CPU upgrade problem

[polizei144]

HI, my name is Sean. I am new to the forum so please be gentle :) My mum bought a Packard Bell Imedia MC 1539 at the weekend from a "Friend". It's specs are as follow;

• Intel Pentium P4 CPU @ 3.06Ghz
• 1GB DDR2 1333Mhz RAM(4GB supported under XP)
• Geforce 6200LE
• MOBO: Gigabyte GA-8I915PMD

Now. For christmas and my birthday i was thinking of upgrading my computer so i could play more modern games (APB, GTA IV, Modern Warfare 3). i was going to upgrade to Duo or Quad core 2.6ghz atleast, 4GB DDR2, and ATI HD5450 video card. Now here is my problem, i have read in some other forums that my mobo can not support duo or quad processors which has thwarted my plans to make a respectable gaming rig Now what i would like to know is, if this is true. and if it is true, what can i do?. If i cannot upgrade i would also like your input on how to game with a pentium 4, THANKS!​

BTW buying a new pc is out of the question. my mother is very lets say "One Size Fits All" or "Make Do and Mend".​

below is a pic of the front of my machine​

 

[M_Kincy]

Is your current processor an E6600? if so it is a dual core processor. Your mother board is compatible with the core 2 quad series of processors:

Intel Core™ 2 Extreme QX9770 3.20GHz 12MB 1600 N/A
Intel Core™ 2 Extreme QX9650 3.00GHz 12MB 1333 N/A
Intel Core™ 2 Quad Q9650 3.00GHz 12MB 1333 N/A
Intel Core™ 2 Quad Q9550 2.83GHz 12MB 1333 N/A
Intel Core™ 2 Quad Q9505s 2.83GHz 6MB 1333 N/A
Intel Core™ 2 Quad Q9505 2.83GHz 6MB 1333 N/A
Intel Core™ 2 Quad Q9450 2.66GHz 12MB 1333 N/A
Intel Core™ 2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz 6MB 1333 N/A
Intel Core™ 2 Quad Q9300 2.50GHz 6MB 1333 N/A
Intel Core™ 2 Quad Q8300 2.50GHz 4MB 1333 N/A
Intel Core™ 2 Quad Q8200 2.33GHz 4MB 1333 N/A

The bad news is this series of processors are still pretty expensive. you could almost buy a new core i5 2500k AND a new motherboard for what the cheapest of these would cost. and being totaly honest i don't think the performance gain from your current E6600 to one of these would be noticable for gaming. That being said, i believe you can play any of those games you listed on low to medium settings with your p4 set up, 4 gigs ram and a good video card.

 

[polizei144]

My "Device Manager" displays 2 processors both running at 3.06ghz, but CPU-Z says i only have 1 processor and that it has 2 threads. BTW my pentium 4 is HT ready, but i do not know how to activate it. as for as the CPU model goes i cannot find any model number anywhere.