Do my Motherboard Supports Core 2 Quad?

[bruce20]

Hi guys,

I used to be a computer video games fan a few years ago, but then I took a break for a while. Now after release of some BIG games like Hitman Absolution, Assassins Creed III, NFS Most Wanted, I'm planning to play them all & a some others as well. But I realized my Pentium 4 2.50 GHz (Hyper Threading) is a bit old & slow for games like these, so I've to Upgrade my processor.

(Since I'm back to play a few big games ONLY and NOT for a long time, so I don't want to spend any big money on it. So I only want to upgrade the processor on my old LGA775 Motherboard). I did some research & realized that the Core 2 Quad will be a good processor to buy. But I checked my Motherboard if it could support the Core 2 Quad Processor or not.

My Motherboard is: MSI Intel 945GCM7 Chipset based. Its LGA775.

IMPORTANT: On the Box it is mentioned: "Supports FSB 1333 - Core 2 Duo". And Inside the Manual, it is Mentioned "Designed for Core 2 Duo, Pentium D/4, Celeron D Processors".

My Questions are:

1). If my Motherboard Supports, then Will it Support a FSB1333 Core 2 Quad Processor?
2). If YES, then WHY it is NOT Mentioned on the Manual? (I mean, why they just put all names of the supported processors & not the Core 2 Quad)?

3). If I forget about "Core 2 Quad" & Purchase a "Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHZ 6MB CACHE". Will it Work Perfectly Fine with my Motherboard?

Thanks a lot for reading & more thanks if you reply.

Have a Good Day.

 

[DComander1x]

Hi guys,

I used to be a computer video games fan a few years ago, but then I took a break for a while. Now after release of some BIG games like Hitman Absolution, Assassins Creed III, NFS Most Wanted, I'm planning to play them all & a some others as well. But I realized my Pentium 4 2.50 GHz (Hyper Threading) is a bit old & slow for games like these, so I've to Upgrade my processor.

(Since I'm back to play a few big games ONLY and NOT for a long time, so I don't want to spend any big money on it. So I only want to upgrade the processor on my old LGA775 Motherboard). I did some research & realized that the Core 2 Quad will be a good processor to buy. But I checked my Motherboard if it could support the Core 2 Quad Processor or not.

My Motherboard is: MSI Intel 945GCM7 Chipset based. Its LGA775.

IMPORTANT: On the Box it is mentioned: "Supports FSB 1333 - Core 2 Duo". And Inside the Manual, it is Mentioned "Designed for Core 2 Duo, Pentium D/4, Celeron D Processors".

My Questions are:

1). If my Motherboard Supports, then Will it Support a FSB1333 Core 2 Quad Processor?
2). If YES, then WHY it is NOT Mentioned on the Manual? (I mean, why they just put all names of the supported processors & not the Core 2 Quad)?

3). If I forget about "Core 2 Quad" & Purchase a "Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHZ 6MB CACHE". Will it Work Perfectly Fine with my Motherboard?

Thanks a lot for reading & more thanks if you reply.

Have a Good Day.

Hi, most everyone would suggest you to get a much newer board & CPU, such as the AMD A series APUs on the FM1 & FM2 sockets, AMD Athlon IIs & Phenom IIs on the AM3 socket, the AMD FX series on the AM3+ Socket or the Intel i series.

I highly suggest this too, as it gives added performance, as the Core 2s are just too slow to keep up with the modern games, not to mention, a newer build can include newer features, such as SATA III, DDR3, and UEFI.

The chipset (945G) is a much older chipset, and as so, will NOT support a Core 2 Quad, a newer chipset, such as the 965, G/P35, G/P43/45 and the 975X will support a Core 2 Quad.

The Core 2 Duo E8400 is supported on that motherboard with the following BIOS update from MSIs Site - 7507v22.zip. With that BIOS update, it should work fine. WARNING - a BIOS update, if failed midway through, by a power outage, can brick your board.

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

Like DC stated that your board will support some of the Intel® Core™ 2 Duo's with updated Bios from MSI. Most of the time you can check to see if it is possible to support a processor from ark.intel.com under the chipset area and compatible products.

 

[johnnyq1233]

I have an E8400 and I play BF3, GTA IV, BFBC2 and GRAW on my GTX650ti and I have no issues with it...
If you're fine with old tech then get an e8400 a decent cooler and clock it to 4GHZ or what ever stable oc you can get if your board allows.. You should be good.
I plan on building a new system next year so I haven't given a thought to upgrading anything yet.

 

[bruce20]

The Core 2 Duo E8400 is supported on that motherboard with the following BIOS update from MSIs Site - 7507v22.zip. With that BIOS update, it should work fine. WARNING - a BIOS update, if failed midway through, by a power outage, can brick your board.

Many Thanks DC. Actually I know even C2D E8400 is Old Technology, BUT the thing is, I only want to Upgrade my processor, because I just want to make it strong enough to play a few recent games. I know it might not work very good after 1 or may be 2 years after, but that's fine. I'll think of something solid at that time, If I had to Play any games at that time.

I love the idea of Purchasing NEW & Strong Technology, but in this scenario as above, where only a few games are in my focus, I don't want to invest any big money in it.

Did BRICK means, Dead forever?

Your LAST LINE scared me. But my MSI Motherboard had some issue as I described in this thread. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/386700-31-computer-turns-display-monitor I will see if this can be repaired. If its repaired, then I'll give this processor a shot, on the same mobo. Let's hope everything goes fine. BUT if it couldn't be repaired OR something bad happened to the mobo, I'll get a NEW One, Better Compatible with this Processor.

Thanks a lot for your help.

 

[bruce20]

I have an E8400 and I play BF3, GTA IV, BFBC2 and GRAW on my GTX650ti and I have no issues with it...
If you're fine with old tech then get an e8400 a decent cooler and clock it to 4GHZ or what ever stable oc you can get if your board allows.. You should be good.
I plan on building a new system next year so I haven't given a thought to upgrading anything yet.

Thanks John. I notice most of the people are emphasizing on Overclocking.

Is it really necessary to Overclock E8400? I mean, is its performance not good at its Original Speed 3.0GHz?

Actually I'm not a big fan of overclocking, because of the heating/overheating stories. I want to keep it cool & calm, rather than hot. And Summer is coming now, so I don't want it to fry lol.

Thanks.

 

[DComander1x]

Many Thanks DC. Actually I know even C2D E8400 is Old Technology, BUT the thing is, I only want to Upgrade my processor, because I just want to make it strong enough to play a few recent games. I know it might not work very good after 1 or may be 2 years after, but that's fine. I'll think of something solid at that time, If I had to Play any games at that time.

I love the idea of Purchasing NEW & Strong Technology, but in this scenario as above, where only a few games are in my focus, I don't want to invest any big money in it.

Did BRICK means, Dead forever?

Your LAST LINE scared me. But my MSI Motherboard had some issue as I described in this thread. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/386700-31-computer-turns-display-monitor I will see if this can be repaired. If its repaired, then I'll give this processor a shot, on the same mobo. Let's hope everything goes fine. BUT if it couldn't be repaired OR something bad happened to the mobo, I'll get a NEW One, Better Compatible with this Processor.

Thanks a lot for your help.

Ah, alright, and yes, dead forever, because the BIOS is what controls the board before windows takes over. Its a calculated, usually necessary risk, but its still a risk, though many people do it without much issue, but keep an eye on it, and make sure your CPU isn't overheating and everything's stable.

 

[bruce20]

Ah, alright, and yes, dead forever, because the BIOS is what controls the board before windows takes over. Its a calculated, usually necessary risk, but its still a risk, though many people do it without much issue, but keep an eye on it, and make sure your CPU isn't overheating and everything's stable.

Thanks. I finally decided to get a better mobo. I'll do some research & post what options are available in the market. I'll buy Used mobo.