Intel Pentium D 950 Upgrade Information
Are you looking for a cost effective processor upgrade? Maybe you are building yourself a new PC. Either way, the Intel Pentium D, which was manufactured by Intel from 2005-2008, offers a variety of cost, performance, and power consumption options.
Even though Intel is no longer producing the Pentium D line of processors, you will find new units advertised across the web.
The Pentium D processors are a line of dual-core 64 bit x86 processors. With clock speeds ranging from 2.66 to 3.73, this line came in a variety of models using the numbers 805-960. One of the most popular versions is the Intel Pentium D 950 model which runs at 3.4 Ghz, has a 4 MB cache (2×2MB), and a 130W power consumption. The 950 model has a 65 nm process which signifies that it is the Presler version (first produced Jan 2006).
Two versions of the CPU family were produced; the Smithfield and the Presler. Inital speeds for the Smithfield were 2.8Ghz to 3.2Ghz; however, later an entry level model (805) running at 2.66 Ghz was added. Many users claim this chip was highly overclockable to 3.5Ghz with air cooling and up to 4.0Ghz with water cooling. All of the Smithfield CPUs were made of 2 Prescott cores.
When the Presler models came out in early 2006, nine different models were sold with speeds ranging from 2.8 Ghz to 3.6 Ghz. Some the popular models included:
- 930 - 3.0 Ghz
- 940 - 3.2 Ghz
- 915 - 2.8 Ghz
- 960 - 3.6 Ghz
Many people who are currently looking to upgrade their computer’s Intel CPU are choosing either the Pentium D 950 or the Pentium D 945. Both of these models offer high speeds at a fairly inexpensive price. Since the Pentium D line is now out of production, the processors are becoming harder and harder to find (as brand new units). The 3.6 Ghz - 960 model is the most desirable; however, it is becoming difficult to find new 960 CPUs and the price usually reflects this which is why many are settling for the slightly slower 950 and 945 models.
When making a purchase, you will typically see that you can get the most speed for your buck in the Pentium D 950 3.4 Ghz, 4 MB cache, 800 FSB model. This processor is great for more intense computing such as video editing, photo manipulation, audio conversion, and more. The dual-core functionality allows you to work on multiple programs without noticing a speed decline. If you were to only run a single program at one time, the dual-core may not run faster than a single-core CPU; however, almost all computers can now take advantage of dual-core. Many computers run background tasks such as virus scans, email programs, and more which can all take advantage of the dual-core technology. It is very rare that anyone today would not have multiple programs running at once to take advantage of this technology.
