Hi guys,

 

This is one for the more IT minded amongst us.

 

I've been thinking of upgrading the CPU in my PC as prices have generally come down quite a bit. At the moment I'm running an ASUS A8V Deluxe KT8K800PRO MOBO with an AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (single core/Socket 939) CPU. The PC is reasonably fast but not great at multi-tasking when I've got more than 5 apps open at the same time (despite having 4GB RAM installed). According to some research I've done (online) about this particular MOBO I should be able to install an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ S939 CPU.

 

Now this is where I will need some help. Apart from backing everything up in the event the worst happens, how do I go about setting the BIOS to the new CPU settings? Is it as simple as getting an updated firmware and hoping for the best or is there a certain procedure to follow? Am I likely to encounter any running problems after the upgrade?

 

Sorry for the questions but the only times I've installed CPU's is at the build stage with absolutely no software on the HDD's (ie, nothing to lose).

 

Any and all feedback gratefully received!

 

Dan

Personaly I think your jumping out the fire in to the pan with this aproach. Your CPU at the mo should be upto the task of what you want, its more your MOBO letting the show down, if your gonna upgrade I would get the CPU you like and match it with a decent MOBO rather than trying to tweek your current one thats not really upto the job.

 

Just my 2p's worth. Will sort Pinnacle tomorrow by the way bud.

Well monitoring performance to identify the bottleneck would be the first thing to do, could be disk speed, memory speed or cpu performance or some sort o0f conflict. However, should you decide to change the cpu all your generally need to do would be remove the old one and plug in the new - the BIOS will auto detect correctly 99% of the time. Updating to the latest BIOS beforehand would be a good idea, but there is always an inherent risk in fiddling with stuff like that.

Personaly I think your jumping out the fire in to the pan with this aproach. Your CPU at the mo should be upto the task of what you want, its more your MOBO letting the show down, if your gonna upgrade I would get the CPU you like and match it with a decent MOBO rather than trying to tweek your current one thats not really upto the job.

 

Just my 2p's worth. Will sort Pinnacle tomorrow by the way bud.

 

Thanks for that info! I was in two minds as to whether to upgrade the mobo as well. Will need to look into it some more. I'm not really in a rush to do it as everything works.

 

Cheers mate - will await your e-mail re Pinnacle.

 

Dan

I have installed a few upgraded processors in existing systems now, the phsical side of it is easy, just remove and replace.

 

I did not have to alter the BIOS at all, whatever mobo I was putting a faster CPU on always picked it up.

 

What did throw a fit was Windows XP...... it gets so far and blue screens. The only way to fix this is to put in your windows CD Rom, boot off it and choose "windows repair" from one of the menus. It will go on it's way and install windows but keep all your files and settings. Hey presto in 90 mins you are back to where you were but with a faster CPU installed :)

 

HTH

 

Rob.

Andy - I think the bottle neck lies with the security software I run on the PC (Kaspersky Internet Suite and Paredo XoftSpySE). These tend to be quite intrusive everytime you access a new file. I've tried to optimise them but things are still a little on the slow side from time to time - hence my initial thought of upping the processor speed.

 

Rob - XP throwing its toys out of the pram is kind of what i'm worried about. I would need to do an awful lot of backing up before I'd attempt this so hopefully things will be ok after any "repairs" (if required).

 

Thanks again guys!

 

Dan

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/140478

 

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/113844

 

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/140714

 

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/131128

 

£245 total but will run like the wind on a windy day :D

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/140478

 

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/113844

 

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/140714

 

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/131128

 

£245 total but will run like the wind on a windy day :D

 

Very nice and VERY tempting but lack of funds won't let me stretch as far as a complete system rebuild - how ever much I'd like to - but perhaps if I save some more pennies ...

Only other thing to add is you might have to update/flash your bios. Just have a look at what revision it is now and if it supports the cpu you need. Usually it will be fine though.

With the bios side of things be careful and use Asus own program for updating the bios to make it get the right one but be aware its not always a sure patch:headvswal, although I have never had a problem and always use Asus as used to deal with them in the last company I worked for.

 

Might also be worth looking at the amount of ram you have and giving the system a full spyware scan/virus scan etc etc to get rid of any process/memory sapping as it happens.

You should not have any issues running it from a new cpu install but always Always back up ALWAYS!!! Invest in an External hdd enclosure in the future :D can make an Image of your Hdds every so often in the event of a total system failure :P

the best performance gains can usually be found from installing a faster harddrive and reinstalling windows :D

i put a dual core 2.2 socet 939 in my A8V MOBO and 4Gb of ram but it only detects 3gb

i put a dual core 2.2 socet 939 in my A8V MOBO and 4Gb of ram but it only detects 3gb

 

what operating system?

 

its a common flaw in windows 32 bit operating systems

 

I think it effects everything up to vista, vista should display the 4gb correctly,

32bit will only register upto 3gb which is a pain but vista i think supports upto 128gb memory.