I have a Dell Dimension E310 computer with the following motherboard: Dell Part#: JC474 0JC474 WJ770 0WJ770 Socket: LGA775; 800Mhz FSB Chipset: Intel 915GV Graphics: Intel GMA 950 I was told that the 3.2GHz P4 640 is the fastest processor I could put in the board, but I wanted to see if there were any other better options out there. Thanks very much in advance for your help!

Which CPU do you have now? Why do you feel you need to upgrade & for what purpose? A memory upgrade is usually much more cost effective & will offer greater performance gains. If you don't have at least 1GB RAM, invest in memory instead. And get a real video card too...the GMA950 sucks.

The current processor is a P4 521 at 2.8GHz with a 800Mhz FSB. The reason why I was asking about changing the processor to a better one is becuase my motherboard failed. I found an identical replacement board for dirt cheap and before I put my existing processor on the replacement board, I was just curious to know if there's a better processor option for my rig. If you know of any, send them my way so I can look into them. I just purchased the maximum amount of memory the board can handle. You mentioned installing a graphics card. Do you have any suggestions on a good, not to expensive card? Thanks.

How much did you buy that replacement for? hopefully no more then 25 bucks, because for 44 bucks you could have gotten a much better motherboard that would not only support the current processor that you have but it would support even the latest intel quad core processors as well, which your current motherboard won't not to mention dual core processors. ASRock G31M-S LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard $44 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ... As for the graphics card if you are looking for a decent graphics card at an affordable price then the ATI Radeon 4670 is your best bet. SAPPHIRE 100255HDMI Radeon HD 4670 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card $70 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ... Iron Sharpens Iron.

Whoa make sure you do not buy a graphics card that is not supported. The e310 (i have one) only has pci and one pci express x1 expansion slot. I would suggest a pci card but you won't get much performance increase over the built in card. pcie x1 cards are way overpriced and not all that worth buying. For your processor, I was looking at the intel e5200 dual core lga775 2mb cache as an upgrade, but I am still not sure it is worth the hassel and if the bios even supports it. I would recommend first updating the ram because I bet you only have a max of 1GB installed.

http://support.dell.com/support/edo...