Upgrade time from E4400?


Platinum Member
May 7, 2003

So I put a mATX mobo in my P180 (ATX), thinking I would be swapping the insides out into a smaller case for when I went to school. This did not work as I planned and have been angry I don't have any extra PCI/PCI-E slots anymore. I was thinking about upgrading to a ATX board, but I'm wondering if I should just upgrade it all and sell the mobo/CPU/HSF together. Would I see a major difference going to a quad core? I do not game, however I multi-task frequently ripping DVD's, surfing the net, playing itunes, and occasional photoshop. Thanks


Elite Member
Jul 27, 2002
I guess it doesn't hurt to put a quad-core in there since the price difference between duals and quads are quite small these days. (and I'm not even a big fan of quads) Make sure that your board/PSU support the CPU of your choice, and the HSF can handle the extra heat from a quad.

What do you mean that your PCI/PCIe slots are no more? It's not clear from what you said whether your motherboard is functional. If the board is dead, then yeah just sell the old stuff and start from a scratch. Lots of good deals available now and (hopefully) in near future.


Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2004
Sounds like you "upgraded" to an mATX board in the expectation of moving everything to a smaller case and now aren't happy with the small number of PCI/PCIe expansion slots? And are now considering going back to a full-size ATX board? And wonder if you should also upgrade to a quad along with this change, if I'm reading your post correctly.

If that's the case, based on your general usage - I would suggest just waiting a little while until the new dual core i5 chips with hyperthreading are released. Should be within a few months from everything I've seen recently. These chips will offer near-quad performance but with the thermals & power consumption of duals. The integrated memory controller should make everything "feel" a little faster.

Then add one of the new Intel "G2" X25-M drives and everything will go faster.


Oct 27, 2006
What do you need other than a PCI-e port for Video? Seems pretty rare to see sound cards, network cards (other than a PCI wireless maybe), etc. I mean some people do need them, but probably 95%+ of people never use more than a video card and a wireless card, if that.

That said, most mATX boards are a little skimpy on features/overclocking ability.

I just went from an E5200 @ 3.6ghz to a Phenom II X4 805 @ 3.4Ghz, and I'm fairly disappointed. I have the same general usage description you have, and the only thing I've seen improved are encoding times, and even that isn't that dramatic.

I'd say if you do jump to QC, go for at least a Q9000 series, if not an i7. Or just wait a little longer.


Diamond Member
Aug 3, 2008
Why do you say just Q9000 series? The Phenom 900 series is competitive with the Intel Q9000 series.

But no matter, a quad core for him would be a worthy upgrade, even if it's the Phenom 800 or Intel Q8000 series.


Diamond Member
Jun 21, 2002
If you really don't have a use for a PCI slot other than the feeling of having a free slot, just wait.