Can I Upgrade My Computer's Processor to a Celeron 440?

[runner]

my computer has a Celeron 420 processor (1.6 GHz). is it possible to upgrade it to a Celeron 440 (2.0 GHz) by just plugging in the new processor and adding new drivers, or does it require a new motherboard? I've changed and added a few components in the past, but this would be a first time attempt at this if it's doable. thanks.

 

[Integral]

go to your motherboard manufactuer site to find if your motherboard will take the faster processor. It may work as is, or it could requrie that you upgrade the boards BIOS.

Generally there are no drivers associated with a CPU.

 

[AFG34]

you would get next to no real life performance boost. Computers are really cheap these days.

 

[B. Elliott]

go to your motherboard manufactuer site to find if your motherboard will take the faster processor. It may work as is, or it could requrie that you upgrade the boards BIOS.

Generally there are no drivers associated with a CPU.

As AFG34 said, there wouldn't be a signifigant increase in performance just from the frequency increae. The processors are identical except for the bus multiplier built into them (8 vs. 10). Same L1 and L2 cache sizes and all. The best increase in performance that you could get would be stepping up to the next architecture level if you motherboard supports it. If your motherboard currently holds a Celeron 420, you may be able to upgrade to a Pentium D805 or D915. You'd get a frequency increase of over 1GHz along with a larger L2 cache size (4x times as much for the dual core D915).

The only downfall, greater heat dissipation and power consumption... almost 3x as much power consumption.