Hi. I have got a Dell Dimensions 8300. It has a 2.6 GHZ processor.. How do i find out what is the highest speed processor I can have with my current motherboard ? I went to a site called www.powerleap.com and they identified that i could have an upgrade to a " Intel P4 3.2GHz 800MHz 478pin 1MB L2 Prescott CPU Retail 800 Front Side Bus But .. maybe i can have a faster processor ? Also my RAM .. is DDR DIMM PC3200. Can I put faster RAM in my pc ? I have 4 DIMM slots Thanks for your help .
Off-hand, I don't know the limitations of the motherboard in your Dell so I would check with them to see if what you can go to for sure. For the RAM, yes, you can put faster RAM in there, but it's going to be worthless as you won't be able to make use of the higher speed options past PC3200. PC3200 corresponds perfectly with an 800MHz FSB P4, and since you really can't do much in the overclocking department with the motherboard you have, it doesn't make any sense to buy PC3500, for example. You can still buy, say, PC4000, but the additional speed ceiling won't do you any good. You can increase the capacity, however.
