AMD Athlon 64 X2 upgrade & compatability question

parabola

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Hi there Techies...

I am looking to upgrade my CPU from my current AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ to a AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+. I want to upgrade to the 6400+, but I'm wondering if I can. I do have a AM2 socket. Can I just switch out the 4000+ for the 6400+?

From my research I have found that this is the fastest CPU that appears to be compatable with my current system. Is this true or can I upgrade to a quad core if they are AM2 compatable? Ultimately I wish to upgrade to the fastest possible CPU that my mobo, power supply, etc can handle.

Also, I am wondering if I will really notice any performance gains in jumping to the 6400+ or any other CPU beyond that. I am talking about really noticeable differences. I just want to make sure it will be worth the expense is all.

I am looking to upgrade for gaming reasons. My current system destroys the PC game Crysis. Ever hear of that one...lol. Like I said, my curent system is fine, very fast in fact. I am looking to tweak the snot out of my PC. I already maxed out the DDR2 and now I am focused on a faster processor.

Thanks in advance guy's for your reply


 

ohiou_grad_06

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Number 1, I doubt your system destroys Crysis, not just with an 8600 gt. Even systems more powerful than yours with dual video cards have trouble with Crysis on high settings.

Now, if you check it out, a lot of the newer quad core phenom chips may actually work in your board, check with your mobo manufacturer, but I know mine claims it will work if I do a bios update.

6400, while good, also expensive most likely. If you do any overclocking, the 5000 Black Edition is a good buy as it's made to be a very overclockable chip, so you might be able to overclock to close to the same speed as the 6400 if get that and an aftermarket cooler. Considering that your motherboard will support decent overclocking features.
 
5000+ black edition= $99 processor that can be clocked to 3.2 ghz and beyond easily and is 65 watts.

6400+ black edition= $164 processor that has very little headroom and is a 125 watt processor

Guess it depends on if you want to do any overclocking, it sounds like you do.

Phenoms are not worth the hassle yet,in my opinion. Have to see about how AMD handles the current problems they are having.
 

parabola

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Hi buzznut,

Thanks for your input. As it turns out, I do not want to OC at all. I do not know how. I have heard of OCing, and know what it can do, but again, I have yet to try it. So I wish to but the fastest CPU possible and keep it stock.

I have researched quite a bit prior to seeking everyone's opinion and the conclusion I arrived at is going with the 6400+ as the best choice. I do not trust my opinion alone as I am still learning about what goues on under the hood.

Is the AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ the best CPU? Is it the fastest Dual Core CPU for my AM2 socket? Can I do any better with some other AMD CPU?

Thanks again in advance for your replies. :sol:

 

epsilon84

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Yes, in your situation, the X2 6400+ would be the fastest CPU your mobo supports. If you don't feel like overclocking, it would be the logical choice.
 

epsilon84

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I was assuming that the mobo wouldn't have the BIOS support for a Phenom. Not many AM2 boards do, I certainly wouldn't expect Dell to go out of their way to write one for their proprietary boards. ;)
 

parabola

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Thank you for your reply Evilonigiri; however, I think you're jumping in the middle of this conversation without being fully informed as you would have been had you read some of the posts here prior to you making your post.

■People already have in fact mentioned the Phenom CPU.
Look above for it's mention...




■Preceding your "huh" you wrote "The fastest AMD is still the X2 6400+"

This comment is not complete when you referenced a previous posting here. You see, the other poster stated that taking into consideration my current system. According to my system specs...it is the fastest CPU for my mobo, etc.
All straight now?
 

albundy2

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where do you posting snobs come from? :pfff: nevermind, seattle makes total sense now.
 

caamsa

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Take the time and learn how to over clock your current chip. You may be able to OC it to at least 2.6 ghz. That should be plenty for you until it is time for a new system. What chip do you have Windsor or Brisbane?
 

jerseygamer

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I just made basicly the same move. I went from x2 3800 to the 6400. I did however pick up an AM2+ MB and make the jump to ddr2. The 6400 is kind of a waste if all you have is an 8600. I would look into a 3870-512 card before I upgraded that box. You are talking about a few frames and a bottelneck with the 8600 and the 6400. TBH you should just wait untill you can afford the latest socket+cpu+graphics otherwise you will be chasing your tail around trying to keep the machine current.
 

kpo6969

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Just so you know
Inspiron 531 max supported is 6000 (3Ghz)
Since your system came with a 4000 you have the 65w heatsink assembly, you would need to get the 89w, the standard 6000 is 125w and the 89w is impossible to find (been looking for months myself)
Your stock psu would need to be upgraded also.

I have an E521 and there is no bios update in the future for my system so Pheom is out for me. No idea about your 531.
 

parabola

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Hi caamsa,

Thanks for your reply. I have been reluctant to try and OC anything on
account of lack of confidence. I have researched OC-ing quite a bit
actually, but lack the nerve to do it for fear that I may fry
something. Do you think I would notice a performance gain by increasing
the speed by .50GHz? My current CPU is 2.11GHz.

My specs are:
General Information :
Type : AMD Athlon 64 X2
Internal Specification : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4000+
Model Number : 4000+
Codename : Brisbane
Revision : BH-G1
Technology : 0.065µ
CPU ID : F.B.1
CPU IDEx : F.6B.1
Brand ID : 4
Microcode : MU0FB183
K8 Revision : 6.0
Number of Logical Processors : 2
Number of Physical Processors : 2
Addressing Information :
Physical Addressing max. : 40-bit
Linear Addressing max. : 48-bit
Secure Virtual Machine Information :
Codename : Pacifica
Revision : 1.0
Address Space ID : 64
LBR Virtulization : Yes
Mainboard Upgradeability :
Socket/Slot : Socket AM2
Upgrade interface : Socket 940
Supported Speed : 3700 MHz (or more)
Supported Voltage : 1.3V

This reminds me to ask what I have wanted to know for a while. Since
you mentioned OC-ing, I take it you have some experience? My question,
at what point do we realize any gain in performance? .25GHz? .50GHz? If
I go with the AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ my processor speed will be 3.4GHz.
That is a lot more than my current 2.11GHz obviously, and more than 2.6
from an OC session. So where do we start to notice performance gains?

Thanks in advance for your reply and helpful input!
 

parabola

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Thanks for your input jerseygamer,

I have the NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT 512MB due to arrive by this Friday. Will that work?

How do you mean chasing my tail? I understand what you mean by that but...Why wouldn't the 6400+ CPU and my current NVIDIA 8600GT 256MB be a good combo?

I have already upgraded to my current NVIDIA 8600GT 256MB from the Dell factory shipped integraded NVIDIA 6150SE graphics card. Little by little, I'm getting there...lol.

What kind of graphcs card do you currently run by the way? AND...what kind of noticeable performance gains did you experience after your CPU upgrade?

Thanks in advance for your answers...
 

lunaticX

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Operating System System Model
Windows Vista Home Premium Service Pack 1 (build 6001) Dell Inc. Inspiron 531 00
Enclosure Type: Desktop
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
2.80 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5600
256 kilobyte primary memory cache
2048 kilobyte secondary memory cache Board: Dell Inc. 0RY206
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
BIOS: Dell Inc. 1.0.9 01/09/2008
Drives Memory Modules c,d
320.01 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
153.12 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
Slot 'DIMM_1' has 1024 MB PC6400
Slot 'DIMM_2' has 1024 MB PC6400
Slot 'DIMM_3' has 1024 MB PC6400
Slot 'DIMM_4' has 1024 MB PC6400 Controllers Display
IDE Channel [Controller] (2x)
NVIDIA nForce Serial ATA Controller
Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 Series GPU with no overclocking at all,runs all games at any settings even GTA IV.I started with a stock dell 531,UG to a 750w power inorder to run the GPU