Upgrade CPU from AM2 to AM3, Is that Possible?

Mohammed · May 13, 2014

Hi TPU

okay, I am really confused about this, I have read a lot of threads, but still not understand.

My friend want to upgrade his system, he has those Mb brand AsRock

- ALiveNF6P-VSTA ............................................................................... Support 4 core ( TDP 125 )
- A780LM .................................................................................................. Support 6 core ( TDP 140 )
- ASRock K10N78FullHD-hSLI R3.0 ............................................ Support 6 core ( TDP 140 )

I have suggestion for him some CPU like

- Phenom X3 8750
- Phenom X4 9950
- Phenom II X6 1055T

but After reading more thread, I have noticed some are using AM3 CPU on A780LM , wow ⊙__⊙ . how possible?!,
Also, AsRock mention "Support with AM3 / AM2+ CPU"

My Q Is

Is it possible to upgrade to FX6300 ? I mean (new FX6300 ) and ( used II X6 1055T ) have same price
also there is good price on AMD FX-4300

Thanks
God bless all

brandonwh64 · May 13, 2014

FX6300 is AM3+ not AM3

newtekie1 · May 13, 2014

AM2 CPUs have a DDR2 memory controller, hence why AM2 motherboards use DDR2 memory.
AM3 CPUs have a DDR2 and DDR3 memory controller, so they will work on AM2 and AM3 motherboards with DDR2 or DDR3.
AM3+ CPUs only have a DDR3 memory controller, so they will only work on AM3+ motherboards(and some AM3 motherboards).

Mohammed · May 13, 2014

oh i miss that +
not seen that sorry :oops:

_JP_ · May 13, 2014

Mohammed said:
- ALiveNF6P-VSTA ............................................................................... Support 4 core ( TDP 125 )
- A780LM .................................................................................................. Support 6 core ( TDP 140 )
- ASRock K10N78FullHD-hSLI R3.0 ............................................ Support 6 core ( TDP 140 )

It actually works more like this:
ALiveNF6P-VSTA
- Quadcores (Agena\Phenom I x4) @ up to 125W

A780LM
- Hexacores (Thuban\Phenom II x6) @ 95W
- Quadcores (Deneb\Phenom II x4) @ up to 125W

ASRock K10N78FullHD-hSLI R3.0
- Hexacores (Thuban\Phenom II x6) @ up to 125W
- Quadcores (Deneb\Phenom II x4) @ up to 125W

Since you got to the effort of getting to each motherboard's page, you could have just continued to check the "CPU support list" to see which one works for the motherboards you listed.
AM3+ (AMD FX) won't work on those boards. Regular AM3s will, except for the 1st board.

suraswami · May 13, 2014

Even though the manufacturers has listed X6 CPUs on the board's support list, some managed to blew the VRMs under extreme load (say some crazy hours of Prime 95, CPU crunching etc). So be watchful of the VRM temps.

check out this thread.

http://www.overclock.net/t/946407/amd-motherboards-vrm-info-database

_JP_ · May 14, 2014

And exactly because they're FM2 that it means they are not compatible at all. It's a completely different socket.
Just check the each board's compatible CPU list, to see what works.

Mohammed · May 14, 2014

sorry sorry
oh god AMD make me :banghead:

craze

I think i will buy X4 9950
Thanks JP

suraswami · May 14, 2014

I think if going Quad, your best bet would be a PII X4 955 BE. Even at stock clock its much better than 9950.

OneMoar · May 15, 2014

nope I would't run a 125W cpu on any of those boards you WILL Pop the VRM's like ... well popcorn

Mohammed · May 17, 2014

OneMoar said:
nope I would't run a 125W cpu on any of those boards you WILL Pop the VRM's like ... well popcorn

CPU-Upgrade.com showing that Mb ( 2-3 ) are support 140TDP,

suraswami said:
I think if going Quad, your best bet would be a PII X4 955 BE. Even at stock clock its much better than 9950.

that will killing me, it's expensive
AMD Phenom II X4 955 = 90$
AMD FX-6350 = 95$
what's :eek:

going on ?!

AM2 has craze ಥ_ಥ price

anyway, I have already bought AMD Phenom X4 9750 , If this CPU doing good i will take 2 like them or better
i got it with good price 50$

_JP_ · May 17, 2014

Mohammed said:
CPU-Upgrade.com showing that Mb ( 2-3 ) are support 140TDP,

Yet, notice that no AMD CPU listed there is rated above 125W.
And I'm with OneMore. 125W CPUs will work on them, but those VRMs might not last for a long while with a lot of stress put trough them. Both lack heatsinks even.

OneMoar · May 17, 2014

just because the manufactor says you can does not mean its a good idea the older vrm designs on those cheap boards where garbage they would routinely go up in smoke when pushed

System Name	Windows7 64bit Ultimate
Processor	Intel Core i7-6700K
Motherboard	Asus Z170M-PLUS
Cooling	Cooler Master T4
Memory	G.skill 32GB DDR4 (2x16GB) 3200MHz
Video Card(s)	ASUS GTX970 4GB
Storage	PNY 500GB SSD + Seagate 4TB SSHD
Display(s)	HP LE1851w
Case	Cooler Master N200
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Cooler Master 750watt
Mouse	HP
Keyboard	HP
Benchmark Scores	no need

Processor	Intel Core i7 10850K@5.2GHz
Motherboard	AsRock Z470 Taichi
Cooling	Corsair H115i Pro w/ Noctua NF-A14 Fans
Memory	32GB DDR4-3600
Video Card(s)	RTX 2070 Super
Storage	500GB SX8200 Pro + 8TB with 1TB SSD Cache
Display(s)	Acer Nitro VG280K 4K 28"
Case	Fractal Design Define S
Audio Device(s)	Onboard is good enough for me
Power Supply	eVGA SuperNOVA 1000w G3
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64

System Name	Windows7 64bit Ultimate
Processor	Intel Core i7-6700K
Motherboard	Asus Z170M-PLUS
Cooling	Cooler Master T4
Memory	G.skill 32GB DDR4 (2x16GB) 3200MHz
Video Card(s)	ASUS GTX970 4GB
Storage	PNY 500GB SSD + Seagate 4TB SSHD
Display(s)	HP LE1851w
Case	Cooler Master N200
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Cooler Master 750watt
Mouse	HP
Keyboard	HP
Benchmark Scores	no need

System Name	LenovoⓇ ThinkPad™ T430
Processor	IntelⓇ Core™ i5-3210M processor (2 cores, 2.50GHz, 3MB cache), Intel Turbo Boost™ 2.0 (3.10GHz), HT™
Motherboard	Lenovo 2344 (Mobile Intel QM77 Express Chipset)
Cooling	Single-pipe heatsink + Delta fan
Memory	2x 8GB KingstonⓇ HyperX™ Impact 2133MHz DDR3L SO-DIMM
Video Card(s)	Intel HD Graphics™ 4000 (GPU clk: 1100MHz, vRAM clk: 1066MHz)
Storage	SamsungⓇ 860 EVO mSATA (250GB) + 850 EVO (500GB) SATA
Display(s)	14.0" (355mm) HD (1366x768) color, anti-glare, LED backlight, 200 nits, 16:9 aspect ratio, 300:1 co
Case	ThinkPad Roll Cage (one-piece magnesium frame)
Audio Device(s)	HD Audio, RealtekⓇ ALC3202 codec, DolbyⓇ Advanced Audio™ v2 / stereo speakers, 1W x 2
Power Supply	ThinkPad 65W AC Adapter + ThinkPad Battery 70++ (9-cell)
Mouse	TrackPointⓇ pointing device + UltraNav™, wide touchpad below keyboard + ThinkLight™
Keyboard	6-row, 84-key, ThinkVantage button, spill-resistant, multimedia Fn keys, LED backlight (PT Layout)
Software	MicrosoftⓇ WindowsⓇ 10 x86-64 (22H2)

System Name	---
Processor	FX 8350 @ 4.00 Ghz with 1.28v
Motherboard	Gigabyte 990FX-UD3 v4.0, Hacked Bios F4.x
Cooling	Silenx 4 pipe Tower cooler + 2 x Cougar 120mm fan, 3 x 120mm, 1 x 200 mm Red LED fan
Memory	Kingston HyperX DDR3 1866 16GB + Patriot Memory DDR3 1866 16GB
Video Card(s)	Asus R9 290 OC @ GPU - 1050, MEM - 1300
Storage	Inland 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD for OS, WDC Black - 2TB + 1TB Storage, Inland 480GB SSD - Games
Display(s)	3 x 1080P LCDs - Acer 25" + Acer 23" + HP 23"
Case	AeroCool XPredator X3
Audio Device(s)	Built-in Realtek
Power Supply	Corsair HX1000 Modular
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64 bit

Upgrade CPU from AM2 to AM3, Is that Possible?

Mohammed

brandonwh64

Addicted to Bacon and StarCrunches!!!

newtekie1

Semi-Retired Folder

Mohammed

_JP_

suraswami

_JP_

Mohammed

suraswami

OneMoar

There is Always Moar

Mohammed

_JP_

OneMoar

There is Always Moar

System Name	RPC MK2.5
Processor	Ryzen 5800x
Motherboard	Gigabyte Aorus Pro V2
Cooling	Enermax ETX-T50RGB
Memory	CL16 BL2K16G36C16U4RL 3600 1:1 micron e-die
Video Card(s)	GIGABYTE RTX 3070 Ti GAMING OC
Storage	ADATA SX8200PRO NVME 512GB, Intel 545s 500GBSSD, ADATA SU800 SSD, 3TB Spinner
Display(s)	LG Ultra Gear 32 1440p 165hz Dell 1440p 75hz
Case	Phanteks P300 /w 300A front panel conversion
Audio Device(s)	onboard
Power Supply	SeaSonic Focus+ Platinum 750W
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Keyboard	EVGA Z15
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