#1 ·
I've got this old relic of an LGA 775 rig sitting around with a P5Q Pro and an Intel Core2Duo e8400, and I’ve realized that with a little bit of enthusiasm and not a massive budget, I could actually "refresh" it quite nicely.
I’ve been digging through a bunch of guides, and the most popular method seems to be dropping in some relatively cheap Xeon E5450, E5460, or X5460 chips (either the "modded" versions with shaved edges or just using a 771-to-775 adapter) into existing 775 socket motherboards.
Basically, a Xeon X5450 would run me about $22, and if I pick up an $33 Arctic 7 Freezer Pro to go with it, the whole project would cost me just over $67. In exchange, I'd end up with a machine that's at least 50% more capable for modern gaming and software. I'll also need to flash a custom BIOS by injecting the necessary microcode via MMTOOLs since I'm running an AMI BIOS. Has anyone here worked with similar CPU/motherboard combos? Any advice? Also, can I get away with using my current stock cooler from the e8400, or am I definitely going to need to invest in a decent used 775 cooler like the one I mentioned above?
I’ve been digging through a bunch of guides, and the most popular method seems to be dropping in some relatively cheap Xeon E5450, E5460, or X5460 chips (either the "modded" versions with shaved edges or just using a 771-to-775 adapter) into existing 775 socket motherboards.
Basically, a Xeon X5450 would run me about $22, and if I pick up an $33 Arctic 7 Freezer Pro to go with it, the whole project would cost me just over $67. In exchange, I'd end up with a machine that's at least 50% more capable for modern gaming and software. I'll also need to flash a custom BIOS by injecting the necessary microcode via MMTOOLs since I'm running an AMI BIOS. Has anyone here worked with similar CPU/motherboard combos? Any advice? Also, can I get away with using my current stock cooler from the e8400, or am I definitely going to need to invest in a decent used 775 cooler like the one I mentioned above?