I am thinking of upgrading my current amd64 3200 (2.0ghz, 512kb cache) to an amd64 4000 (2.4ghz, 1mb cache). I've done alot of hardware upgrades, all the way down to the motherboard but I've never replaced a processor (I'm more of a software guy). Is there any special procedure to this, or can I simply pop in the new chip and throw the switch?
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CPU upgrade
- Thread starter Mon0L1th
- Start date
franklin97355
Technical User
The motherboard needs to support the chip. I'd start there.
- Thread starter
- #3
Mon0L1th
Obviously a socket 939 motherboard and they are all going to support this 4000+ CPU but you may need to update the motherboards bios in order for it to be recognised properly.
Check the bios version against CPU supported in the bios listings but if it does need flashing this obviosly needs doing with the old chip in situe.
Yes just swap the chip over as long as the thermal cooling requirements don't exceed your current cooler?
Martin
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Obviously a socket 939 motherboard and they are all going to support this 4000+ CPU but you may need to update the motherboards bios in order for it to be recognised properly.
Check the bios version against CPU supported in the bios listings but if it does need flashing this obviosly needs doing with the old chip in situe.
Yes just swap the chip over as long as the thermal cooling requirements don't exceed your current cooler?
Martin
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You are likely correct but i would still check it out as you may have to go with a newer bios for the newer cpu.
On the other hand, unless money isnt that big a deal, i wouldnt bother. The computing difference isnt going to be that much. Maybe you are getting the new cpu free or cheap, but if not then i wouldnt even bother.
Save the money toward your new mobo!
Good advice + great people = tek-tips
On the other hand, unless money isnt that big a deal, i wouldnt bother. The computing difference isnt going to be that much. Maybe you are getting the new cpu free or cheap, but if not then i wouldnt even bother.
Save the money toward your new mobo!
Good advice + great people = tek-tips
Mouth drops open!!!
"Save the money toward your new mobo!"
You don't even know what motherboard he has! and your suggesting he get a new one?
It's obviously a socket 939 if he's looking at an AMD64 4000+ CURRENT LATEST PLATFORM! why on earth should he be looking at a new motherboard?
Sometimes I wonder about the quality of advice given! sorry garebo.
Martin
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"Save the money toward your new mobo!"
You don't even know what motherboard he has! and your suggesting he get a new one?
It's obviously a socket 939 if he's looking at an AMD64 4000+ CURRENT LATEST PLATFORM! why on earth should he be looking at a new motherboard?
Sometimes I wonder about the quality of advice given! sorry garebo.
Martin
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Why act like that.
It was a joke! Sooner or later we all get a new motherboard, nature of the beast. Down the road that latest technology will be old. All i was saying was that i dont think the money involved moving up that little cpu-wise was worth it. The money spent could be saved for the next time he or she goes to buy a new motherboard.
I could have said you could spend the extra money on something else for the pc but you could save it toward the day you go to buy a new motherboard. Nothing wrong with that.
Damn!
Good advice + great people = tek-tips
It was a joke! Sooner or later we all get a new motherboard, nature of the beast. Down the road that latest technology will be old. All i was saying was that i dont think the money involved moving up that little cpu-wise was worth it. The money spent could be saved for the next time he or she goes to buy a new motherboard.
I could have said you could spend the extra money on something else for the pc but you could save it toward the day you go to buy a new motherboard. Nothing wrong with that.
Damn!
Good advice + great people = tek-tips
Now that i have cooled down, let me try again.
Its very obvious that Mon0L1th has a very current machine.
I mean, he is running an amd64 cpu!! That says enough right there!
I simply pointed out that i thought that for the cost of moving up, it may not be worthwhile as he may not get that much of a performance boost, not for the cost involved.
So i said it might be better to save the money for a new motherboard. Meaning, sooner or later what he has now will be old and he will be wanting to build or get a new machine. It should be very obvious what i meant.
You just seem to feel a need to jump on me. Leave me be, please. I did nothing wrong and my advice was good, that he may not get a big performance boost moving from a 2.0 to a 2.4 cpu and that is true. Hence save the money for the time in the future when he gets a new system or motherboard.
There is no need for you to be rude. If you dont like me please keep it to yourself. The advice was fair and it was only that.
Good advice + great people = tek-tips
Its very obvious that Mon0L1th has a very current machine.
I mean, he is running an amd64 cpu!! That says enough right there!
I simply pointed out that i thought that for the cost of moving up, it may not be worthwhile as he may not get that much of a performance boost, not for the cost involved.
So i said it might be better to save the money for a new motherboard. Meaning, sooner or later what he has now will be old and he will be wanting to build or get a new machine. It should be very obvious what i meant.
You just seem to feel a need to jump on me. Leave me be, please. I did nothing wrong and my advice was good, that he may not get a big performance boost moving from a 2.0 to a 2.4 cpu and that is true. Hence save the money for the time in the future when he gets a new system or motherboard.
There is no need for you to be rude. If you dont like me please keep it to yourself. The advice was fair and it was only that.
Good advice + great people = tek-tips
- Thread starter
- #9
Thanks for all the advice, I'm actually browsing motherboards but my processor is the only 'lacking' component in my comp (ati x800 xl, 2gb ddr 400 ram, 400gb of SATA, 7.1 surround/speakers, high-flow water cooling system). I'm probably gonna see if my motherboard can support (maybe even overclock) an FX chip. I've noticed alot of the motherboards in the next 'tier' will force me to also purchase a beefier cpu and speedier ram (why use regular when high-test is available? 
so it would be easy to go from a $300 chip to a $200 board, $500 chip, and $200 of ram.
so it would be easy to go from a $300 chip to a $200 board, $500 chip, and $200 of ram.Garebo,
For what its worth, some of the best tips that I have received here, came in the form of constuctive critcism from other members. This criticism helps protect the integrity of this site and I must admit, your reply was some what cocky and lazy at best.
For what its worth, some of the best tips that I have received here, came in the form of constuctive critcism from other members. This criticism helps protect the integrity of this site and I must admit, your reply was some what cocky and lazy at best.
garebo
You have to understand words are black and white! if you don't explain yourself properly how am I expected to know in what context your statement was meant, I am not a mind reader.
What you wrote was quite clear, I interprited it the only way it could be in the absense of any explaination.
I certainly havn't got a problem with you, I only have a problem when I see bad advice being dispensed, whoever is giving it.
Martin
We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.
You have to understand words are black and white! if you don't explain yourself properly how am I expected to know in what context your statement was meant, I am not a mind reader.
What you wrote was quite clear, I interprited it the only way it could be in the absense of any explaination.
I certainly havn't got a problem with you, I only have a problem when I see bad advice being dispensed, whoever is giving it.
Martin
We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.
Okay, lets call it a day.
I was just thinking you could plainly see i was talking about future builds since the person already has an AMD64. That, to me, is fairly current.
And i think my advice about not spending too much money to upgrade from 2.0 to 2.4 mhz is good advice? Even though there is an upgrade in the onboard cache.
In my defence, it seems that Mon0L1th understood what i was getting at.
Either way, call it a day and forget about it.
Good advice + great people = tek-tips
I was just thinking you could plainly see i was talking about future builds since the person already has an AMD64. That, to me, is fairly current.
And i think my advice about not spending too much money to upgrade from 2.0 to 2.4 mhz is good advice? Even though there is an upgrade in the onboard cache.
In my defence, it seems that Mon0L1th understood what i was getting at.
Either way, call it a day and forget about it.
Good advice + great people = tek-tips
Not trying to butt in here, but how do we know he even has a socket 939 board for sure?
All I saw so far is that he has an AMD64 3200+ CPU and is hoping that his board supports the 4000+
Given that info, it's possible that he's running a 754 version of the Newcastle. Until we know the specs and whether or not money is that much of an issue, it's hard to say what advice is best...
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
All I saw so far is that he has an AMD64 3200+ CPU and is hoping that his board supports the 4000+
Given that info, it's possible that he's running a 754 version of the Newcastle. Until we know the specs and whether or not money is that much of an issue, it's hard to say what advice is best...
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
- Thread starter
- #14
cdogg, it is a 939 socket chip. I'm 99% certain my board can support the 4000, I just gotta make sure the bus and cache are within its bounds. It's not like the 3200 is all that bad, but doubling my cache and adding 400mhz would definately be beneficial.
I'm still on the fence if I want to go with the new chip or do the whole shabangabang: mobo, chip, ram...I'm actually finding it hard to find a board with 3 PCI slots (along with PCIE) that can also support everything else I want (it seems the higher tier mobo's start to skimp on PCI in favor for PCIE)
I'm still on the fence if I want to go with the new chip or do the whole shabangabang: mobo, chip, ram...I'm actually finding it hard to find a board with 3 PCI slots (along with PCIE) that can also support everything else I want (it seems the higher tier mobo's start to skimp on PCI in favor for PCIE)
- Thread starter
- #15
Well, I went ahead and done did it. I finally found a motherboard that will support what I want/need, and I'm switching over to a Pent 4 775, 3ghz, 2mb cache, 800mhz bus. After adding a new P4 waterblock I'm paying about $350 total (which includes shipping from the states to japan), which isn't much more than I would have paid for the AMD 4000, and is quite a bit less than I was expecting since I don't need to buy more/new ram. The new mobo supports both my current ddr 400 ram, as well as ddr2 533 if I so choose to upgrade.
The P4 3.0 with 2mb cache is indeed a fine processor, but no match for the AMD64 4000.
I cannot really see the point in what you have chosen, the performance advantage will be minimal compared to the CPU and platform you currently own athough admittedly the HT feature and 2mb of cache make this CPU very good for multithreaded applications ie: video encoding etc but it won't be any quicker for gaming if that is a consideration.
Personally I would have recommended the very fine AMD64 X2 3800 dual core to give you better performance and greater multitasking certainly when compared to the 2meg 3.0gig P4
As you know performance is not all about CPU mhz as AMD have proven and the differance in achictecture between the two CPU types means you really cannot make direct comparisons because they work so differantly.
Martin
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I cannot really see the point in what you have chosen, the performance advantage will be minimal compared to the CPU and platform you currently own athough admittedly the HT feature and 2mb of cache make this CPU very good for multithreaded applications ie: video encoding etc but it won't be any quicker for gaming if that is a consideration.
Personally I would have recommended the very fine AMD64 X2 3800 dual core to give you better performance and greater multitasking certainly when compared to the 2meg 3.0gig P4
As you know performance is not all about CPU mhz as AMD have proven and the differance in achictecture between the two CPU types means you really cannot make direct comparisons because they work so differantly.
Martin
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OK, glad we finally cleared that up that you did in fact have a socket 939 chipset. The 4000+ would indeed have been supported in that case.
I would have seen no real reason to change motherboards had you decided to stay with AMD, since the M2 platform (940 pins) is going to be the 939's replacement soon. It would be better just to upgrade the CPU and hold out for the new board with socket M2 due out in the next 6 months.
Good point there by Martin as well about expected performance from the P4 you chose...
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
I would have seen no real reason to change motherboards had you decided to stay with AMD, since the M2 platform (940 pins) is going to be the 939's replacement soon. It would be better just to upgrade the CPU and hold out for the new board with socket M2 due out in the next 6 months.
Good point there by Martin as well about expected performance from the P4 you chose...
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
Actually, I take that back about getting the M2 board soon for those who have 939's...
I just saw this article on Anandtech: click here
It appears that the 939 won't be phased out as quick as some had believed. It's quite possible as well, that CPU's will continue beyond the Q2 2007 mark mentioned in that article. For anyone else reading this with socket 939, I would say stick with it until you run out of breathing room for CPU upgrades, since the M2 boards will require a new CPU and DDR2 RAM.
The main reason why 939 will survive for a while is because PC3200 DDR1 is still fast enough for the new CPU models coming out...
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
I just saw this article on Anandtech: click here
It appears that the 939 won't be phased out as quick as some had believed. It's quite possible as well, that CPU's will continue beyond the Q2 2007 mark mentioned in that article. For anyone else reading this with socket 939, I would say stick with it until you run out of breathing room for CPU upgrades, since the M2 boards will require a new CPU and DDR2 RAM.
The main reason why 939 will survive for a while is because PC3200 DDR1 is still fast enough for the new CPU models coming out...
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
- Thread starter
- #19
The main problem with me upgrading to say, a dual core amd, is that my mobo can't support it, and those processors are generally much more expensive. My current board will only let me upgrade so much, and I dont feel like buying a new CPU every 9-12 months. The new board will last me a substantial amount of time, and after a quick price comparison, I'm paying about half of what an amd dual core w/ mobo would cost me.
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