Upgrading the CPU in a Gateway GM5474

[shankzulla]

Hello,

I am looking the replace the stock CPU in my brother's old Gateway GM5474, as it is the bottleneck of the whole system. I have done some research as to whether or not it is possible to replace the CPU, and I have not found a definitive answer; some say that this AM2 board will support an AM3 processor and some say I can't. I want to know whether or not purchasing a new motherboard would be necessary to replace the cpu

I am looking to replace the current processor with this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819106012
I would also be willing to run a quad core if a hexacore is not possible.

Currently, the computer has a 750 watt psu, a radeon HD 6850, 4gb of ddr2 ram and a 1tb 7200rpm hdd; the only things that have not been replaced are the motherboard and cpu. I currently run a copy of windows 7 32bit, but I have a 64 bit version at the ready following the upgrade.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, Thanks!

 

[WR2]

It's the motherboard (and BIOS version) that will determine what CPUs can be supported.

Run CPU-z and get the info off the Mainboard tab. Hopefully it will help ID the exact motherboard you have installed. And BIOS version and date.
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

 

[WR2]

There are a couple ways to confirm is a CPU will run in your system.

From the motherboard's CPU support list - which should also list the BIOS version required for each CPU.

From other owners of the same model computer. What CPUs have they successfully used for upgrades? Hopefully, they mention the BIOS version they're using for the upgrade.

Without one of those methods confirming your planned upgrade I think you should assume it's not a compatible MB/CPU upgrade path.

My personal suspicion is that without a matching BIOS upgrade (MB to CPU) the Phenom II X6 1045T Thuban is probably a no-go.

And same is probably true for the Phenom II X4 Deneb CPUs.

Which are probably a better choice in any case.
4 cores @ 3.4Ghz plus overclocking (Phenom II X4 965 BE) would be better than 6 cores @ 2.7Ghz (X6 1045T Thuban)