CPU Upgrade, AMD 64 3000+

hey guys,

well its come to that time where my AMD 64 3000+ Winchester s939 is just not cutting it for me anymore. and rather than going out and getting an AM2 mobo and DDr2 RAM, I am considering just replacing the single core 64 with a dual-core s939.

This would be my first processor swap. I have watched friends do it, and read as much as I can about it.

I undertsand that I will possibly need to update my BIOS. (Phoenix-Award WorkstationBIOS v6.00pg)

My motherboard is unrecognized by everest, but is from an HP dx5150 and appears to be an MSI MS-7050 ver. 1.3 (picture included)

I've never updated a BIOS yet either.


So im posting here hoping that the great minds in the room will politely guide me in the proper direction so I dont completely mess things up lol

and please feel free to suggest anything that you think will benefit me on my mission..

 

Socket 939 was a mistake by AMD and a dead-end. Have you checked stocks and prices of dual core 939's? How much performance gain would you see?

I'd save up $100-150 US, ditch that platform and move up to a AM2/3 'board with DDR3 RAM.

 

Well if I do that.. I want to do it right..

It seemed like less work, and less chance for error just swapping CPU's. But I dont like half-assing things either, so how much work am I looking at to swap motherboards completely?

I've changed everything in a PC but CPU's and MB's.. so its still a bit of a grey area to me, but I know enough to get the job done with you guys here answering my questions lol... if it can be done for less than $250 and a day or two of work I dont mind just swapping out motherboards, the only thing I want to keep really from my current setup would be my PCI cards, DVD-RW, and my sata HD..everything else is open to change


I'd like to get the most "bang" for my $200-$250...

please guide me in the right direction lol..

 

Board/CPU/RAM swap = 20 minutes or so of careful tinkering 8 or so sets of electrical connectors, 6-8 screws and 1 backplate (where the 'board butts into the rear of the case for connections). The new 'board can be built-up (CPU/heatsink/fan+RAM added) before the swap.

What use will you (or do you currently) put the PC to?

What's the spec on your current PSU? The details should be on a sticker somewhere on the PSU.

You're looking at $50 for 4GB DDR3 RAM, $60-110 for a reasonable quality 'board and $60-90 for a decent CPU. Something similar to the innards of the kit mentioned here will be fine.

 

That is good to know, I was worried it involved searching for drivers and compatability issues and all that crap, which I really dont like dealing with if I can avoid it.

So pretty much once I pull the old mobo out, and put the new one in, connect all connectors properly, add the RAM and connect the PSU it SHOULD boot up without any BS? thats what I was hoping to hear lol, I hate fighting with things.


As for what purpose the PC will serve, everything from converting video to be burnt to DVD, playing some games along the lines of rollercoaster tycoon 3, warcraft 3, age of empires 3, C&C red alert 2, maybe microsoft flight sim 2004 if the frame rate is ok on decent graphic levels. I'm not too into all the newer games, I like the classics

and also daily net-surfing of course, but that doesnt require too much.


The PSU, it is manufactured by Power Man, model number IP-S350J2-0, it's rated at 350W, but it is nearing 4 years of age, so I highly doubt that the actual output is 350W, probably closer to 300 guestimating? lol

 

You will need to do a repair install of XP (if that is the o/s you are using)

http://www.theeldergeek.com/replace_motherboard.htm

Good Luck

 

Thaks Risk,

That was informative.. but my current HDD is a 250G sata with Vista home premium x86 installed.. so that will most likely be the OS I test everything out with..

but once everything is put together I'll be getting either a 500G or a 1TB drive to replace it and put a fresh copy of Win7 x64 on it..

as least thats the goal lol


do you know if the process is bascially the same for Vista? or are there extra steps due to the low-compatability of vista?

 

and on another note.. I just finished playing RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 on medium-high graphics.. for about 2 hours on the on-board ati express 200 graphics that my motherboard has just to see how bad it really is..

and I came up with the most unusal temps I've ever seen in my life. CPU fan and case fan are both working at proper RPM's, and the thermal paste appears to still be bonded to the CPU, I've never removed the fan yet, ever.

it says my core hit 206 celcius.. and my PC is still running? how? lol

 

If you replace the motherboard you will still have to do so form of repair install, the basis reasons having been discussed in the link I posted.

If you search 'replace motherboard vista' I am sure you will find many examples.

A64 939 pin cpus usually run at 32C idle and up to 60C load (low 50s better). 206C, if correct would I guess have likely melted your cpu core.

Inescapable conclusion is that the prog which you are using is giving an erroneous cpu reading.

Download Everest edition (the last free one) and try that. Also prior to doing so boot into the bios. There will be a section in which your cpu temp will show. As reference check it first.

Depending on what you use you rig for, the cpu upgrade path may well be all that is required so that going from a 3000+ to a X2 4400 could achieve all that you require with the least amount of hassle.

My wife's pc is still running an Athlon 2600+ (Barton core). Given that she broadly speaking only surfs the net, does emails, uses Word, I can see no point in upgrading her set up in order to make Word documents open in say 1.1 secs instead of the now 1.5 secs (and that is prior to word being in memory, otherwise it opens virtually instantly).

Good Luck

 

Some personal observations, converting video on a 3000 was killing my PC for any other use, even surfing and by switching to an x2 3800 was like night and day for me! I wouldn't notice the conversion going on. I'd normally suggest a newer machine as the others have but seeing as you finally got fedup with the 3000 now suggests that an upgrade to a dual would be good enough for you.

 

hey guys.. thanks for all the input.. I've taken note of everything and now I think I know which direction I'll head..

after the weird temps yesterday, I uninstalled the hardware monitor I was using (for the last good while without any hiccups like yesterday) and installed a different one, speedfan to try and duplicate the results..

So again I went sans-GPU, just on-board graphics, and played rollercoaster tycoon 3 on the same graphics levels..

the game ran fine for a few hours, then it started randomly crashing. So I closded all programs and rebooted. on reboot, the PC made it through POST, and as soon as it got on the Vista welcome screen, BSOD. restarted, tried normal boot again, and BSOD again...

So I went into safe mode, did system restore to a point before I had installed the game, and everything seemed to be ok.

then I tried updating windows. the updates initilized then just hung up and wouldnt budge. lol.

finally, for some weird reason, I tried uninstalling avast, then I was able to update windows?? now I have re-installed avast, uninstalled speedfan, re-installed rollercoaster tycoon 3.. and everything is dandy again..

I know this should be in the software forum lol.. but it was linked to what I did yesterday so I just put it all in here..

needless to say.. I'm scrapping this piece of crap and building a new one..

whats the best packages you guys know of between $200-$300CAD.. and it must be compatible with sata HDDs.. and have IDE for my DVD-RW.. everything else I'll just buy lol..

thanks lol..