CPU Upgrading question

[Gunny04]

I know I've been rambling on about a PSU, GPU, a case fan and Windows vista upgrade after christmas, But I was wondering is it worth upgrading my processer at some point? As far as I can tell single core CPUs are not much anymore, all Duals. I have a 939 Socket AMD compatible mother board with compatibility up to a 4800+ 64 bit.... Now Replacing the Motherboard in a OEM system is a definate no no... But The processer, would it be worth replacing sometime in the future to a dual core? I currently have a 3800+ 2.4Ghz 64 bit Venice.

Thanks for any advice! Gunny

[GeForce]

In the future games-wise and for Vista it will give you a significant performance boost.

The 4400+ X2 is the minimum dual core 939 CPU you should go for, and if you can make the stretch, the 4800+ has a higher multiplier.

Make sure you go for the Toledo cores over the Manchesters: ie. the 4400+ and 4800+ over the 4200+ and 4600+. This is because they have 2x1mb cache rather than 2x512k.

Clock speed can be increased with overclocking but cache cannot be added to.

Jon

[Gunny04]

OEM=No Overclocking, But I was planning on a 4800 Toledo anyways.... My problem is, do I have to rip the motherboard out of the case to put my ZALMAN CNPS7000B-CU 92mm.... How in the world do I install it? On the 939 socket it looks like I don't have to tear the motherboard out, I could probably reduce the noise factor down to 26 or 27DBA (I have ONLY the Heatsink fan wich is 5600 obnoxious RPMS) and then add a case fan. But mainly, can somebody like CTjoyce give me a good description on how to stick that zalman in there? Back on topic... Installing a CPU is taking the old CPU off, Pulling the lever up, popping the processer out, Put the new processer in with thermal paste/grease then putting it in, Put the new stock heatsink or Zalman fan on it and booting windows right? and maybe installing a 64 bit driver Am I correct? I don't know if I should try this because the last computer I screwed around with went to oblivion (PSU went out at a bad time!) So.... Can I install the zalman without yanking the motherboard out? I have all the parts in the package yet!

Cheers, Gunny

[Gunny04]

Looks like they made it easy on this computer, The 64 bit processer seems to have a back plate (No tearing the motherboard out) Also, It has a black thing around the base of the CPU, probably mounting of some kind, All I should have to do it screw it in/Apply thermal grease if needed right? The Stock cooler has a safety feature, It has the double sided bolt thingy AND screws into the black part, I tryed to gently pull off and it wouldn't move.... its screwd in, No Biggie. I will wait for your suggestions before I attempt to do it. I can't Afford to fry this computer like the last one (Even though that seems like a PSU Failure)

Gunny

[Mushroom_Farmer]

Personally, I'm skipping the Vista OS and waiting for Vienna and 4-core processors coming in about 2 years.

[Gunny04]

well 2 years in the mean time I doubt I'll be able to do much with this 3800  ;D

Gunny

[Gunny04]

I must be an idiot if I can't install a heatsink. Nobody can give me advice/instructions?

Cheers, Gunny

[NicksFXHouse]

I must be an idiot if I can't install a heatsink. Nobody can give me advice/instructions?

Cheers, Gunny

Gunny

I really wish I could post a 1, 2, 3, 4 tutorial for you however when it comes to installing such devices it comes down to following the instructions that come with the unit and personal expereince. I cracked more processors that I wish to admit back in the 70's, 80's and 90's. There is a certain amount of mechanical tallent in combination with experience needed to do the job. If you are unsure of your abilities my advice would be to take the computer to a shop and ask them to install it.

As for dual core... if you motherboard properly supports it then it can be an asset IF you reinstall windows using the correct dual core driver, processor optimizer and apply the dual core hotfix with registry entry.

I can not say if your OEM system would be worth instaling a dual core or not. Typically OEMs are not that expandable and it may not provide as much of boost as the processor is worth. OEMs are hit and miss with such upgrades.



EDIT: You are NOT and idiot. Even the best techs can kill a processor. The advantage of the A64 is you do not have to worry som much about cracking the processor like you did with the TBirds and processors of the past. The heatspreader cap keeps the core from being crushed. If you were to remove that cap it would look just like a Tbird from years ago but with a larger rectangle core.

[Gunny04]

Amen to the hit and miss of upgrades, this computer is upgradable quite a bit. Being a 939 its out of date, and only PC3200 ram, thats another negative. I was thinking about taking the computer to a shop and having them show me how to put the zalman in. I am pretty sure I can do it without tearing the motherboard out (Tearing the motherboard out isnt really a problem but I dont have a flat surface to work on it, plus the cat likes to rub on everything, including me and I KNOW Static electricity can send a computer into oblivion) I think I may pull the stock off and inspect and see, I am pretty sure if I can't get it that I can probably put the stock one back on, or wait until I get a new processer. I dont really need the heatsink, at 80% with the current fan I run about 37-40C which is quite acceptable, and at load I dont think it gets over 50 or so. I just hate the blasted noise.... I'd love to run it 100% (Drops the temps to 35C idle) but you can't hear yourself think... lol its that bad (5600 some rpms compared to the 2700 in the zalman) Thanks for the advice Nick!

Cheers, Gunny

EDIT: My Motherboard

[NicksFXHouse]

Amen to the hit and miss of upgrades, this computer is upgradable quite a bit. Being a 939 its out of date, and only PC3200 ram, thats another negative. I was thinking about taking the computer to a shop and having them show me how to put the zalman in. I am pretty sure I can do it without tearing the motherboard out (Tearing the motherboard out isnt really a problem but I dont have a flat surface to work on it, plus the cat likes to rub on everything, including me and I KNOW Static electricity can send a computer into oblivion) I think I may pull the stock off and inspect and see, I am pretty sure if I can't get it that I can probably put the stock one back on, or wait until I get a new processer. I dont really need the heatsink, at 80% with the current fan I run about 37-40C which is quite acceptable, and at load I dont think it gets over 50 or so. I just hate the blasted noise.... I'd love to run it 100% (Drops the temps to 35C idle) but you can't hear yourself think... lol its that bad (5600 some rpms compared to the 2700 in the zalman) Thanks for the advice Nick!

Cheers, Gunny

EDIT: My Motherboard

I added an edit to my post above

Ther is nothing wrong with 939. Other than Intel Conroe the 939 will run just as fast as any AM2. Your problem is you are stuck with an OEM motherboard which more than likely has very little BIOS setting ability.

I purchased a 70 dollar 939 ASRock board for my grandson to replace what was at the time it was new, a 200 dollar Asus A8V Deluxe motherboard and we will be installing it this weekend.

It is all about the motherboard, BIOS and supporting memory which makes or breaks a system Gunny. I do not know how the budget ASrock board will fair agaist the Titan ASUS however based on what I have researched, it should provide quite a boost in performance and it allows for both AGP and PCIEx16 video cards to be run at the same time.

Nick

[NicksFXHouse]

EDIT: My Motherboard[/quote]


If you had purchased the Zalman 9500 AM2 heatsink it would have come with a snap clip instead of a screw mount. The AM2 is upgraded from the standard 9500 and fits both AM2 and 939 motherboards with a clip.. it also comes with a very nice fan speed control unit the standard model does not have.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835118004

[Gunny04]

It was originally for my 462... which abruply ended in a sad mishap of failing power/ million other things. its the ZALMAN CNPS7000B. This PC is going to my parents when I get the money for an all out gaming rig, this computer I got at Circuit city for 400 something and 583 after the monitor. With a DX10 graphics card, a new PSU, (A good one this time) a case fan and maybe a dual core in the future it should last about 4 years for what they do. As well as serve as a backup gaming rig if I ever get another system going. The zalman has a bunch of hardware (Motherboard clips, back plate, screws, that kind of thing) and a nice Fan controller, I hooked it up ONE TIME to the motherboard to hear it run, quite a quiet little thing, cost me 43 dollars about 6 months ago.

Cheers, Gunny

EDIT: My Bios for an OEM is quite nice actually, I have the ability to do some minor overclocking maybe, and if I can get a bios upgrade (and if ACER was nice enough to make it non OEM only) I may be able to unlock the entire thing. So Far this computer was worth it, I can do just about anything with it (So Far)

[767-300]

Gunny

I really wish I could post a 1, 2, 3, 4 tutorial for you however when it comes to installing such devices it comes down to following the instructions that come with the unit and personal expereince. I cracked more processors that I wish to admit back in the 70's, 80's and 90's. There is a certain amount of mechanical tallent in combination with experience needed to do the job. If you are unsure of your abilities my advice would be to take the computer to a shop and ask them to install it.

It's not all that easy to crack a processor if you are careful. Put many socket A systems together and never cracked a processor.  How did you crack processors way back then? they didn't have heatsinks. More likely to put it in backwards or bend the pins(old DIP packs). I know for a fact that 8 meg e-proms don't like getting put in backwards, as I found out the other day at work. got real hot, real quick