[openmind]

Now although I'm a seasoned developer and host, matching processors to old motherboards is something I sometimes struggle with.

I've got HP DC7700 in the office and basically what I would like to know what is the fastest processor I can install on the board?

Belarc reports the following:

Board: Hewlett-Packard 0A58h
Serial Number: CZC6400D6H
Bus Clock: 1066 megahertz
BIOS: Hewlett-Packard 786E1 v01.09 01/05/2007

The current processor is:

1.87 gigahertz Intel Core 2 Duo
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
2048 kilobyte secondary memory cache

It would have to be a 32 bit processor...

[Andy Trish]

you would get the best performance off the motherboard with a 2.6, it will go very slightly higher but degrades performance of the motherboard then

[openmind]

Will it make a tremendous difference to the speed though?

[Andy Trish]

no, with PCs you need to ensure all bottlenecks are catered for so need ram, faster processor, good speed hard drives etc, upgrading one doesnt mean the others will keep up.

[Andy Trish]

http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench...ormance/3902/5

this shows what you get in performance

[openmind]

OK so to flip the question on its head, what is the fastest motherboard/processor combo I can get in that casing plus costs?

I already have 4GB of high quality RAM and a FireMV graphics card so that's covered.

I'm looking at switching the disks to Raptors unless you can recommend better?

Speed is everything to me as I don't use this machine for gaming, just development...

[openmind]

I've decided I'm rebuilding the office computer and using some of the bits from it for the new system. Could I ask you to take a look at this spec and advise any improvements?

New Parts
Case: QUARTZ II 4BAY 450W BLK/SLV USB/AUD/LCD (£32.00)
PSU: 450W (Included with case)
Motherboard: Asus 780a SAM2+ DDR2-1066 3xSLI OBV OBS 2xGbE (£124.35)
Processor: Intel Q9450 C2QUAD 2.66GHZ S775 1333FSB 12MB (£178.45)
System Disk: Western Digital 150GB VelociRaptor 10,000RPM SATA 16MB (£110.99)

Existing Parts:
4 x 1GB Supertalent DDR2 667 MHz Ram
2 x ATI FireMV2400 PCIe 128MB Graphics Cards
1 x Samsung 160MB 8MB Cache 7200rpm SATA Hard Disk
1 x Hitachi 250GB 7MB Cache 7200 rpm SATA Hard Disk
1 x Seagate 250GB External Backup Disk
DVD writer/Card Reader/Floppy etc...
Windows XP Pro 64 Bit

Any suggestions or comments?

[Andy Trish]

I don't custom build anymore Phil, Simon is your man for this.

do you have a gb network switch?

[openmind]

I'll be doing the build myself so that bits covered

I won't need a network switch as this comp will connect directly to the broadband though a 100Mbps card...

[HuggyBear]

Phil,

You do know that the motherboard is not compatible with the C2Quad CPU?

You need a socket 775 motherboard for your intel chip mate

EDIT: Something like this -> http://cpsdirect.co.uk/product_info....oducts_id=5564