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from 2 core to 4 core need fresh windows install?

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im going from an AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition to am AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition. is there any reason to do a fresh install of windows? thanks ahead of time!
 
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no not if you didnt change you motherboard or anything, just drop it in.
 
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Thankfully, CPU upgrades are the easiest of all, no driver updates or need to change anything apart from the actual CPU.
Grats on the Quad core, now u have to overclock it :p
 

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You may need a BIOS update to support the new CPU depending on your board.
 
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With my old Abit IP35, going from pentium DC E2180 to Q6600 need fresh windows 7 install because task manager shows only 2 cores.
 

InnocentCriminal

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With my old Abit IP35, going from pentium DC E2180 to Q6600 need fresh windows 7 install because task manager shows only 2 cores.

That would have been down to the advanced boot configuration within msconfig...

 

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sorry but i tried this option in msconfig, with no result: max choice for number of cpu remained 2 :-\
 

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Personally i'd just go ahead and reinstall Windows, really just so it can freshly see the new CPU and extra cores.
 

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Going from 2 to 4 usually requires a OS reinstall. Or at the very least OS repair. Although not mentioned you could go into Device Manager, right click on Processors and Scan for hardware changes.
 

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Extra cores requires a new Windows install. Windows will not know that the extra 2 cores are there, even if "Scan for Hardware changes" is pressed. Picture is related:



Try that, if not, reinstall.
 

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I'm with everyone else.. whenever you do a cpu swap. No matter if it's a quad going to qaud, or duo going to quad, you gotta make sure that Device Manager is right. Doing what PVT is the way to go..

Also, you can uninstall the processors, each one, and restart after that. That way Windows has to check for "new hardware" when it "Starts up" again..
 

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I just replace it but look in Task manager too see if the old CPU is installed or not which last time changing from my E8400 to the Q9550 it was so i uninstalled it and rebooted..
 
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windows will detect the new hardware usually, i didnt have any problems going from dual to quad. however i did format afew days later as it was a new cpu and wanted a nice fresh install to go with new cpu. as innocentcriminal said a bios update maybe in order as the board may not support the cpu with older bios. surely thats the point of pnp
 
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what if you delete the driver from the device manager and reboot and let it detect the new CPU? would it not work?
 
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sorry but i tried this option in msconfig, with no result: max choice for number of cpu remained 2 :-\
Did you make sure the ACPI Multiprocessor driver was installed? If the ACPI Uniprocessor driver is installed, Windows will only detect one processor. This is only applicable to Windows XP/Server 2003 and down.

It appears under "Computer" in the Device Manager.


what if you delete the driver from the device manager and reboot and let it detect the new CPU? would it not work?
That would be my second thing to try. Forcing Windows to rescan for a driver fixes a lot of hardware configuration issues.
 

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Ummm I have swapped about 10 chips and never done any of that on a single copy of 7....what about all the people who install windows with a dual core and unlock there 550be or whatever to a quad core? Never heard of them reinstalling...
 

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this problem only happened to me in XP
 
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i dropped in the 4 core and had had no problems at all, just booted up and it was recognised. i didnt notice any trouble with anything. i got a little found money and got a new motherboard, so i ended up with a fresh install anyway. thanks all!
 

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Lies!

When I went from a E5300 as it was set to 2 I had to manually change it.

that means you'd already manually set it previously.



that setting is purely to DISABLE cores, not to enable them. so someone can test how their app works with less cores/threads or troubleshoot or whatever.
 

InnocentCriminal

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When I upgraded to my a C2Q from a C2D all I did was drop it in and go. The system picked up the quad and never skipped a beat.
 
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