How to replace Athlon X2 with Phenom ?

[Beladi Nasrallah]

Hi there,

I have an AMD Athlon x2 3600+ CPU with an AM2 940-pin socket in my
MSI K9N Neo-F mainboard. I use my PC to play first-person shooter
games.

I would like to replace the CPU with something speedier. I heard that
I could just pull out this CPU, and insert another AMD AM2 CPU (say,
6400+). Then I do not need to re-install any software or OS in my PC.
But I got the idea to put in a Phenom CPU. I wonder if I could do it
in the same way, i.e. without reinstalling any software. Thanks.

 

[Paul]

Hi there,

I have an AMD Athlon x2 3600+ CPU with an AM2 940-pin socket in my
MSI K9N Neo-F mainboard. I use my PC to play first-person shooter
games.

I would like to replace the CPU with something speedier. I heard that
I could just pull out this CPU, and insert another AMD AM2 CPU (say,
6400+). Then I do not need to re-install any software or OS in my PC.
But I got the idea to put in a Phenom CPU. I wonder if I could do it
in the same way, i.e. without reinstalling any software. Thanks.

You need to find the CPUSupport chart for your motherboard. When I
searched for K9N Neo-F, for some reason I ended up at "K9N Neo (PCB 1.0)",
which might not be the same thing. You might try searching the MSI web
site, based on the MS-xxxx number instead, and maybe you'll get a
chart for Neo-F that way. MSI uses two ways to track product, the
popular product name, and the MS-xxxx number.

http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?...no=255&maincat_no=1&cat2_no=171&cat3_no=#menu

In the chart, no Phenom triple or quad cores were tested. Also, by looking
at the chart, the pattern almost suggests the motherboard doesn't support
125W processors. There are a couple 6000+ processors (dual core) listed at
89W that are supposed to work. (Be careful, as the 125W 6000+ version is more
commonly for sale, but is not supported in the list.) But even if they worked,
if you attempted to overclock them, that can drive an 89W processor, to a higher
power level. (Some stable overclock conditions can result in 50% extra power.)
Just to give you some idea how much room there is, for experiments.

On Newegg, the closest I can get, is a Brisbane 5800+, which runs at
3GHz. The Brisbane 6000+ (2x512KB cache) would run at 3.1GHz, and that
one is not for sale on Newegg right now. Newegg also has a Brisbane
5400+ Black Edition, which presumably has an unlocked multiplier, and
that might make it possible to go from 2.8GHz (nominal) to 3.1GHz and
get the equivalent of a 6000+ from it. (One reviewer of the Black
Edition, got to 3.1GHz using only multiplier value changes.)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103274

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103289

Paul

 

[Paul]

Not with that board.
It doesn't support Phenom processors.
You could try a faster Dual core CPU but if you really need four cores then
another motherboard is needed in which case you should consider which
platform you go for...

There are some boards which have a 140W Vcore rating, and it is
something I'd consider when purchasing a new board. Plenty of Vcore
power, helps with the high end Phenoms, especially if you're
going to overclock them. Either examine the design, to see how
many phases it uses (N+1 for AM2+), or check for a list by the
manufacturer.

This list was prepared, after a certain generation of products
displayed poor Vcore design limits. This is Asus's way of admitting
that market positioning mistakes were made (thinking that users
would accept underpowered boards). If AMD makes 125W processors,
then each AM2 motherboard should have a 125W regulator. Not an
"89W regulator". Anandtech had an article where they ran into
this problem.

http://event.asus.com/mb/140w/

Paul

 

[Beladi Nasrallah]

There are some boards which have a 140W Vcore rating, and it is
something I'd consider when purchasing a new board. Plenty of Vcore
power, helps with the high end Phenoms, especially if you're
going to overclock them. Either examine the design, to see how
many phases it uses (N+1 for AM2+), or check for a list by the
manufacturer.

This list was prepared, after a certain generation of products
displayed poor Vcore design limits. This is Asus's way of admitting
that market positioning mistakes were made (thinking that users
would accept underpowered boards). If AMD makes 125W processors,
then each AM2 motherboard should have a 125W regulator. Not an
"89W regulator". Anandtech had an article where they ran into
this problem.

http://event.asus.com/mb/140w/

Thanks, Paul (and others) for advices. The situation is clearer for me
now. I found an article where a 2-core Athlon was compared to 3- or 4-
core Phenom, http://www.neoseeker.com/resourcelink.html?rlid=166271 .
It looks like the office programs use only one core, and the 3D games
use only 2 cores, so that the Athlon x2 CPUs are better because their
core is faster than the core of a comparable Phenom.

Our local discount walk-in store has an Athlon 5400+ CPU (Black
Edition) which is of a 89W type. That's what I'd get.