Question Need Assistance Upgrading CPU on a Very Old HP Desktop

[toroca]

Hopefully this is the correct forum for this topic...

I would greatly appreciate some assistance in determining what the best processor I can upgrade to on a really old HP desktop is.

Before I go any farther, please do not waste your time or mine by replying if the only advice you have to offer is to "save up to buy a newer system." If that were an option for me right now, I would happily do so, but I cannot afford to replace the entire system at the present time. I can, however, afford to buy a replacement processor if I can just determine what will actually work.

Also, full disclosure, the computer in question is not connected to the internet; I do not at present have home internet access. I am writing this at my public library. Due to my work hours and the library's hours not being fully compatible, if you request additional details from me it may take me a day or three to provide them but I will do so as quickly as I can.

The motherboard on the system is a Foxconn 2ABF, Version 3.10 according to Speccy. After literally days of effort and research, I have managed to update the BIOS to AMI Version 8.14 dated 1/23/2013, from the 7.06 I started out with. I already know that the board will only support Sandy Bridge based processors (supposedly there are versions of the board that will also support Ivy Bridge with the right BIOS update, but I haven't been able to figure out how you determine whether you have that version of the board or not, short of buying an Ivy Bridge and trying it). Other possibly pertinent details reported by Speccy are:
Chipset Vendor Intel
Chipset Model Sandy Bridge
Chipset Revision 09
Southbridge Vendor Intel
Southbridge Model H61
Southbridge Revision B3
If any of those help narrow down the processor options, I haven't been able to find that information. Since every source I could find made it seem as if any Sandy Bridge CPU with a max TDP of 95W would work, I have already tried an i7-2700K. Multiple sources including this one suggested that model would work, but even with the updated BIOS, I get a message about an unsupported CPU being installed, and the computer shuts down. So either I've done something wrong, or not all 95W Sandy Bridge CPUs are in fact supported. Is the problem perhaps that the K series are designed for overclocking? Maybe an i7-2600 or an i5-2500 instead? I don't know what else to look for to figure out compatibility.

I have spent so much time trying to find these answers, and coming up with very little I feel confident in (especially after the failure of the i7-2700K). I simply want to extend the useful life of the PC for a little while longer until I can replace the whole thing. I'm not looking to play any modern AAA game titles or anything even close to that; while I do play some games on it, I don't think I have anything released in the past 8 or 9 years. I just want to make this system the best it can be for as old as it is, until I can finally replace the whole thing a year or two from now.

I thank you for your time, and any help you can provide.

 

[Lutfij]

So either I've done something wrong, or not all 95W Sandy Bridge CPUs are in fact supported.
You're dealing with a prebuilt that back in the day had a blacklist/whitelist for parts you could put on an HP or a Dell prebuilt/laptop. If that part was not on the BIOS microcode, it's unsupported as opposed to other board's like that from Asus or their ilk, you could drop in processors off of a list they had. You've mentioned the old HP desktop in your thread's title, I think you should've gone with the model/SKU of said HP prebuilt so we/you can look up the prebuilts options, and then move from there with regards to an upgrade inquiry(using Google). Prebuilts also tried to prevent users from tinkering with their builds to avoid false warranty claims or claims of user generated error.

This is what I've come to find;
https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Deskt...e-maximum-to-upgrade-CPU-and-GPU/td-p/9059908
but contrary to that thread, the H61 chipset will not allow you to run your memory at DDR3-1600MHz, they will be effectively running at DDR3-1333MHz.

Which leads me to this point you'd made;

Before I go any farther, please do not waste your time or mine by replying if the only advice you have to offer is to "save up to buy a newer system." If that were an option for me right now, I would happily do so, but I cannot afford to replace the entire system at the present time. I can, however, afford to buy a replacement processor if I can just determine what will actually work.

You're better off saving the money, and not investing in a platform that's more than a decade old and is s dead platform. You can however polish it an retrofit it to have it up on shelf for posterity's sake but all it's doing is being a money pit, with negative return on investments. You've also driven away people who could swap you to a cheap build as well.