can i upgrade to an amd phenom ii x4 965 black edition with my mobo?

[darkhelmet82]

Hello, I'm looking to upgrade my processor and I'm confused about whether or not I can use the 965 with my motherboard. First off, my pc:

Hp pavilion 6674y gray edition
motherboard: N-Alvorix-RS880-uATX (Alvorix)
cpu: phenom ii x4 820 2.8ghz
psu: dynex 400w
gpu: hd radeon 7770
6 gb of ram

Now, I am on a super tight budget and I know that this is a very weak rig for gaming. However, I am not a frame rate junkie and to be honest, until Battlefield 4, I could run pretty much any game, even arma 2 and 3, at 30 to 50 fps with most settings between high and ultra and using fxaa and anisotropic filtering usually on ultra. sometimes I go below 30 if there is a lot going on in the area of what ever map i am on. This is fine for me as I cannot afford to spend hundreds, and definitely not thousands on a gaming pc and I still get a much better gaming experience than playing on consoles. I know that i need a new cpu because with B4, it's not the gpu that's struggling. No matter what my graphics settings are, after about 2 minutes of multiplayer, the cpu usage goes to 100% and it becomes completely unplayable. I've also found all the optimization tricks for this game and applied them, which helped but still can't play the game. So, back to my main question. Can I run a 965 black edition cpu with this mobo? The reason I'm asking on here is because, naturally, i went to the hp site first and looked at all the cpu's that are compatible with this motherboard. It says above the list of compatible cpu's that the mobo supports "95w" cpu, but, every single cpu on the list that is above the one that i currently have is a 125w cpu. WTF? Can someone please clear the confusion for me? Can I use one of the supposed "compatible" cpu's on HP's list or not? Thanks in advance to anyone that feels like helping me out.

 

[darkhelmet82]

wait, so the board you mentioned will allow for the 820 that have now? i thought that board was only am3+ and the 820 was am2. If that's the case, then yeah, i would go ahead and by windows 8 and the 970 mobo next week and make the switch. also, tell me this, since it looks like i will definitely be getting the mobo you mentioned and the 6300 cpu, and then eventually the gtx 660, what would give the biggest performance increase now, getting the new mobo and over clocking my 820, or getting the gtx 660 now, then when i get my tax return, get the mobo, windows and 6300 later?

 

[beyondlogic]

wait, so the board you mentioned will allow for the 820 that have now? i thought that board was only am3+ and the 820 was am2. If that's the case, then yeah, i would go ahead and by windows 8 and the 970 mobo next week and make the switch. also, tell me this, since it looks like i will definitely be getting the mobo you mentioned and the 6300 cpu, and then eventually the gtx 660, what would give the biggest performance increase now, getting the new mobo and over clocking my 820, or getting the gtx 660 now, then when i get my tax return, get the mobo, windows and 6300 later?

offically its a am3 processor 820 if careful can be bumped up by a few ghz like 3.3 or 3.4ghz i would consider safe

well youd have to get a new power supply to support the 660 a simple 500w rated corsair cx would be enough but that would be more noticable jump then changing processor

some gaming benches 7770 vs 660
http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-HD-7770-vs-GeForce-GTX-660

id do it in this order

psu
gpu
then motherboard then os
then update bios then new processor

Am3 plus supports am3 right out the box

 

[darkhelmet82]

cool. that's what i was thinking. although, i know the 660 requires a 450 watt psu, but also the 7770 does too. originally, before purchasing the 7770, i put my pc specs into one of the online power consumption calculators and it basically said that i needed a total of 343 watts. I also made sure to over compensate with the other components just to be safe. figured I'd take a chance and go with it and so far, for about 7 months or so now, it has been running with absolutely no problems. when i do the same thing with the 660 online, it tells me i need 323 watts, which seems like i should still be fine with my current psu. idk, a new psu isn't so bad i guess.

 

[beyondlogic]

cool. that's what i was thinking. although, i know the 660 requires a 450 watt psu, but also the 7770 does too. originally, before purchasing the 7770, i put my pc specs into one of the online power consumption calculators and it basically said that i needed a total of 343 watts. I also made sure to over compensate with the other components just to be safe. figured I'd take a chance and go with it and so far, for about 7 months or so now, it has been running with absolutely no problems. when i do the same thing with the 660 online, it tells me i need 323 watts, which seems like i should still be fine with my current psu. idk, a new psu isn't so bad i guess.

yes that psu is ok for a 7770 but not a gtx 660 reason

the 7770 has 1 pci connector for power


the gtx 660 needs 2 power connectors which means it draws another 75w-80w more meaning youd be over or barely under the 400w limit and probly blow the unit

also occing will also draw more power about 10 percent more then what your currently drawing

also food for though grab the aftermarket cooler while its cheap so you can keep stable occ temperatures and no overheating issues you

note also buy mx4 paste later on for fx 6300
and Isopropyl Alcohol 99.9 percent to clean cooler and dry it off before attaching it again to new processor.

note you will need a aftermarket cooler to occ the phenom up to 3.5 ghz i have read it can reach stable also make sure before you start occing cool and quiet is turned off or it wont work

temp must stay under the 70c or you risk damaging the chip with aftermarketing cooling should be easy enough

with fx 6300 it has to be under 61c

 

[darkhelmet82]

oh, well, why cant i just get a converter that will take one of my extra 4 pin connectors from my psu and turn it into another 6 pin connector since i currently only have one 6 pin on my psu? also, does the online calculator not account for the extra 75w being drawn by the 2nd 6 pin connector?

 

[beyondlogic]

oh, well, why cant i just get a converter that will take one of my extra 4 pin connectors from my psu and turn it into another 6 pin connector since i currently only have one 6 pin on my psu? also, does the online calculator not account for the extra 75w being drawn by the 2nd 6 pin connector?

1 those connectors should be banned
reason because if it wasnt desiged to take 2 connectors thats like taking a human out the elevator and shoving elephant inside.

2. the online calculator goes by average power draw not by how far they can jump
http://www.hwcompare.com/13304/geforce-gtx-660-vs-radeon-hd-7770/

your old card average about 80w max psu consumption round 150w with the 1 pin
new card averages 140w adding 2 pins allows for a 300w max roof but on average these cards will idle at 100w and jump 180w to 200w while gaming depends on the gaming demands

also the converters would make the psu unstable as it be drawing way to much of the rails

 

[darkhelmet82-1394177]

ok, did some thinking and realized, its impossible to stay within a budget. lol, i guess im just gonna go ahead and get a new psu and the hd 7870 actually. only little more than the 660. so, with that being said, can you recommend a decent 500w psu for around 50 bucks?

 

[beyondlogic]

ok, did some thinking and realized, its impossible to stay within a budget. lol, i guess im just gonna go ahead and get a new psu and the hd 7870 actually. only little more than the 660. so, with that being said, can you recommend a decent 500w psu for around 50 bucks?

without rebates theres just a new psu which should be just fine 500w evga

so far evga have been very reliable and there psu is fairly cheap there a step up from coolermaster

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438016

 

[darkhelmet82-1394177]

looks good to me. thanks man. I think next friday im gonna order the card and this power supply. and this should be fine for the 7870? and how about overclocking the cpu when i get the 6300? i wont be looking to do anything drastic since ive never overclocked anything and anything i got out of it would be fine with me.

 

[beyondlogic]

looks good to me. thanks man. I think next friday im gonna order the card and this power supply. and this should be fine for the 7870? and how about overclocking the cpu when i get the 6300? i wont be looking to do anything drastic since ive never overclocked anything and anything i got out of it would be fine with me.

you shouldnt need to occ the cpu at all but you should be able to occ the fx 6300 to 4ghz with cool and quiet turned off and turbo mode off since the fx 6300 turbo occs itself to 4ghz this is a safe bet without nuking psu.

7870 should be fine on that psu single cards should work fine on a 500w system just make sure to keep it cool inside your case. as the max temp for full 500w operation is 50c on psu its easy enough to improve airflow near the rear since you have a atx case

pop this in the very bottom of the pci slots on the actual case its powered by a molex from power supply.
this will keep the air round your power supply cool unless your power supply is top mounted then just upgrade the rear cooling fan to

depending on size of fan holes
budget fans

92mm fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186077

120mm fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103090

ive used these fans before so they work a treat also used the pci slot

 

[darkhelmet82]

sweet. well, i cant wait to build this, hell, i cant wait to get that card, that alone will probably be a big improvement. not to mention, as far as battlefield 4 goes, i started running the 32 bit version of the game and now it doesn't do what it was doing before. i can actually play it! cpu stays in the 80% range pretty consistently but never freezes or does any of the other things like running at 100% and I'm running the game with settings mostly on high and ultra, no AA but i am using fxaa on high and in 1920x1080. So the new gpu should be a nice boost overall. Also, the case I'm going to use has a few small fans all around it, can't remember if it has any fans at the back or not. It's an older gaming case. I might go ahead and grab one of these fans just to be safe. The psu is top mounted so i guess i just need to put a good fan on the back? Anyway, by the middle of next month I'll have the new mobo and cpu with new windows. Getting the gpu and psu next week. I know It's not a beast but It'll be a nice rig for me. Thanks for your help man. I'll probably be on here again as i start getting my parts in lol. especially when i go to overclock my cpu.

 

[beyondlogic]

sweet. well, i cant wait to build this, hell, i cant wait to get that card, that alone will probably be a big improvement. not to mention, as far as battlefield 4 goes, i started running the 32 bit version of the game and now it doesn't do what it was doing before. i can actually play it! cpu stays in the 80% range pretty consistently but never freezes or does any of the other things like running at 100% and I'm running the game with settings mostly on high and ultra, no AA but i am using fxaa on high and in 1920x1080. So the new gpu should be a nice boost overall. Also, the case I'm going to use has a few small fans all around it, can't remember if it has any fans at the back or not. It's an older gaming case. I might go ahead and grab one of these fans just to be safe. The psu is top mounted so i guess i just need to put a good fan on the back? Anyway, by the middle of next month I'll have the new mobo and cpu with new windows. Getting the gpu and psu next week. I know It's not a beast but It'll be a nice rig for me. Thanks for your help man. I'll probably be on here again as i start getting my parts in lol. especially when i go to overclock my cpu.

yes all atx cases have 1 rear fan at the back its usually 120mm fan and the sides are usually the same also a good rear fan also helps keeping the cpu cooler temps down as well as it drags the heat away from the heatsink as well so it has 2 benefits since cpu is usually close to rear

whats great about the MSI 970A-G46 is it has a x1 slot before the graphics card this is good as you can install a wifi card without the graphics card covering over it since its above the graphics card thats if you choose to add wifi hell you can put anything in the x1 slot thats supports x1 cards

also with mantle 7870 should blow anything out the water

note do not be fooled by the r9 and r7 cards these are just slightly tweaked cards same as the 7870 reason i go for the 7000 series as the r9 and r7 drivers are in beta and there horrid at present

 

[darkhelmet82]

cool, i probably wont worry about wifi too much. i'll check out the fan in the back of the case im gonna use. like i said, its a gaming rig i got from my friend that he had custom ordered a few years back so maybe the fan on the back is pretty decent. also, i forgot to mention, you said i should get an aftermarket cooler for the cpu. I also have one of those from that same case. it was the one with the phenom 940. i cant find the name of it on the actual cooler but it's an amd cooler and it definitely looks aftermarket. much bigger and beefier than my stock cooler with copper tubing and all that fancy stuff. maybe it's a good one. not too sure.

 

[beyondlogic]

cool, i probably wont worry about wifi too much. i'll check out the fan in the back of the case im gonna use. like i said, its a gaming rig i got from my friend that he had custom ordered a few years back so maybe the fan on the back is pretty decent. also, i forgot to mention, you said i should get an aftermarket cooler for the cpu. I also have one of those from that same case. it was the one with the phenom 940. i cant find the name of it on the actual cooler but it's an amd cooler and it definitely looks aftermarket. much bigger and beefier than my stock cooler with copper tubing and all that fancy stuff. maybe it's a good one. not too sure.

Take 3 pictures of it

1 bottom so i can see the heatpipe layout
2 heatsink
3 fan

i know quite alot of the older models it may simply switching the fan for a better one

usually the fans on the aftermarket models are unique in some way so i can find it out usually by the fan itself unless he changed the stock fan lol then it gets a bit harder
plus count the wicks at the top of the heatsink they will look like points

 

[darkhelmet82]

i'll snap some photos of it when i get home tonight and post them on here.

 

[beyondlogic]

i'll snap some photos of it when i get home tonight and post them on here.

k sounds good hopefully its a good heatsink lol that way all youd need is to clean it and mx4 paste and then occ lol

also take a few pics of the case i can look that up to see what it takes in fans etc

 

[darkhelmet82]

will do. oh, one more question referring to the 970 mobo and the 6300 cpu. when i get these, will i have to update the bios on the new board for the fx cpu to work if that is the first processor that im putting on it? I've always read that a lot of motherboards have to be updated to accept the fx cpu's.

 

[beyondlogic]

will do. oh, one more question referring to the 970 mobo and the 6300 cpu. when i get these, will i have to update the bios on the new board for the fx cpu to work if that is the first processor that im putting on it? I've always read that a lot of motherboards have to be updated to accept the fx cpu's.

It may actually work right out of the box msi are usually pretty good at updating there bios

id install the fx 6300 sometimes even if its the wrong bios it sometimes will boot into the bios and you can just use a usb to flash the bios to correct version

i had the wrong bios for my old fx 8120 yet it still booted.

 

[darkhelmet82]

i see, well, can i do it with my current phenom 820? then install the 6300 or do i have to use a flash drive?

 

[darkhelmet82]

i see, well, can i do it with my current phenom 820? then install the 6300 or do i have to use a flash drive?

 

[beyondlogic]

i see, well, can i do it with my current phenom 820? then install the 6300 or do i have to use a flash drive?

yes you can stick in the 820 but you will still have to flash the bios with a flash drive thumb stick to get the fx 6300 to work

 

[darkhelmet82]

Hey man, thought I'd pop in and give a little update. So, first off, i got the new power supply you recommended and picked me up an hd 7870. The performance increase was out of this world. I can even run battle field 4 on max ultra settings at 60 fps and that's only because i have v-sync on and it's capping at 60. My processor still runs around 80% but I can run the 64 bit version of the game and it never glitches out, yet... Also, i thought that i would add a little something in regards to the original conversations about my motherboard and the supposed compatible processors. Talked with HP and they told me that i can upgrade to any of the processors listed on their website. even though some of them are 125w cpu's, the bios on the mother board is designed to work with those processors. so, i could have in fact upgraded to the 965, however, i'll stick with the plan to get the new motherboard and the fx 6300 at the end of next month, which leads to my next question. since im going to go ahead and for the time being, use the phenom II x4 940BE that i had laying around until next month, i thought i'd look into overclocking. can i do it with this mother board? the reason i ask is because the 940 is already unlocked, so does that mean i could slightly over clock it some, or would the motherboard still not allow it?

 

[beyondlogic]

Hey man, thought I'd pop in and give a little update. So, first off, i got the new power supply you recommended and picked me up an hd 7870. The performance increase was out of this world. I can even run battle field 4 on max ultra settings at 60 fps and that's only because i have v-sync on and it's capping at 60. My processor still runs around 80% but I can run the 64 bit version of the game and it never glitches out, yet... Also, i thought that i would add a little something in regards to the original conversations about my motherboard and the supposed compatible processors. Talked with HP and they told me that i can upgrade to any of the processors listed on their website. even though some of them are 125w cpu's, the bios on the mother board is designed to work with those processors. so, i could have in fact upgraded to the 965, however, i'll stick with the plan to get the new motherboard and the fx 6300 at the end of next month, which leads to my next question. since im going to go ahead and for the time being, use the phenom II x4 940BE that i had laying around until next month, i thought i'd look into overclocking. can i do it with this mother board? the reason i ask is because the 940 is already unlocked, so does that mean i could slightly over clock it some, or would the motherboard still not allow it?

depends on what your temps are currently while gaming you should focus under 55c if your well under that then mild occ it test max voltage it will take i think is 1.5v max temp it can take a beating is 62c so do not go paste 1.5v id be careful when playing with voltage as some boards wont handle it.

try bumping voltage up a bit and go 3.3ghz

glad so see that the performance jump was worth it