[SOLVED] Is a 8320 compatible with a M51BC (Socket 942)

[skittz-bro]

I have just recently been given this M51BC board and want to know if a 8320 is compatible with it.

I just upgraded to ryzen so I don't really have a use for it so I was hoping to give my old FX system to my younger sibling. I currently have a Phenom II X2 in the board and it runs fine but can't handle any games at all.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

No. A Phenom II board will not accept a Bulldozer chip

 

[OllympianGamer]

Dont know about your phenom but M51BC is an am3+ motherboard so yeah, it should say fx cpu support near where you slot in the processor.

 

[skittz-bro]

No. A Phenom II board will not accept a Bulldozer chip

I don't think it was designed just for phenoms as I have searched the board up and there a pre built systems that have this board paird with a FX 8300 but I cant find anything about it being compatible with any other FX CPUs

 

[skittz-bro]

Yea

Dont know about your phenom but M51BC is an am3+ motherboard so yeah, it should say fx cpu support near where you slot in the processor.

it does say that, so it should accept the chip?

 

[OllympianGamer]

Yea
it does say that, so it should accept the chip?

8320 is an FX series processor so if it doesnt work someone at the motherboard factory was taking the piss when they printed that on it

 

[skittz-bro]

8320 is an FX series processor so if it doesnt work someone at the motherboard factory was taking the piss when they printed that on it

Ok well I'll chuck the CPU in and see what happens, also I do only have a stock cooler for this system at the moment and FX chips are notorious for overheating so would it be a wise Idea to still put it in the board?

 

[OllympianGamer]

Ok well I'll chuck the CPU in and see what happens, also I do only have a stock cooler for this system at the moment and FX chips are notorious for overheating so would it be a wise Idea to still put it in the board?

Yeah I had a water cooled 8320 back in the day, clocked it up to 4.8ghz fairly easily though which was nice.

 

[skittz-bro]

Well

Yeah I had a water cooled 8320 back in the day, clocked it up to 4.8ghz fairly easily though which was nice.

Well I'll give it a try and see what happens

 

[ChumP]

The CPU might work considering the FX 8300 is known as being compatible with the motherboard... though the FX 8320 having a 125W TDP vs the 8300's 95W might result in a non POSTing computer(BIOS won't allow the 125W part).

Your board is a M5A97 EVO2, which looks like a cheaper mATX version of a M5A97 EVO... yours has less expansion slots and lower grade VRM cooling compared to the M5A97 EVO. Also the VRM configuration might be weaker on your mobo... the EVO has a 4+2 phase design which should be enough for 125W TDP... yours might be the same, but I can't find any pictures with the heatsinks off.

Even though the CPU might work, I don't really know if the board is capable of sustaining a 125W TDP processor... VRMs might be getting really hot. If the board POSTS with the FX 8320 I'll advise in testing with Prime95(AVX disabled) and monitoring your motherboard temps(watch VRM MOS temps)... if your VRMs are overheating you might see some throttling.

 

[skittz-bro]

The CPU might work considering the FX 8300 is known as being compatible with the motherboard... though the FX 8320 having a 125W TDP vs the 8300's 95W might result in a non POSTing computer(BIOS won't allow the 125W part).

Your board is a M5A97 EVO2, which looks like a cheaper mATX version of a M5A97 EVO... yours has less expansion slots and lower grade VRM cooling compared to the M5A97 EVO.

Even though the CPU might work, I don't really know if the board is capable of sustaining a 125W TDP processor... VRMs might be getting really hot. If the board POSTS with the FX 8320 I'll advise in testing with Prime95(AVX disabled) and monitoring your motherboard temps(watch VRM MOS temps)... if your VRMs are overheating you might see some throttling.

Alright I'll let you know what happens

 

[skittz-bro]

The CPU might work considering the FX 8300 is known as being compatible with the motherboard... though the FX 8320 having a 125W TDP vs the 8300's 95W might result in a non POSTing computer(BIOS won't allow the 125W part).

Your board is a M5A97 EVO2, which looks like a cheaper mATX version of a M5A97 EVO... yours has less expansion slots and lower grade VRM cooling compared to the M5A97 EVO.

Even though the CPU might work, I don't really know if the board is capable of sustaining a 125W TDP processor... VRMs might be getting really hot. If the board POSTS with the FX 8320 I'll advise in testing with Prime95(AVX disabled) and monitoring your motherboard temps(watch VRM MOS temps)... if your VRMs are overheating you might see some throttling.

Ok I've just turned the PC on with the 8320 installed and I opened speccy just to see what ideal temps where and the CPU is sitting at 50c and sometimes going up to 60c while the motherboard is sitting at 28c, maybe a cooler upgrade would help?

 

[skittz-bro]

The CPU might work considering the FX 8300 is known as being compatible with the motherboard... though the FX 8320 having a 125W TDP vs the 8300's 95W might result in a non POSTing computer(BIOS won't allow the 125W part).

Your board is a M5A97 EVO2, which looks like a cheaper mATX version of a M5A97 EVO... yours has less expansion slots and lower grade VRM cooling compared to the M5A97 EVO. Also the VRM configuration might be weaker on your mobo... the EVO has a 4+2 phase design which should be enough for 125W TDP... yours might be the same, but I can't find any pictures with the heatsinks off.

Even though the CPU might work, I don't really know if the board is capable of sustaining a 125W TDP processor... VRMs might be getting really hot. If the board POSTS with the FX 8320 I'll advise in testing with Prime95(AVX disabled) and monitoring your motherboard temps(watch VRM MOS temps)... if your VRMs are overheating you might see some throttling.

Started the test within 10 seconds the CPU got up 80c and the board didn't get any hotter then 35c

 

[ChumP]

Ok I've just turned the PC on with the 8320 installed and I opened speccy just to see what ideal temps where and the CPU is sitting at 50c and sometimes going up to 60c while the motherboard is sitting at 28c, maybe a cooler upgrade would help?

Those temperatures are bad for IDLE... the fx 8320 should be kept under 60C(even at full load) preferably. At 70C the CPU will start throttling.... 80-85C shut down temp.

You need a better cooler... a cheap option would be the ARCTIC Freezer 34 esports.

Started the test within 10 seconds the CPU got up 80c and the board didn't get any hotter then 35c

Yeah... that's really hot for an FX processor.

 

[skittz-bro]

Ok

Those temperatures are bad for IDLE... the fx 8320 should be kept under 60C(even at full load) preferably. At 70C the CPU will start throttling.... 80-85C shut down temp.

You need a better cooler... a cheap option would be the ARCTIC Freezer 34 esports

I was looking at a hyper X 212, so the board will work fine with the 8320 as long as I have a better cooler?

 

[ChumP]

Ok
I was looking at a hyper X 212, so the board will work fine with the 8320 as long as I have a better cooler?

Try HWInfo for monitoring the motherboard temperatures... it might show you more readings from the motherboard sensors.

The Hyper 212X will do fine too... though the arctic freezer 34 performs much better at a little higher price and I'd much prefer it instead of the CoolerMaster.

 

[skittz-bro]

Try HWInfo for monitoring the motherboard temperatures... it might show you more readings from the motherboard sensors.

The Hyper 212X will do fine too... though the arctic freezer 34 performs much better at a little higher price and I'd much prefer it instead of the CoolerMaster.

Thanks for recommending hwinfo it's a lot more helpful then speccy but is showing basically the same temps, I'm gonna have to look into getting a better cooler

 

[skittz-bro]

Ok
I was looking at a hyper X 212, so the board will work fine with the 8320 as long as I have a better cooler?

is the arctic freezer compatible with am3+?

 

[ChumP]

No it isn't... sorry for my mistake, glad that you've looked before buying it.

Since you have an old CPU the Hyper 212 Black(you can get the EVO too, the black just looks better) will be enough.