AM2+ Upgrade?

G

grandfatman

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 6, 2012
Messages
188
Hi guys. I've only ever changed computers, never upgraded parts of a system for my personal use, I have however built PC's in the past so I know "what i'm doing" when it comes to actually assembling.... however my question is this....

In the future I plan on a total system upgrade (infact, a brand new build) However funds don't allow me to do so at the moment. I'm currently running a pretty much stock (except for a PSU and Harddrive upgrade / addition) a stock Acer Aspire M3201 with an AMD Phenom x4 9150e @1.8 ghz. And it's really hindering my ability to video edit at the moment. Until i can upgrade i need to change my CPU. I've been looking at a dual core amd processor that will fit (AM2+ socket) at 2.1ghz or there has been one at 2.5 ghz but i know for a fact that quad core really does help (using Adobe programs) Will it actually help me? to upgrade to that processor? with it only being a dual core? Are there any quad cores clocked at similar speeds? (2.1ghz + ) that will fit the AM2+ socket? This will only be temporary - ish until i can afford a full PC build, but please bear in mind that it isn't an option for me to do that at present. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

-grandfatman

p.s - posted this somewhere else too but not having any luck (or replies at all ;) lol )
 
grandfatman said:
Hi guys. I've only ever changed computers, never upgraded parts of a system for my personal use, I have however built PC's in the past so I know "what i'm doing" when it comes to actually assembling.... however my question is this....

In the future I plan on a total system upgrade (infact, a brand new build) However funds don't allow me to do so at the moment. I'm currently running a pretty much stock (except for a PSU and Harddrive upgrade / addition) a stock Acer Aspire M3201 with an AMD Phenom x4 9150e @1.8 ghz. And it's really hindering my ability to video edit at the moment. Until i can upgrade i need to change my CPU. I've been looking at a dual core amd processor that will fit (AM2+ socket) at 2.1ghz or there has been one at 2.5 ghz but i know for a fact that quad core really does help (using Adobe programs) Will it actually help me? to upgrade to that processor? with it only being a dual core? Are there any quad cores clocked at similar speeds? (2.1ghz + ) that will fit the AM2+ socket? This will only be temporary - ish until i can afford a full PC build, but please bear in mind that it isn't an option for me to do that at present. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

-grandfatman

p.s - posted this somewhere else too but not having any luck (or replies at all ;) lol )
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I think most am2+ socket boards can take am3 chips. There are also am2+ quad cores (i have a phenom2 940 -- 3ghz, myself).
 
only thing is its really hard to check compatability with this generic mobo. cpuid tells me it's an ACER RS780HVF
 
grandfatman said:
Hi guys. I've only ever changed computers, never upgraded parts of a system for my personal use, I have however built PC's in the past so I know "what i'm doing" when it comes to actually assembling.... however my question is this....

In the future I plan on a total system upgrade (infact, a brand new build) However funds don't allow me to do so at the moment. I'm currently running a pretty much stock (except for a PSU and Harddrive upgrade / addition) a stock Acer Aspire M3201 with an AMD Phenom x4 9150e @1.8 ghz. And it's really hindering my ability to video edit at the moment. Until i can upgrade i need to change my CPU. I've been looking at a dual core amd processor that will fit (AM2+ socket) at 2.1ghz or there has been one at 2.5 ghz but i know for a fact that quad core really does help (using Adobe programs) Will it actually help me? to upgrade to that processor? with it only being a dual core? Are there any quad cores clocked at similar speeds? (2.1ghz + ) that will fit the AM2+ socket? This will only be temporary - ish until i can afford a full PC build, but please bear in mind that it isn't an option for me to do that at present. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance
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Be very, very careful with any CPU upgrades at all whatsoever on any OEM pre-built PC! You see, big-name OEMs often severely restrict their CPU support to what was available at the time the system was brand-new, and that any newer CPUs will likely be not supported at all on these systems - even with the latest BIOS update. If you replace the original CPU with a newer-gen CPU for the same socket, there is a good chance that your system will not even work at all until you reinstall the original CPU onto the board.
 
E4g1e said:
Be very, very careful with any CPU upgrades at all whatsoever on any OEM pre-built PC! You see, big-name OEMs often severely restrict their CPU support to what was available at the time the system was brand-new, and that any newer CPUs will likely be not supported at all on these systems - even with the latest BIOS update. If you replace the original CPU with a newer-gen CPU for the same socket, there is a good chance that your system will not even work at all until you reinstall the original CPU onto the board.
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I know there were different variations around at the time of manufacture, some dual core, some quad etc. Will not most AM2+ processors work with the AM2+ socket? I thought that was the idea?
 
grandfatman said:
I know there were different variations around at the time of manufacture, some dual core, some quad etc. Will not most AM2+ processors work with the AM2+ socket? I thought that was the idea?
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It is up to the OEM as to whether they will or will not support newer CPUs in a given pre-built PC. Not all of the newer CPUs will work on such a system even though they physically fit the socket. Same thing occurs when some big-name OEMs restrict the CPU compatibility of their LGA 775 Intel systems to the older NetBurst CPUs even though their chipsets otherwise support the newer Core 2.
 
im starting to think that my options are a new am3+ mobo and processor, if i do get a new mobo and processor will i have to reinstall windows and wipe my hdd? ( i seem to recall a few years back i couldnt take the hdd from an older pc and run it in a newer computer)
 
grandfatman said:
im starting to think that my options are a new am3+ mobo and processor, if i do get a new mobo and processor will i have to reinstall windows and wipe my hdd? ( i seem to recall a few years back i couldnt take the hdd from an older pc and run it in a newer computer)
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You will also need new RAM since AM3+ boards are now DDR3 only (you cannot reuse your old DDR2 RAM at all).
 
If you have a microcenter around you, the best budget build, IMHO is the FX-6300 with free motherboard for $120 or so. I know my brother picked up 2 * 8GB ddr3-1600 or so for $73 IIRC. Great setup for $200'ish.
 
grandfatman said:
if i do get a new mobo and processor will i have to reinstall windows and wipe my hdd? ( i seem to recall a few years back i couldnt take the hdd from an older pc and run it in a newer computer)
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If your OS came with that Acer, then there's a possibility that you will need to buy a new OS key as IIRC the OS key for most OEM PCs are tied directly to that motherboard or at least a motherboard from that OEM.
 
You could always purchase an am3 (not am3+) processor second hand (cheaply), one which should by all rights work, install it and cross your fingers. If the system works you are finished, if not, then look into another motherboard.

If necessary you could always stick with a good quality am2+ motherboard from a third party in order to reuse your existing RAM and the new AM3 processor, you can get great prices on used or even NOS am2 boards.
 
Dalfo002 said:
You could always purchase an am3 (not am3+) processor second hand (cheaply), one which should by all rights work, install it and cross your fingers. If the system works you are finished, if not, then look into another motherboard.

If necessary you could always stick with a good quality am2+ motherboard from a third party in order to reuse your existing RAM and the new AM3 processor, you can get great prices on used or even NOS am2 boards.
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I have an athlon ii x2 working in an AM2 board, no issues (except at bios post "unknown cpu").

Wouldn't hurt to try...
 
Hello grandfatman. I seem to be in same situation as you. I have a Supermicro H8SMAI-2, it happens to be a rev 2.01. Rev 1 H8smi-2 will take AM2 cpus, I have an Opteron dual core 2.8 Ghz. Supermicro web site state rev 2.01 will handle the quad core Opteron. Quad core Opteron is AM2+, behaps right on the transistion. If you have am AM2+ one would think you could use any AM2+ cpu. Have you checked the motherboard manufactures web site for a spec on which CPUs they say will work??
Turt.
 
YIKES> The upgrade path for AM2+ systems is a dead end.
That is because the faster CPUs for that board are long out of production and somewhat scarce. Check Ebay for like a Phenom BE 940; you will see the pricing is higher than you can typically get a much faster AM3+ CPU for.
 
For most AM2+ platforms a Phenom II 955 or 965BE is the best processor you can drop in. Unfortunately even by ebay prices, they can cost more than the newer AM3 cpu's as already stated.
 
Well, I'm not sure about cost. I got a Supermicro H8SMI-2 with dual core Opteron 2.8Ghz and 8GB of ECC ram for $38 - And Working. Using it now. Disabled, but not approved yet, I don't have the funds for new. I think THAT WAS a great deal, even if the stuff is 6 years old. Quad core AM2+s do show up for $35 now and then. I am becoming more and more impressed with this system now that I got it up and recovered data off my old crashed system. Turt.
 
Turtle Soup said:
Well, I'm not sure about cost. I got a Supermicro H8SMI-2 with dual core Opteron 2.8Ghz and 8GB of ECC ram for $38 - And Working. Using it now. Disabled, but not approved yet, I don't have the funds for new. I think THAT WAS a great deal, even if the stuff is 6 years old. Quad core AM2+s do show up for $35 now and then. I am becoming more and more impressed with this system now that I got it up and recovered data off my old crashed system. Turt.
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Heck i'll sell you my 920(quad core,am2+) for $40. if you want.
 
Hello Geforcepat,

Hey, thanks for the offer. It's out of budget for two months. I guess I have really tripped out on the Opterons. I never had one before, did you know this CPU scans it own internal caches which have
ECC just to keep them error free? And it logs the errors. Since it is a Server / Workstation motherboard I will keep with the Opteron. The motherboard is also nice as it is transitional; it has 6 SATA2 drives and an IDE. Thats good for me as I have some drives from crashed systems I want to recover programs and data from. So I am using SATAs but I can plug in one of the old drive when I need to.
Turt.
 
Athlon II X2 280 to the price list. This part has 2 cores, backed by 2 MB L2 cache, and clocked at 3.6 GHz. The X2 280 fits into 65 Watt thermal envelope, and it is compatible with socket AM3 motherboards. Based on these specifications, the Athlon II is likely to be based on K10 micro-architecture. The official price of the new CPU is $49:
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Might be worth checking out not sure how things are with your mainboard bios but power requirement seems spot on with am2+ .
 
Turtle Soup said:
Hello Geforcepat,

Hey, thanks for the offer. It's out of budget for two months. I guess I have really tripped out on the Opterons. I never had one before, did you know this CPU scans it own internal caches which have
ECC just to keep them error free? And it logs the errors. Since it is a Server / Workstation motherboard I will keep with the Opteron. The motherboard is also nice as it is transitional; it has 6 SATA2 drives and an IDE. Thats good for me as I have some drives from crashed systems I want to recover programs and data from. So I am using SATAs but I can plug in one of the old drive when I need to.
Turt.
Click to expand...
CooL i did not know that about the opty:cool:
 
Matthew Kane said:
For most AM2+ platforms a Phenom II 955 or 965BE is the best processor you can drop in. Unfortunately even by ebay prices, they can cost more than the newer AM3 cpu's as already stated.
Click to expand...

Exactly.

A board upgrade to a AM3+ can be as cheap as the $50 range; but the benefit is being able to select a processor that will double the computing power of what you can get out of the fastest processor on a AM2+ board.

This is exactly went ahead and upgraded to the system in my sig. It is lightning fast compared to my old AM2+ system.
 
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