Upgrade Me!

Whilst my faithful computer has served me well over the past few years, I feel it needs upgrading a little, I kind of know what I'm doing but then again...


I was hoping only to upgrade the processor (currently I have an AMD 2.4 Dual core on AM2+). I was looking at getting an AMD Phenom Quad core of some kind, but I've found they're all AM3, so a new board is in order!

I have no idea about boards, are they pretty much interchangeable depending on what you want to put on them? I'm keeping my 8800 GTX since it's a good card, are different boards geared up for different cards - SLI aside. What are the differences with boards? Different caches* bus speeds* latency ratings?*

Ideally I'm wanting a board that would support the 8800, an AM3 processor, and possibly 4GB of DDR3 RAM. Could you guys help me? 

*I have no idea what these are!

What socket is your processor on?

Yeh, we need to know what kind of socket your processor will sit in, for example: Mine is a LGA775.

Well, he's already specifying he wants a new AM3 processor, and a new board that would fit an AM3. So, I'm going to take a wild stab in the dead of the night, and say we're talking about an AM3 socket (941 pin).

How much are you willing to spend, Buxton?

Edit: Also, you can get first generation Phenom Quad for AM2+ socket, for extra saving. Only Phenom II require AM3 socket.

We have the technology... we can make him faster, stronger, better than before...

AM3 processors are spec'd to be backwards compatible with AM2+ motherboards.  It depends mostly on the motherboard model.


Also AM2+ mobos are usually DDR2 memory standard but can have additional DDR3 slots for upgradability with AM3 processors.  This is also dependent on the motherboard model.


I would suggest finding out the make and model of your motherboard and look up a processor compatibility list.  You might have to flash the motherboard's BIOS for a newer processor to be recognized properly.


The 8800 GTX should work fine with any motherboard with a 16x PCI-e slot.


If you're going to get a new motherboard and processor anyways why not get one of Intel's new Sandy Bridge processors or, later this month, AMD Bulldozer/Zambezi processors which are to be released?(nevermind, Bulldozer seems to be delayed till September)

Rory_Gallagher said:

Edit: Also, you can get first generation Phenom Quad for AM2+ socket, for extra saving. Only Phenom II require AM3 socket.

Click to expand...

Ah nice, are there big differences between Phenom I&II?

Xlacier said:

AM3 processors are spec'd to be backwards compatible with AM2+ motherboards.  It depends mostly on the motherboard model.

Click to expand...

Hopefully man, that will save me a lot of money and work.



Thanks guys 

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-253-AM&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1943
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-244-GI&groupid=701&catid=1903&subcat=1481

Just over 150 quid. Four RAM slots is very nice, I can attest that the processor is all kinds of awesome for the price and if you're bothered can be tuned up like mad. And it'll take the 8800 no problem.

Only problem is ram, given that DDR3 is expensive compared to what DDR2 cost a while back

Thanks Calodine, I'm thinking of going for the black edition 

Ah it does seem AM3 processors are compatible with AM2+ boards, I can buy an AM3 Quad then upgrade the board later. Nice one, AMD!


How do you find out which motherboard you have? I'm going to check for compatibilty.

Shop refurbished if a little cosmetic damage doesn't bother you if you save a lot. They tend to have better guarantees as well because they want to make sure you're aware you're getting a computer which outputs the same amount of performance that a new computer of similar equipment would perform.

I've got a bit of a difficult question. I'm trying to install my motherboard's drivers, though it asks for the formatted floppy disk with the RAID 64 bit drivers on them. I don't have a floppy drive, but via computer management I'm changing my flash drive to drive A: so it acts as a floppy. The option for changing to A: is not there, but neither is the actual A: drive to change. A floppy drive shows up on My Computer, so it must think it's there. Any ideas?

Double Ni-

Nevermind, I disabled the phantom floppy drive in the device manager.