upgrading questions

Hi - This is my first post on the site and I have not introduced myself or anything, so I hope I am not being rude here. .... I am a fairly novice PC user and I have a cheap, low end HP 64 bit Win7 desktop that I am wanting to upgrade to attempt to get the most out of it without spending a lot of money on a new PC. Right now it's running on an AMD Sempron 140 CPU at 2.7 GHz running on 1 core. - Socket: AM3 - Bus Speed 4000 MT/s - The mother board is maxed out right now with 4 GB ram and I am planning on purchasing and installing a Samsung 840 EVO SSD drive to increase the speed on booting and internet browsing etc.

HP provides some suggestions for upgrades to the CPU. .... A question I have is just how fast a CPU (from the suggestions they list on the link below), is it worth installing? Will the faster CPU work well if it's only running 4 GB ram with a 250 Watt power supply? I have no idea where bottle necking will end up becoming a problem. Should I go for the quad core processor or set my sites lower in their list? Do I need to upgrade the power supply also? All the specs for the hardware are on this easy to read HP link with suggestions for upgrades.

I am not too concerned about installing a better graphics card right now, as I am not really into gaming and will mainly be using this PC for internet surfing, emailing, video streaming etc, but I may want to upgrade the video down the road. I realize that will be quite limited with the board in this PC. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Hi Jackson2014, welcome to Major Geeks!

I looked at the product specs you posted a link to and unfortunately, there's not very much you can do with this machine. You could upgrade the PSU if you intend to purchace a dedicated Graphics card but, it wouldn't make much sense to since this is a 32-bit machine that can't be "upgraded" to a 64-bit machine.

There's a single core (32-bit) processor which can't be changed to a multi core. You could get 2 x 2 GB RAM modules but, you wouldn't be able to access all 4 GB — only 3.15 to 3.5GB — that's the limit of 32-bit architecture.

You could upgrade the hard drive but couldn't go above 2TB — that, too, is a limitation of 32-bit.

I'm sure if you right click Computer in the Start menu and select Properties you'll see in the screen that you're running 32-bit Win 7 and NOT 64-bit.

Sorry.

 

mdonah - Thanks for the welcome and for responding to my post. I have to tell you however that when I right click on Computer in my start menu and open up Properties, it does state that it is a 64 bit Win7 operating system.

I should ad that as I stated initially, I am not really concerned about upgrading my graphics card. What I really want to know is, of the suggested options for upgrading the CPU that is provided on the HP link in my OP here, how high an upgrade is it worth me going for (of the CPU's in that list), if as is the case, the most ram I can install is 4 GB, which it is running now?

 

That's interesting — a single core running 64-bit. Obviously, there's a different CPU than the ORIGINAL design with the same AM3 socket configuration.

I "expanded all" to find the info you referred to. If your budget permits it, I'd go for the AMD Phenom II X4 9xx/9xxe/8xx Quad-Core (Deneb) since it's obviously the best you can get for that socket. If not, theAMD II Athlon X4 6xx/6xxe (Propus) would be my choice.

RAM you should be able to put as many 2GB modules as you have slots for — it doesn't seem able to support modules larger than 2GB (according to the manufacturer's info). It also would "throttle" PC3-10600 modules to PC3-8500 (slower) speed.

There is a PCI Express x 16 slot for a graphics card but, you aren't upgrading that.

The 250 Watt PSU (Power Supply Unit) is marginal and doesn't seem to be upgradeable. You WOULD need to upgrade the PSU to 450 Watts if you put in a Graphics card. Perhaps another person reading this thread can offer suggestions regarding the PSU in relation to the new CPU

 

mdonah - That's very helpful. Thank you for the response and suggestions. .... If it is determined that I can upgrade the PSU, what graphics card would you suggest to install?

 

That, I'm afraid, someone else will have to help you with. Like you, I'm running "what came with the computer". I don't do much beyond what you do on your computer on my computer so, I have no need to "max out" my graphics.

 

Thank you mdonah. I appreciate your time and advice. I did open up the tower and took a look at the PSU and it appears that it may be permanently installed. I could be mistaken, but that is what it looks like to me. I can live with that.

I am assuming that that quad core processor will not require replacing or upgrading the heat sink. Is that correct? .... Also, could you just take a quick look at this amazon listing and confirm for me that that would be the right cpu for me?;

 

Most desktops have replaceable PSUs and from looking at the MOBO, I'd say yours could be replaced too. It would involve swapping the leads to the MOBO and the devices and possibly a couple of screws hold the PSU in place on the chassis. My Dell Dimension 4500S was a snap to do

The CPU on Amazon that you showed me is the Deneb you want.

As far as the heat sink, when you lift it off of the current CPU, make sure to clean the bottom of the heat sink with 90% isopropyl alcohol. When you install the new CPU, make sure to give the top of the CPU a thin coat of thermal paste such as Artic Ice and make sure to follow the instructions for doing so. Failure to apply the thermal paste or doing it improperly could result in the CPU overheating and self destructing. The thermal paste is essential for the proper transfer of heat from the CPU to the heat sink and traces of the old thermal paste left on the heat sink will interfere.

 

Thanks again mdonah. Very helpful information. ..... I'm learning. :wave

 

How's that working for you Dan? .. What was the previous CPU you were using?

 

I had just read another post in another thread about AMD and Intel processors just prior to posting my last reply to you. In fact, it was by gman863 in the thread started by Clara. Gman863 said he's had AMD processors fail after a couple of years but, that hasn't been the case with Intel processors. If the Intel processor works in the AM3 socket you have, maybe the Intel processor would be a better choice for you.

But, the same caveats about the thermal paste apply.

 

Thanks for the heads up on that. I will look into it and see what seems the best option for me. .... Right now I am thinking that I may first just try installing an SSD drive and see what that alone does for me. I suspect it may make a significant difference with just that alone. Certainly the CPU upgrade alone first would make more of a difference I guess. It would seem that the SSD benefits alone would tend to show up more with things like the boot speed and opening programs etc, not that the CPU would not. The CPU would show up more with the actual speed and efficiency while running programs etc. Ultimately I will certainly want both, but I am curious to see what the SSD upgrade alone might do first. I've been impressed at seeing what a difference they can make on other systems I have seen with them installed.