 cache be better than a 3.2 512k l2 cache. My second question is when I upgrade should I stay with the stock thermal pad or do away with it and use a grease such as Artic?
you are better off with onboard video in upgrading the cpu to 3.4ghz but both have agp 8x slot. board specs link with onboard videocard http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4600/en/4600i/sm/specs.htm#1111379 board specs link with seperate videocard http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4600/en/4600/sm/specs.htm#1084976
I do not have onboard video. I have a bfg 6600 gt oc. After doing more research it appears that their is no northwood with 1mb l2 cache and it is unclear if a 3.2 cpu will work with my stock motherboard so I think I will go with the 3.0 800fsb northwood. I still need to know If I should use the stock thermal pad or just use grease.
