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Brain Teaser - CPU upgrade on oldish motherboard!

Mel_P

Mel_P

Mel_P

Soldato
Joined
27 Feb 2004
Posts
2,573
Location
Kent
Hello,

I have an ageing ASUS motherboard - A68HM-PLUS - FM2+ Socketed motherboard features enduring 5X Protection, high-clarity audio and the new UEFI BIOS on the A68H Chipset

It has this CPU - AMD A6-6400K (FM2, AD640KOKA23HL, rev.A1, 2C, 3.9GHz, L2:1M, HD 8470D, 65W)

Looking at the ASUS site, with the same BIOS this CPU will be compatible - AMD AthlonX4 860K (FM2+, AD860KXBI44JAA, 4C, rev.A1, 3.7GHz, L2:2M, 95W)
https://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/A68HMPLUS/HelpDesk_CPU/

I can buy this from eBay - "AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad Core Socket FM2+ 64BIT Processor 95W CPU" for $18 / £14

Can anybody tell me if going from an A6-6400 (which has 2 cores) to the Athlon X4 860K is likely to work and if it will give an improved performance?

OR will I end up with a smoking pile. The PC is a bit long in the tooth - just thinking of experimenting!

Any AMD gurus out there! Thanks, Mel
 
It was originally built as an office pc but then grandson started using it for games like fortnite which is ok and flight simulator which runs slowly. Memory is ddr3.

The alternative is to buy an i5 motherboard bundle but that's about £500+!! ( mb + CPU + ddr4 memory).
Mel
 
Physically, you could install it and it would be an upgrade (2 more cores).

The curreny MS Flight Sim or an older version? The current version is incredibly cpu hungry.

For £14, I would give it a go. If he's happy with it, no need to spend any more money.
 
adrichardson81 said:
Physically, you could install it and it would be an upgrade (2 more cores).
The current MS Flight Sim or an older version? The current version is incredibly cpu hungry.
Click to expand...

Thanks. It is the current MS Flight Sim - we'll just have to see! Spent a bit more than £14 as these were all ex-china with a ~3 week delivery. Got a UK sourced one +£10 - due in a day or so - didn't want to wait as I have PC opened up and old CPU out! If it does work will need an uprated cooler (95W vs 65W) but have found an obsolete one on a "watery inlet".

Here's hoping Athlon CPU posts AND hoping current install of Windows 10 runs if it does. Life is full of hope!
Mel
 
adrichardson81 said:
Good luck! Windows 10 is pretty forgiving, so you should be fine there.
Click to expand...

AND I WAS! Processor arrived this morning - with trepidation I removed the AMD stock cooler and cleaned it up. There seemed to be a hard spec on it that wouldn't come off so gave the cooler base a rub down on a flat glass plate with a 600 grit paper. Polished up well. Then rubbed in some Arctic silver 3 and rubbed it off with a lint free cloth (as recommended by Arctic to fill in microscopic flaws in surface). Then did same with CPU surface. Then applied the "grain of rice" of Arctic Silver and mated CPU / cooler - quick twists to bed in - the "SWITCH ON" / "RESET BIOS" - and Bob's your uncle Windows 20 powered on and loaded without a complaint. System says "Athlon quad core".

Yippee - now I will buy a "plug and play cooler" - an arctic one seems Ok - ordered from OCUK (free 2nd class post).

The CPU was running at 47 deg. C "quiescent" and 67 deg. C when running a flight simulator called "X-Plane 11". I am hoping with the new cooler it will run at a lower temperature.

What temperature should an AMD AthlonX4 860K run please - any views on that? Thanks, Mel
 
Windows didn't need reactivation but MS Office Plus 2010 did due to "processor change". I reactivated over internet in one click so no hassle.

New cooler in post from OCUK (free post but only 2nd class - boo hoo) so will probably get that Monday or Tuesday next week. Mel
 
Been trying some overclocking. Installed AMD Overdrive. Base CPU frequency is 3700 MHz wth a x37 multiplier. Looking on web the easiest way to overclock is to increase the multiplier. So I increased that to x42 and the CPU operated ok at 4200MHz. It rebooted ok as well.

It also loaded X plane 11 faster but was at up to 65C.

Is this the easiest way to overclock - or am I missing something? Will see if the temperatures are lower with new cooler!
 
Last edited:
There should be a few tutorials for overclocking that processor floating around (hardocp would be a good starting point), but basically increase the multiplier and check it's stable, then rinse and repeat.

Cinebench r20 is a good stability test.

Once you're stable you can then decide whether you want to fiddle with voltages to push your multiplier higher (which means higher temperatures). I certainly wouldn't do that on your current cooler, and you can accidentally damage your processor if you're not careful. Personally I'd see how far you can get without touching voltages and leave it there.
 
Mel_P said:
A "plug and play cooler" - an arctic 7X - ordered from OCUK (free 2nd class post). Fitted like a charm

Originally the CPU was running at 47 deg. C "quiescent" and 67 deg. C when running a flight simulator called "X-Plane 11". I am hoping with the new cooler it will run at a lower temperature.
Click to expand...

Well with new Arctic cooler, Athlon overclocked at 4200MHz, it runs at 32C "tickover / quiescent" and 52C running flight simulator - so very pleased with my experiment!
 
adrichardson81 said:
Cinebench r20 is a good stability test.
Click to expand...

REALLY disappointed used Cinebench on my old Intel Core i7 CPU 920 running at stock (2.7GHz) and it only achieved a score of 920 on Cinebench R20.

Ran Cinebench R20 on this Athlon at 4.2GHz and it only achieved a score of 760.

These seem pathetic compared an i7-7700KCPU of 2420 and A Ryzen 3.4GHz Threadripper 1950X at 6670 and a Xeon Platinum 8168 CPU of 16536 !!

It must be dustbin time soon for these. Tried the AMD at 4.3GHz and it crashed on Windows. Tried the 920 at 3.2 GHz and it crashed dramatically on reboot!

Boo hoo......

It looks like I should bin the Athlon after this experimenting and go for a Ryzen!! What should I go for - a threadripper??
 
Considering their age, it's not terrible. But yeah you'll do better with a Ryzen. If wait a few weeks and see what you can pick up a used 2600 for. I wouldn't pay threadripper money.
 
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