Is Multi-core possible for me?
 

Is it possible to upgrade to any multi-core CPUs with my motherboard without breaking anything?

It's an Intel D101GGC motherboard.

I'm still trying to scrounge money for a PS3, but I'm curious about this.

You'll need a new mobo.
 

What is it intended for?
Usually it best to find an old computer and network it up so you can pass off some computations to that one.

Uh, I don't think I have room to have another computer to connect to.

The reason for was mainly to actually use a PS2 emulator(It's said multiple processors is needed for such a thing). I already have a PS2 that I play FFXI on, as well as a ton of games, so everything's covered on the legal front(I think).

Playing stuff like Disgaea while waiting for goofs to get up and about for different events would be nice(PC benchmark for FFXI looked absolutely fugly, so not touching PC version).

That, and my PS2's one of the old models, by necessity. FFXI for the PS2 cannot run without a HDD, you see.

Besides, after I upgrade the CPU(And probably video card, natch), I probably won't have any hardware-based problems for quite a few years.

But a new motherboard? Bleh. If that's the case, I am definitely waiting until I snag a PS3. Would still be nice to see all my options, hence the thread.

Except that Pentium-D is dual core. You'd have a hard time finding one nowadays as they've been discontinued in favor of the Core Duo/Quad/i7s.... but with an updated bios, they'd work. You can find them on Amazon.com, but they're energy hogs, hot, and depending on what your current processor is, not that much of an upgrade. The Pentium D era was when AMD was kicking all kinds of ass.

I have the Intel Celeron D 356.

3.33 Gigahertz. For a single core, it's not bad at all.

Total speed in Gigahertz isn't always applicable across different chips. The only thing you can directly compare the Ghz numbers on a Celeron D is another Celeron D. That being said, even at 2.8Ghz a Pentium D is about twice as fast as the Celeron.

So while it can be done, my honest recommendation is to save up for the PS3 or a whole new motherboard+CPU combo. Pentium Ds aren't manufactured anymore and are way way overpriced for what power they have. You can easily get a motherboard plus a Core 2 Duo or Quad for a similar price that would blow the socks off your current setup plus a Pentium D.

I honestly thought it was just something like the Pentium-M.
 

So it is. My mistake.

After having educated myself correctly on that line, I'd agree with your assessment that they aren't worth it as an upgrade compared to what one could purchase these days.

Well, we have a Pentium D clocked at 2.8 ghz. So you would lose some clock speed in favor of an extra core. Mind you, my Pentium D is not overclocked, and you could overclock it past 3 ghz probably.

http://www.eworldsale.com/intel-pent...786_22094.html

Bam! I say get it before it sells out. You'd be upgrading clock speed even.

If you want one, here it is. I agree with Sword that you could easily get a full new motherboard and Core 2 Duo processor that will run much better than you can believe. I'm sure the big PS2 emulation guys PCX2 suggest a core duo. As well as 2-4 gigs ram and a 9600 nVidia card, So I think PS2 emultion is out of the picture unless you get a full new computer or your other parts are awesome.

My graphics card is pretty low-grade(Radeon Xpress 200) with only 1 and a half Gigs of RAM, so I'll probably just get a new comp sometime after nabbing a PS3.

New question: is it possible to move one comps hard drive to a barebone or other comp, and have no need of buying a new OS? Would be nice to keep all my settings and keep using XP, and my computer was one of those Emachines bundles at Wally-Mart(My first computer, for the most part), so no XP disk to use. :/