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Cpu Upgrade Help

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  • 14-07-2011 10:32am
    #1
    Hellrazer
    Moderators, Arts Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,679 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    As always--first port of call is this forum :)

    Here goes.

    My Mobo is a Foxconn and Ive been in touch with them regarding a cpu upgrade.

    Their site is out of date and Im told that this board will take the following cpus.

    All AM2/AM2+/AM3

    Phenom 2 x6--all in 125watt or 95watt
    Phenom 2 x3 x4 in 95 watt only

    Im trying to figure out why it wont take 125 watt Phenom 2 x4s but will defininately take the x6.

    Any ideas?
    And if Im sticking by their rules regarding no 125 watt x4`s what cpu upgrade would you lot recommend solely for gaming.

    Is an x6 worth it?Or should I stick to X4?

    Dont mind a bit of overclocking the new cpu to get more out of it.

    Currently running a Phenom (1) 9750 (I think) o/c to 2.9ghz--the one with the TLB error although I have it running full speed with the error fix turned off--Serves me well for Black Ops and Bc2 at decent enough frame rates on med-high settings but need more power for BF3.

    Thanks


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    #2
    Hellrazer
    Moderators, Arts Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,679 Mod ✭✭✭✭Hellrazer


    Bump---hoping to order this weekend.


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    #3
    deconduo
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 4,281 Mod ✭✭✭✭deconduo


    I see no reason why they would exclude the 125W Phenoms. Do you have the exact motherboard model? The best choice would be the Phenom II X4 955:
    http://komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ZKB_01COM/21_CPU/productdetails/20002811/AMD_Black_Edition_Processor_1_x_AMD_Phenom_II/HDZ955FBGMBOX/default.aspx

    Whats your budget?


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    #4
    Hellrazer
    Moderators, Arts Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,679 Mod ✭✭✭✭Hellrazer


    deconduo wrote: »
    I see no reason why they would exclude the 125W Phenoms. Do you have the exact motherboard model? The best choice would be the Phenom II X4 955:
    http://komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ZKB_01COM/21_CPU/productdetails/20002811/AMD_Black_Edition_Processor_1_x_AMD_Phenom_II/HDZ955FBGMBOX/default.aspx

    The exact mobo is Foxconn a7vmx-k.

    Heres the exact copy of my correspondence with them.Hope you can understand it--its hard to copy/paste from their correspondence page.


    Q1.Start here--I asked about 125w/140w Cpu`s

    Dear Richie,

    Welcome to Foxconn.
    This motherboard doesn't support 125/140 watt CPUs.
    Please refer to the CPU compatibility list for A7VMX-K.

    URL for CPU compatibility list
    http://www.foxconnsupport.com/cpusupportlist.aspx?type=mb&model=A7VMX-K&cputype= *****

    Q2.Hi there--The compatibilty list seems to be out of date as all the cpus listed seem to be older ones.
    But maybe you answer one more small question for me.

    Will the boards support ALL 95watt cpus?
    And will the boards support AM3 cpus in a 95watt version?

    Specifically this one here:
    AMD Phenom II X4 945Quad Core, 3.0Ghz, AM3, 8MB, 95W, Boxed
    ***


    Yes, this motherboard can support AM3 cpu 95watt version.
    AMD Phenom II X4 945 95W can work on this motherboard.

    Yes, this motherboard can support AM3 cpu 95watt version.
    AMD Phenom II X4 945 95W can work on this motherboard.

    Q3.Just one more question about this board.
    Will this board ever support 125 watt processors?Looking at x6 cpus--ie 6 cores but they are all in 125 watt configuration.
    So if I cant ever fit a 125 watt cpu do you know what the fastest cpu available is for this board.

    Dear Richie,
    This motherboard doesn't support 125W processors.
    So far, Phenom II×4 955 95W is the fastest CPU that this motherboard can handle.

    Q4.Thanks again for the fast response.My query is regarding the x6 Phenom 2 cpu.
    Amd are releasing the x6 in a 95 watt version--Do you think this board will support these processors?If you think it will I`ll wait to upgrade and if not I`ll go for the x4 955.
    Thanks.Richie.


    This motherboard can handle Phenom II x6 processors 95W version.
    But we need to do compatibility test before we release new BIOS.
    Please wait our new BIOS for 6 cores processors.

    Dear Richie,

    Welcome to Foxconn.
    Please update BIOS to version 79AF1D26 for AMD Phenom X6 processors.
    You can use any AMD Phenom X6 processor on this board.Your Sincerely.


    Q5.I take it the only x6 that work are 95watt ones and not the 125w?? 2010/09/30 15:51


    Dear Richie,
    Both 95W and 125W AMD Phenom X6 processors can work on this board.

    Thats great news.Does that also mean that 125watt Phenom 2 x4 will work?

    I thought the board was limited to 95 watt cpus--Are you 100% sure.


    Dear Richie,

    We are sure that this board does support 125W AMD Phenom X6 processors.
    But it does not support 125W AMD PhenomII x4 processors.




    Whats your budget?

    Dont really have one--Im lookimg at the fastest CPU that the board will take for gaming.The x6`s start at 150-160 and go up to 200 so around that I suppose.


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    #5
    Hellrazer
    Moderators, Arts Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,679 Mod ✭✭✭✭Hellrazer


    Anyone any more input on this?

    Ive decided that this is going to be an interim upgrade--going to do a full Intel build in the new year so Ive narrowed it down to the following budget that I know will work with this mobo.

    Athlon 2 x4 645--Raed Toms Hardware best budet cpu even without a L3 cache.
    Phenom 2 x4 840/850 (same as above it seems but is cheaper for some reason--I dont get it since its newer)
    Phenom 2 x4 925 (best 95 watt Full phenom 2 with a L3 cache I can find cheap)

    So whats the best of these 3?

    Should really say that Im gaming at 1280*1024 (monitor native)--Just want decent frames rates at this res with some if not all the bells and whistles turned on.

    Athlon seems to bench better than the other 2 and gets some great reviews.

    My current cpu is definatley crap--its benching at less than half of any of the 3 above ie Passmark score of 1600-1750
    All of the above are 3700+

    Bear in mind an interim upgrade just to get me over the BF3 release :)


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    #6
    Dublin_Gunner
    Registered Users Posts: 7,692 ✭✭✭Dublin_Gunner


    Athlon II x4 645 and a passable dx11 gpu should get you by for a while :)


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    #7
    Tea_Bag
    Registered Users Posts: 4,983 ✭✭✭Tea_Bag


    what are the rest of your specs? at that res it wont take much to get great fps. dont go overkill on your CPU if you're starting fresh in the new year. your CPU will only be a bottleneck in a few games, GTA4 etc. if i were you, it'd be an athlon II x3 id be slapping into my rig. if it unlocks to a full phenom happy days, if not, it wont be much of a bottleneck anyway, and its damn cheap anyway.


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    #8
    Hellrazer
    Moderators, Arts Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,679 Mod ✭✭✭✭Hellrazer


    Tea_Bag wrote: »
    what are the rest of your specs?
    4Gb ddr2 @ 800mhz
    Radeon 4870.
    at that res it wont take much to get great fps. dont go overkill on your CPU if you're starting fresh in the new year. your CPU will only be a bottleneck in a few games, GTA4 etc. if i were you, it'd be an athlon II x3 id be slapping into my rig. if it unlocks to a full phenom happy days, if not, it wont be much of a bottleneck anyway, and its damn cheap anyway.

    Athlon x3 and x4--Theres only something like 10 euros in the difference from what I can see.

    And would an x3/x4 athlon be that much better than my current Phenom (1) with the TLB problems although I have the patch turned off.


    What about this?

    http://www.adverts.ie/desktops/amd-athlon-ii-x3-425/699949
    Cheap x3 athlon.And then a decent graphics card?


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    #9
    Dublin_Gunner
    Registered Users Posts: 7,692 ✭✭✭Dublin_Gunner


    Too expensive for that x3. A brand new x4 is only about 20 more...


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    #10
    Tea_Bag
    Registered Users Posts: 4,983 ✭✭✭Tea_Bag


    yea id only pay that if it had a guarantee to unlock to a phenom II x4.


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    #11
    Hellrazer
    Moderators, Arts Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,679 Mod ✭✭✭✭Hellrazer


    Tea_Bag wrote: »
    yea id only pay that if it had a guarantee to unlock to a phenom II x4.

    Wont happen--No ACC(think thats what you use) on my boards bios.


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    #12
    Hellrazer
    Moderators, Arts Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,679 Mod ✭✭✭✭Hellrazer


    Right here goes.Picked up a new CPU on Monday.Plugged it in and get a message "Unkown Amd processor installed"

    Machine was booting into bios defaults--if I set everythjing manually then the machine would run all day until it was shutdown--even on a restart it was fine.Contacted Foxconn told it need a bios update to recognise the new cpu as my bios was 2 years out of date and was released before the cpu was even sold.They sent me the file and I flashed.Pc dead.Turns out this is an OEM machine and the retail bios wont work so I killed it :)

    Doesnt matter as I used teh excuse to buy a new mobo.So I picked up a am3 board and 4 gb of ddr3.Have it all working--even unlocked the x3 into an x4--happy days but I cant get into windows.I get messages because of a hardware change for a startup repair,system restore etc.None of them will work.Nothing--like a continual loop--it finds errors but can fix them--it will restore to the latest restore point but still goes back to the recovery option--obviously the old restore point has the old drivers so thats no use.I reckon its motherboard drivers that need updating but since I can get into Windows I can update them.

    It also looks like theres 2 small x: and e: partitions with some "techguys" recovery tools and or windows vista on it thats loading the system recovery options rather than the "real" windows one.Contacted them last night and they reckon because it was an OEM machien the version of Windows was locked to the old board in the vios somehow<<<<does that even make sense?

    So Im stuffed basically and my only option is a full install of windows<<<btw I dont have a Disc with this machine--it seems to be on this partition and will only reinstall through this oem software crap.

    Does anyone think a full install will work considering its supposedly locked to the old board and I dont even have a disc??Should I just take teh opportunity to format that drive completely,get rid of that oem crap off it and go for Win 7?

    Is there anyone in Maynooth/celbridge that would plug in my sata drive to their pc and get my data off it onto a usb drive before I do format?The only thing I didnt back up was the young lads communion photos and if I loose them its lights out for me.

    Help with this one greatly appreciated.
    Apologies for bad typing--Ive no net access abnd am using the iphone to type this.


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