AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core Processor 5200+ AM3 $32.72 + FS; AMD Phenom X4 Quad Core Processor 9850 $53 shipped

how hard is it to swap my athlon X2 for a Phenom X4 besides a new power block

Any chance any of these will work on a AM2 motherboard?

I heard a few of the processors are backwards compatible but I am not certain.

Quote from xXxREDxXx : how hard is it to swap my athlon X2 for a Phenom X4 besides a new power block

It shouldn't be too hard. What's the model/brand of your motherboard? What you have to make sure of is that your MB supports Quad core and can supply the 125 w power needed by the Phenom..

Quote from ntrisKKT : Any chance any of these will work on a AM2 motherboard? I heard a few of the processors are backwards compatible but I am not certain.

Socket AM2+ is an intermediate successor to socket AM2, which features split power planes, and HyperTransport 3.0. Socket AM2+ chips can plug into a socket AM2 motherboard (although certain motherboard manufacturers do not support this), but operate only with HyperTransport 2.0.

Socket AM3

Socket AM3 processors are able to run on Socket AM2 and AM2+ motherboards with appropriate bios updates, but not vice-versa. AM3 processors have a new memory controller supporting both DDR2 and DDR3 SDRAM, allowing backwards compatibility with AM2 and AM2+ motherboards. Since AM2 and AM2+ processors lack the new memory controller, they will not work on AM3 motherboards.

What's the model/brand of your motherboard? What you also have to make sure of is that your MB can supply the power needed by the new CPU.

Quote from ccengineer : It shouldn't be too hard. What's the model/brand of your motherboard? What you have to make sure of is that your MB can supply the 125 w power needed by the Phenom.. Socket AM2+ is an intermediate successor to socket AM2, which features split power planes, and HyperTransport 3.0. Socket AM2+ chips can plug into a socket AM2 motherboard (although certain motherboard manufacturers do not support this), but operate only with HyperTransport 2.0. Socket AM3 Socket AM3 processors are able to run on Socket AM2 and AM2+ motherboards with appropriate bios updates, but not vice-versa. AM3 processors have a new memory controller supporting both DDR2 and DDR3 SDRAM, allowing backwards compatibility with AM2 and AM2+ motherboards. Since AM2 and AM2+ processors lack the new memory controller, they will not work on AM3 motherboards. What's the model/brand of your motherboard? What you have to make sure of is that your MB can supply the power needed by the new CPU.

It's a MSI K9AGM2. A friend of mine decided to build me my computer a few years ago and he used this budget AM2 board.

I did a google search and I came across this [cpu-upgrade.com]. They list that all Phenom processors are incompatible so I am out of luck.

Hopefuly I can find myself a AM2+/AM3 motherboard for a good price in the near future.

Quote from ccengineer : superbiiz has AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core Processor 5200+ AM3 [superbiiz.com] for $38.49 - 15% using coupon RABBIT15 = $32.72 + FS

Can anyone suggest a cheap heatsink/fan for this? I need a cpu for a cheap freenas server, and might go for this if I can get a heatsink/fan for it and still come in somewhere around the sempron 140 price (of $39 shipped from newegg).

Thanks.

[Actually, the freenas server is already built, running with an x2 250 for the last few months...which is overkill for it as the cpu rarely goes above 25-30%. So, I was going to take the x2 250 for another build for which I already have the rest of the parts and use this in the freenas server. As an aside, the freenas server has 5 1.5TB Samsung drives raided using zfs....awesome.]

Quote from copyright1997 : Can anyone suggest a cheap heatsink/fan for this? I need a cpu for a cheap freenas server, and might go for this if I can get a heatsink/fan for it and still come in somewhere around the sempron 140 price (of $39 shipped from newegg). Thanks. [Actually, the freenas server is already built, running with an x2 250 for the last few months...which is overkill for it as the cpu rarely goes above 25-30%. So, I was going to take the x2 250 for another build for which I already have the rest of the parts and use this in the freenas server. As an aside, the freenas server has 5 1.5TB Samsung drives raided using zfs....awesome.]

Here is a Heatsink: http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.p...MD-AM3-AM2 for $5.99 and if you buy it together with the CPU, you can only use the coupon once per person, you get 15% Making it $5.09 + $3.37 shipping for a total of $8.46 for the fan + $32.72 for the CPU = $41.18 couple of Dollars more than the Sempron

Quote from ccengineer : Here is a Heatsink: http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.p...MD-AM3-AM2 for $5.99 and if you buy it together with the CPU, you can only use the coupon once per person, you get 15% Making it $5.09 + $3.37 shipping for a total of $8.46 for the fan + $32.72 for the CPU = $41.18 couple of Dollars more than the Sempron

Thanks. I picked up this cooler, but decided to go a bit further on the cpu by getting the x2 240. [superbiiz.com]
2.8GHz vs 2.3GHz, 1M L2x2 vs 512k L2x2. Under $48 w/the cooler shipped.
Thanks, reps to you.

In retrospect, I should have bought more of the x2 250's...which I picked up at Fry's in Dallas on a business trip for $33+tax. Wow. But I was worried about taking too many "parts" through the TSA screening. (I literally picked this up on the way to the airport!)

I ordered the Dell Zino HD system a couple of weeks ago, now considering upgrading the CPU to the Phenom II X4 840 3.2Ghz. SuperBiiz already had the lowest price I found, this code brings it down to $94.99 with free UPS shipping. Thanks!
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.p...2BXIDDleB9