Swapping AM2 processor

[boise49ers]

I have an Athlon 64 X2 (W) 5600+ 2.8 GHz (89W) AMD Hewlett Packard (locked) AM2 board.
I was thinking of going to this processor so I can Overclock it a little.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Windsor 3.2GHz Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor.

Is this swap worth it ? I mainly want to because it is unlocked. I have a few questions first before buying.

1. Is there going to be much of a performance gain prior to Overclocking ?
2. What other changes will I need to do to swap them out.
3. Do the new processors come with software to reflash the bios ?
4. Would any of you bother to do the same swap ?

Any links to installation instructions would be great so I can study up before doing it.

Thank you

 

[Thrackan]

Isn't your board the reason you can't overclock? It's not uncommon for branded boards (like HP/Dell) to have their own BIOS versions.
Also, not every board can handle the 125w processors if I remember correctly.

 

[Namslas90]

According to HP - (http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01357135&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=3686674#), your mobo will support the CPU you have chosen. There is only one Bios available so you should not have to flash(change) it.

Just make sure your stock PSU can handle the change.

Also, overclocking is probably not an option without a Modified BIOS.

 

[boise49ers]

MoBo

According to HP - (http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01357135&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=3686674#), your mobo will support the CPU you have chosen. There is only one Bios available so you should not have to flash(change) it.

Just make sure your stock PSU can handle the change.

Also, overclocking is probably not an option without a Modified BIOS.

I have a 600 watt PSU. Mine is on my specs.
Would the gain be worth it if I couldn't over clock it ?
Would this be a good investment also ?
Replace the 5300 with DDR2 PC2-8500 ?

 

[Thrackan]

According to the link Namslas90 pasted your board can handle up to PC6400. RAM isn't that expensive, so getting PC6400 DDR2 is a pretty decent option.

The link does not say if your board can handle Windsor 125w processors, so you need to verify that.

 

[1Kurgan1]

I would suggest saving your money. That upgrade will be very minor, a 7750 would be a better choice, but even then unless you OC it quiet a bit still a minor upgrade.

I suggest saving a bit for a cheepo 790GX mobo and a PII 720 or 710, that should be a very nice upgrade there.

 

[kenkickr]

I would say that the board is not going to "officially" support 8500 so I would go for some 6400. Alot of OEM boards for AM2 will not even officially support 6400 and you also have to watch what kind you get cause the ram may require more volts than what the board can put out. What model of HP did the board come from?

 

[Namslas90]

I've modded many an HP, Best to just stick with RAM upgrade, and the best GPU + PSU you can get in there.

Also, currently have an ASUS (NOAS) mobo running an AMD X2 6000 windsor, the mobo does not recognize the CPU but it runs a lot better - (HP site says board does not support it - No BIOS available).

 

[boise49ers]

I've modded many an HP, Best to just stick with RAM upgrade, and the best GPU + PSU you can get in there.

Also, currently have an ASUS (NOAS) mobo running an AMD X2 6000 windsor, the mobo does not recognize the CPU but it runs a lot better - (HP site says board does not support it - No BIOS available).

I think I have the GPU/PSU covered already. I guess maybe I will just do the Ram upgrade. I can get 6400 and 8500 with the same voltage, but evidently it doesn't support 8500.


HP Pavilion a6230n

 

[kenkickr]

Most of the time you will not be able to adjust any of the ram settings so I would really suggest 6400 just so your not stuck with some nice 8500's running @ 6400 but with 5-5-5-18 settings when you can get some 6400's with tighter timings.

 

[ZenZimZaliben]

There is no point. 98% of the time HP/Dells can not be overclocked due to bios lock-downs and restrictions. Even if it can be oc'd a little, most of these manu boards do not have good enough cooling on the Northbridge or Mosfets to support an oc beyond 10%.

 

[boise49ers]

There is no point. 98% of the time HP/Dells can not be overclocked due to bios lock-downs and restrictions. Even if it can be oc'd a little, most of these manu boards do not have good enough cooling on the Northbridge or Mosfets to support an oc beyond 10%.

Yeah I have kind of gave up on the CPU idea, but I think I'll go with the 6400 Ram.
I can get 4 gigs for $40. Even if it is just a minor bump it is only $40.

 

[3870x2]

Save your money up for an AM3 board and 920. The ram upgrade wont be that great either, im running only 2g (albeit being pc8500) and i do heavy work, like gaming at 1920x1200 and multi photoshopping, never had a problem.
save money for 920, even if it takes you a while.

 

[suraswami]

Yeah I have kind of gave up on the CPU idea, but I think I'll go with the 6400 Ram.
I can get 4 gigs for $40. Even if it is just a minor bump it is only $40.

Give NVidia ntune a try.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Video-Tweak/nVidia-nTune.shtml

Its a software based OC tool from within windows. See if your board is supported. You can up the FSB/HTT a bit to bring up the cpu to 3Ghz without any voltage change. That will give you a free bump in cpu performance.

And for the ram, I would advise you to go to Crucial, Corsair or Kingston and find your machine's matching ram and buy that (DDR2 6400). That way there is no ram compatibility headache. Don't go with DDR2 1066 (8500) because only K10 CPUs take advantage or even see if properly at the right speed.

my 2 cents.

 

[Jeffredo]

I went from an X2 5200+ to an X2 6400+ BE. That was a fairly noticeable difference in FPS in games. I did that a year ago. With your setup and considering the new CPUs and platforms on the not-so-distant horizon I would think twice. I don't think you'd see that big of a gain, plus the X2 6400+ doesn't overclock very much or very well (its just an old Windsor already pushed to the limit).

 

[boise49ers]

According to HP - (http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01357135&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=3686674#), your mobo will support the CPU you have chosen. There is only one Bios available so you should not have to flash(change) it.

Just make sure your stock PSU can handle the change.

Also, overclocking is probably not an option without a Modified BIOS.

I just checked out the Mother Board on the link you sent. I thought I had a AM2 Board not a AM2+.The Phenom's triple and quads are excepted by the MoBo. So if I was to go with the processor below what would I need to do to install it? I'm assuming going to quad there are a lot of changes needed with bios and such.

AMD Phenom 9600 Agena 2.3GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 95W Quad-Core Processor

If I put this processor in and 6400 ram wouldn't it make quite a difference ?
If some one could spend a little time telling me the basics for the swap I'd appreciate it and what problems I'll probably run into.
Yes I'm a total Noob at this !
I have did a lot of upgrades, but not processors. This one only runs like 6 watts over what my current processor runs so that would be a plus wouldn't it ?
I assume these come with pretty easy to understand instructions.

 

[boise49ers]

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01080282&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&product=3548196

I just checked out the Mother Board on the link you sent. I thought I had a AM2 Board not a AM2+.The Phenom's triple and quads are excepted by the MoBo. So if I was to go with the processor below what would I need to do to install it? I'm assuming going to quad there are a lot of changes needed with bios and such.

AMD Phenom 9600 Agena 2.3GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 95W Quad-Core Processor

If I put this processor in and 6400 ram wouldn't it make quite a difference ?
If some one could spend a little time telling me the basics for the swap I'd appreciate it and what problems I'll probably run into.
Yes I'm a total Noob at this !
I have did a lot of upgrades, but not processors. This one only runs like 6 watts over what my current processor runs so that would be a plus wouldn't it ?
I assume these come with pretty easy to understand instructions.

OK now this is weird.

This link is my model computer:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01080282&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&product=3548196

This is the one from above # 3 post. Same exact mother Board(different model Computer)

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01357135&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=3686674#

Why would one say it excepts the Quad Core and the other doesn't ?
Could it be because when they wrote the specs sheet and the quads were not out yet ?
Or is it maybe bios related ? I'm totally confused now.

 

[driver66]

I'm going to have to agree with the above posters in saying that if you want to truly "upgrade"
You would be better served in saving up for a new mobo and proc

 

[Namslas90]

Why would one say it excepts the Quad Core and the other doesn't ?
Could it be because when they wrote the specs sheet and the quads were not out yet ?
Or is it maybe bios related ? I'm totally confused now.

Most likely its a diff BIOS. There may be a chance that you could use the BIOS from the other MOBO. But there is an equal chance it may not work due to other differences in the boards.

Like many before have mentioned, save up for a new MOBO and Processor and you will have a much better performance jump. If $'s are the issue then just start by replacing the Mobo, this will allow you to overclock the cpu/mem you have until you can afford a better CPU or MEM.

Right now, your "bottleneck" is your mobo.