General

[quote=BobR]
The Core2 Duo is a newer chip design, but I don't think any of that would make up for the slower clock speed.[/quote]

uarch > clock speed Bob...I had to school another basiler about that already. Dont be next

Before you go upgrading OP, has your computer ran maplestory consistently this way? Or has it slowed down?

The Pentium D 955 Extreme Edition is not listed to be compatible with the 945P chipset. http://ark.intel.com/products/chipsets/8764

Okay, so after doing some more research I'm now a little more confused. Using EVEREST Ultimate Edition and the scanning software on the hp website, I found that I for sure have [url=http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00680716&tmp_task=prodinfoCategory&cc=us&dlc=en&lang=en&lc=en&product=3199132#N22]this[/url] mobo, right? Well, look at this:

"Supports the following processors:

Pentium D [b]800[/b] series (Smithfield) up to 3.2 GHz
Pentium 4 600 series (Prescott) up to 670
Pentium 4 500 series up to 580 (Prescott)"

"Base processor
PentiumD [b]940[/b] (P) DC 3.2 GHz

800 MHz front side bus
Socket 775"

Could this processor be an exception? Is there a mistake on the mobo specifications for the CPU or am I reading it incorrectly? If this was a mistake, would [url=http://www.ebay.com/itm/261036468411?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649]this[/url] processor, also part of the 900 series, work for me?

Sorry for all the questions, I just can't risk spending money on something that might not work.

But essentially it really doesn't matter as far as noticeable performance as far as the specs of the new RAM versus the old RAM.
As long as it's DDR2, get whatever you can afford.

Also, I've bought a lot of stuffff from eBay and the only time I've gotten stiffed was for a Stargate SG-1 DVD set... never for tech stuff.

[quote=2005chuy]Alright so according to that website, like @Chrozome said, the CPU is almost twice as fast. The GPU, however, is slightly over two & a half times better. Since it's so cheap, I'll be getting the GeForce 210 GPU for sure. Before I make a decision on the CPU, though, I'd like to know if anyone knows other safe websites to buy a CPU from besides eBay/Newegg/TigerDirect/Geeks. I've found no better among those latter 3 and don't really trust eBay. Building a new one is out of the question for now too.

Thanks for the help so far guys, I've really appreciated it.

Edit: Also, if I get more RAM, it doesn't have to be by the same company, does it? As long as it's DDR2 SDRAM it should be fine, right? Also, what about the speed? Will my current two DDR2-533 sticks of ram be compatible with two more sticks of, say, DDR2-1066?[/quote]

Make sure they have the same amount of pins. Also it will probably be slowed down to the ram you have right now.

Alright so according to that website, like @Chrozome said, the CPU is almost twice as fast. The GPU, however, is slightly over two & a half times better. Since it's so cheap, I'll be getting the GeForce 210 GPU for sure. Before I make a decision on the CPU, though, I'd like to know if anyone knows other safe websites to buy a CPU from besides eBay/Newegg/TigerDirect/Geeks. I've found no better among those latter 3 and don't really trust eBay. Building a new one is out of the question for now too.

Thanks for the help so far guys, I've really appreciated it.

Edit: Also, if I get more RAM, it doesn't have to be by the same company, does it? As long as it's DDR2 SDRAM it should be fine, right? Also, what about the speed? Will my current two DDR2-533 sticks of ram be compatible with two more sticks of, say, DDR2-1066?

@BobR: Well it'll improve every single function the computer performs though..
Though I agree with you I would much rather build a new computer.

[quote=Chrozome]You're wrong about the CPU thing according to this
http://cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Pentium+D+3.20GHz
http://cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Core2+Duo+E6600+%40+2.40GHz
The e6600 is nearly twice as fast[/quote]
Probably the improved architecture then. I didn't look up the actual differences between the CPUs.
I guess then the question becomes- is the improvement (if any) in Maplestory worth $69..?

[quote=BobR]Bus speed means how fast the system can send data between the CPU chip and the memory (and other peripherials).
But it's a minor factor compared to the CPU speed. I wouldn't downgrade CPU speed to get a faster bus speed. 3.2Ghz is definitely a good CPU speed.
The Core2 Duo is a newer chip design, but I don't think any of that would make up for the slower clock speed.

The video card you linked to IS better, but not by a whole lot.
This site gives an idea of how various video cards stack up against each other on benchmarks- higher on the list is better:
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu_list.php

Maplestory isn't a graphically intensive game anyway, so a better video card would be more helpful for other games (especially 3D games), but it certainly won't hurt.

You might be able to avoid some disk swapping (slows things down) by increasing your RAM to 4GB (the maximum 32Bit Windows XP can handle).

BTW- if you do get that video card, send in the Rebate form as quickly as possible. I bought the same card for one of my systems a few months ago and MSI denied the rebate because it was into a different month. I actually complied with all the terms of the rebate, but it had gotten into the next calendar month by the time I sent it in, and it was rejected. $32 was still a good price, but not as good as $12.95 would have been.[/quote]
You're wrong about the CPU thing according to this
http://cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Pentium+D+3.20GHz
http://cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Core2+Duo+E6600+%40+2.40GHz
The e6600 is nearly twice as fast

Bus speed means how fast the system can send data between the CPU chip and the memory (and other peripherials).
But it's a minor factor compared to the CPU speed. I wouldn't downgrade CPU speed to get a faster bus speed. 3.2Ghz is definitely a good CPU speed.
The Core2 Duo is a newer chip design, but I don't think any of that would make up for the slower clock speed.

The video card you linked to IS better, but not by a whole lot.
This site gives an idea of how various video cards stack up against each other on benchmarks- higher on the list is better:
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu_list.php

Maplestory isn't a graphically intensive game anyway, so a better video card would be more helpful for other games (especially 3D games), but it certainly won't hurt.

You might be able to avoid some disk swapping (slows things down) by increasing your RAM to 4GB (the maximum 32Bit Windows XP can handle).

BTW- if you do get that video card, send in the Rebate form as quickly as possible. I bought the same card for one of my systems a few months ago and MSI denied the rebate because it was into a different month. I actually complied with all the terms of the rebate, but it had gotten into the next calendar month by the time I sent it in, and it was rejected. $32 was still a good price, but not as good as $12.95 would have been.