Windows 7: cpu upgrade

i have an old work horse laptop, a dell inspiron 5100, about 8 years old. At the moment it has a p4 2.4 ghz cpu , i have the chance of a p4 3.06ghz chip is it worth the upgrade? will i notice any improvement?

Well, it depends on how you use that PC and if you're satisfied with the results it gives right now.

not quite what i was looking for but thanks for your help

Sopolias Falst gave you about the best response possible given the level of information you provided. Computer performance is a mix of hardware (CPU, memory, disk) AND the applications being used.

For example, Av editing (movies, etc) is both a very CPU intensive task and memory intensive. In this case, a CPU upgrade will result in some performance improvement.

How about if you use your computer for writting letters to Granny, surfing the net, and playing MP3s. Will the CPU upgrade have a significant impact on perceived performance? Probably not.

OK, what about doing lots of high-level, compute intensive work on relatively small datasets? Yup, you will see a significant improvement .... your processing time will be shortened a bit. Will it be shortened by a third? Probably not.

being a "granny" myself i dont think i will be writing letters to granny, i am a retired cad/cam cnc programmer this old laptop was my work horse in the day . i still like to keep my hand in and help out were applicable so all i wanted to know is the upgrade of any significant value, i know that moving from a 2.4 to a 2.8 would be of no advantage

You will not notice the difference between P4 chips. If you board supports other 775 socket CPUs, you may be able to move to a Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad. If your board is that old, it most likely will not support a "Core" CPU, Although, it may with a BIOS flash.

I would not do it. I would get a new system. Even a cheaper system will be better than what you have now. ($500-700 USD)

thanks nate42nd after searching, and yours and others replies i found what i needed to know (that its not worth the upgrade) it is not my sole laptop just a workhorse many thanks for all replies.

Aside from the desirability of such an upgrade, are you sure that it's possible with the chips that you have in hand?

I haven't found the specific CPU used in the Inspiron 5100, but I'd be concerned that it uses a mobile CPU. Is the 3.06GHz P4 of the same type?

hi bobkn, the I5100 uses a desktop 478 pin p4 chip the max the mobo can support is a 3.06ghz sl6s5 as used in the I5150/60 but after searching and advice from members of this forum i have found the upgrade to be not benificial for my needs thank you for your concerns