CPU Discussion

Hey everyone. I have a few questions about processors, any help would be appreciated 🙂
So here's the deal, I'm running an M57SLI-S4 motherboard and I want to pick up a new CPU because my current one is absolute garbage. I'm wondering which processors are compatible with this board and what the max GHz limit is... Thanks in advance 🙂

You’ll probably need to flash your BIOS first if you want to swap in those AM3 processors... what else are you running in there? I mean, what's the rest of your setup look like—CPU, PSU brand and model, specific GPU, and RAM? If you aren't sure, maybe just download Speccy and check your specs there.

AMD Sempron 3000+ 1.61 GHz
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 LE 256 MB graphics card...
DDR2 RAM... 2.5 GB at 321 MHz...
So... how do you actually go about updating the BIOS?🙂

Grab the @bios utility right here: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/pro...d=2287#utility

Then, go ahead and snag the latest BIOS version from this link: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/pro...?pid=2287#bios

Once you've got that, just unzip the file—you'll see three different files in there, but don't get distracted—you only care about the one that actually matches your motherboard's name. Open up @bios, point it toward the folder where you unpacked that specific flash file, and let it do its thing to flash the BIOS.

Maybe grab this one while you're working on that flash BIOS update. I guess you might even find some used X4 chips for $150... though that really depends on what you're trying to do.

EDIT: http://www.gigabyte.com/support-down....aspx?pid=2287

By the way, processor power isn't really measured in GHz...

Thanks a lot...
I mean, I think 3.4 GHz is plenty for me, what do you reckon?
And are you sure my motherboard can actually handle it if I run a BIOS update?? I don't want to buy something useless 😁
thanks again 😁

Can't seem to get this latest 15e BIOS update to take... :/ any ideas?

Turns out my motherboard is actually rev 2.0, not 1.0... so I've got the latest BIOS now 🙂

That version has about 6 or 7 updates under its belt—just make sure you’ve actually got the FHL version.

Got FHL 😁

Hey... got some questions... any help would be appreciated... I'm running an M57SLI-S4 rev 2.0 motherboard with the FHL BIOS (latest version)... before I updated from the older version, my PC used to boot up much faster... now after the update, everything feels sluggish... it takes about 10 seconds just to hit the black screen... total boot time is probably closer to 30 seconds... anyone know why???

http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K8/AMD...600CUBOX).html

I’ve had this processor sitting in my old AM2 motherboard setup for quite a while now,
having picked up the chip on eBay ages ago to pair with a board I already owned..

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M2NMX_SE/ this is the one I'm using right now.

So, a buddy of mine is about to hand over an AM2+ motherboard, and I’m wondering if my current
processor is going to play nice with it; I assume they're compatible, though maybe
it'll run just a hair slower since it's an AM2 chip rather than an AM2+ one... I'm not entirely sure if I'll need to mess with a BIOS update,
but it's been working perfectly fine on my current board..

Here is what the wiki says: 😁

AMD confirmed that AM2 processors will work on AM2+ motherboards and AM2+ processors will work on AM2 motherboards. However,
the operation of AM2+ processors on AM2 motherboards will be limited to the specifications of Socket AM2 (1 GHz HyperTransport 2.0, and
one power plane for both cores and the IMC). AM2 processors do not benefit from the faster HyperTransport 3.0 and separate power planes on AM2+ motherboards. As with AM2 components, AM2+ CPUs and motherboards are designed to use DDR2 RAM exclusively.

And honestly, I might just look into picking up a Phenom for the AM2+ socket down the road.

That’s right, you won't see any performance drops since the AM2+ socket is fully compatible with both AM2 and AM2+ processors. Just a heads-up: you can always find the specific CPU support list and the required BIOS version on the manufacturer's official website.

Kimberly Gomez34 said:That’s right, you won't see any performance drops since the AM2+ socket is fully compatible with both AM2 and AM2+ processors. Just a heads-up: you can always find the specific CPU support list and the required BIOS version on the manufacturer's official website.

aha 👍

I guess I just want to be certain I have the full list of supported CPUs handy; that's how I handled my current rig before I picked up this processor from a guy on Craigslist, though I haven't actually checked yet
because I'm not entirely sure which specific motherboard I'm looking at until I go pick it up tomorrow... but okay, 😉