AMD CPU upgrade

[jperlowski]

I have already added 120 GB Kingston SSD (boot drive) & an additional 4 MB of memory; does it make any sense performance/$ wise
to upgrade the processor from AMD Athlon II 4 x 640 ????

 

[clutchc]

Unless you have a AM3+ socket motherboard, you will not be able to find any new processors for that era PC any more. There are still many used Phenom II X4 9xx processors available on places like ebay however. You would want a 965BE or better to make a noticeable difference, tho. Is this for gaming?

If you have the funds, it may be best to just upgrade the board and CPU together. Do you have a max budget?

 

[jperlowski]

Unless you have a AM3+ socket motherboard, you will not be able to find any new processors for that era PC any more. There are still many used Phenom II X4 9xx processors available on places like ebay however. You would want a 965BE or better to make a noticeable difference, tho. Is this for gaming?

If you have the funds, it may be best to just upgrade the board and CPU together. Do you have a max budget?

 

[jperlowski]

Is a AM3 socket the same as/or compatible with an AM3+?? This is a general purpose (non-gaming) machine which is >3 yrs old so I am not
real interested in spending a lot of $$ on it; just want to boost performance. I am guessing that the Athlon generation is newer than the Phenom
and see new & used Athlon II with AM3 sockets for sale???

 

[clutchc]

Oh, I see. The original Athlon II X2,3,4 processors are a generation older than the Athlon X4's that you see today and they use a different socket (FM2/FM2+). (Confusing the way AMD brought back the Athlon name)
And the Athlon II you have is from the same generation as the Phenom IIs I mentioned. The main difference is the Phenoms come with an L3 cache and the Athlons don't.
But since this is for general use (non-gaming), you won't see a huge improvement upgrading you processor within the AM3 socket lineup unless you went to a 6 core Phenom II X6 1075, 1090, or 1100. Again, all obsolete. Usually only found as used: http://www.ebay.com/sch/CPUs-Processors-/164/i.html?Socket%2520Type=Socket%2520AM3&_nkw=amd+phenom+ii+x6&_dcat=164&Processor%2520Manufacturer=AMD&rt=nc

 

[jperlowski]

Thank you for your input. I have submitted a bid on ebay $5> Reserve for a Used AMD Phenom II x6 1075;

If I am successful I will install, if not successful, will just forget the whole

Again Thanks

John Perlowski

 

[clutchc]

That will add 2 more cores and an L3 cache over your Athlon II X4 640 of the same clock speed. It will make a difference when you run apps that are heavily threaded. Also, the L3 cache should make things a bit quicker by having to go to system slower RAM less often.
But for a major improvement in power, a system upgrade is required.
Good luck with your bidding.

Btw, what MB do you have? It may need a BIOS upgrade before it will recognize the newer Phenom II X6.

 

[jperlowski]

I have N-Alvorix-RS880-UATX; I have downloaded and installed all BIOS versions reflected on
HP support site.

 

[clutchc]

I have N-Alvorix-RS880-UATX; I have downloaded and installed all BIOS versions reflected on
HP support site.

Then you should be golden. If this is the MB, it even lists the PhIIX6 10xx processors in its original configuration.
http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=emr_na-c02560084

 

[clutchc]

I was just curious if you ended up winning the Phenom II X6 and if it is working good for you now.