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Help Upgading from a 3500 to X2 processor?

MatTT

MatTT

MatTT

Associate
Joined
4 Feb 2007
Posts
5
hi,

I have at the moment a AMD 3500 [Skt 939] single core processor and I'm looking to upgrade to a 4600 x2 OEM processor[Before they sell out]. I have never installed a processor before! I know the OEM versions don't come with a fan or heatsink, so would it be possible to use the Heatsink/fan from my old 3500 processor or if possible recommend one to buy from Overclockers?

I have looked inside my case, and I can see a Akasa Fan, and underneath that there is a silver structure thats about half a brick size, would that be the HeatSink?

Thanks for any help,

Matt
 
yep that would be the heatsink

yes you can use that

just unclip the heatsink, should be fairly simple, look at the sides for some clips to unclip

then just unclip the old CPU, and pop the new one in.

you might want to add some thermal paste if you have some lying around

then just put the heatsink back

also make sure your BIOS supports X2 cpu's before you install it

any questions ask
 
Thanks for your quick reply,

I Have a MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum Board, so it should hopefully work with x2. When installing the Processor where would be the best place to put the thermal paste and how much is needed?


Matt
 
I did a similar upgrade and to be honest it was a waste of time with the exception of a couple of games it made very little difference.
I also wnet from an ATI850XTPE to a 1900xt and again very little improvement.
It benches better in 3DMark06 1500 to 4793 but in real world stuff 1 or 3 FPS gain at most.

Only BF2 and rFactor seemed to run a little better, WindowsXp was smoother but not worth the money.

I also have a MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum Board and had no major problem but you will need AMD Dual-Core Optimizer from the AMD site.

As for the paste just a bit and put it on the heatsink after cleaning the old stuff off. There are much better thread around here the describe it very well.
 
Hmm, that is strange. Going from an X850XTPE to X1900XT should boost FPS by lots more than a few FPS. I did a similar upgrade, x850XTPE to X1800XT and noticed quite an improvement.

NFSMW which is quite tough on the gfx card was my reference. The x850 coped at 1024x768 with high settings, whereas the x1800 was mint with 1280x1024 maxed out settings and all eye candy.

Something tells me you are being bottlenecked, most likely by the CPU.

FYI: I tested NFSMW on a friends PC, he has a stock X2 3800 and the same card as me, and his did not run as smoothly. Hence CPU bottleneck.
 
I can turn up AA and run much higher resoulutions and in a couple of game the FPS his a lot better BF2 being one but overall I found it a very expensive upgrade.

If you plan on getting games that are Dual Core optomized then your OK as Yet I don't have any so again the upgrade was not that usefull.
 
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A2Z said:
yep that would be the heatsink


also make sure your BIOS supports X2 cpu's before you install it

any questions ask
Click to expand...


I did have to Flash the Bios, I missed this before sorry.

I would also do this before getting the chip, if you mess it up would you really want to have to get a new MotherBoard for a 4600?
You can flash it from Windows using the software that came with the MoBO.
 
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Hi,

One last question does it matter what type of thermal paste I use or shoudl I order some Artic Silver [everyone seems to recommend it!]? Also if I don't add any thermal paste will that cause any issues?

matt

I used this BootCd made by syar2003 at the MSI fourms to flash my bios. All proper flashing parameters were included in the batch/menu.
Menu looks like this:

1 = MS-7125 bios NCG 1.C (W7125NCG.1C0)
2 = MS-7125 bios 1.D murdok mod (7125XMOD.1D)
3 = MS-7125 bios 1.D Syar mod temp disabled (W7125NMM.1D0)
4 = MS-7125 bios 1.D MSI regular (W7125NMS.1D0)
5 = MS-7125 bios 1.C MSI regular (W7125NMS.1C0)

The bold one is the W7125NMS.1D0 MSI stock bios (menu choice 4)
==================================

http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php?topic=59711.0
 
Yes, you really do need to use Paste.

In similar manner to having to use a gasket in an engine, otherwise there might a tiny gap that allows oil to leak out.

With both the CPU and the heatsink being totally 100% perfectly flat, if they are not 100% flush, then one tiny little bit of the HeatSink will actually be touching the CPU... With the thermal paste, this fills in that tiny gap and allows a fuller contact of the HeatSink onto the CPU.

Since you have not done it before, it might be possible to re-use the paste thats already on it??? - Sometimes, some shops just plonk a load of the stuff on, so just make sure that you have a good thin coating onboth the CPU and the heatsink.

What paste you get is entirely up to you... You dont need to go out of your way to get Artic Silver ( AS3 / AS5 etc ) but obviously the better the quality, the... Well, better.

My personal favourite pastes are Akasa ( Thin ), OCZ ( thick ), and UltraBrite :D
 
Just as a thought here, is it really wise to recommend the same cooler that came with a 3500+ to work with a 4800+?

I'm not sure but it seems likely to me that AMD supplied a different reference cooler given the 4800+ has a thermal profile roughly twice that of a stock 3500+ and I know the default cooler holds stock 3500+'s at around 45 - 60!

I'd be tempted to spend £15 or so and replace the cooler myself, those 4800+ chips can get quite toasty under load.
 
Nah, it should be ok, as long as its not being clocked.

For example, I have a 3500 thats running just fine off a Sempron 2600 Stock cooler and its been ok.

I would have course not use that particular cooler on my better 939 systems, as I have them all clocked up a fair bit, but a 3500 cooler should be fine.
 
Fair enough :)

I still wouldnt do it myself given the thermal profile of those X2's is in some cases over 100W whereas the single core's are around 50W (id imagine similar to a sempron) and given the OP is looking to buy thermal paste at around £7 a tube.. i figured an arctic freezer 7 at £16 (with paste supplied) might be a better (quieter) and cooler option.

Was just a thought.
 
Oh no..Its a perfectly valid point.

Sometimes you can get away with it though... Depends on the case too!

If, inside the case, its a tad warm, then perhaps the Cooler wont do as good a job as it would, if it was a good case, for example.

Of course, using the right cooler ( or better ) is always the more sensible option.

And all HS come with compound dont they?
 
Yeah I have never seen a cooler without, when it comes to spending little though you cant beat an arctic cooler.

I myself have never bought anything other than one of the best for cooling my CPU's but im easily annoyed by noise, a stock AMD cooler would drive me insane very quickly ;)

Even the 92mm fan on my current 9500-AT is getting on my nerves...

Any £10 cooler for the correct socket (939 i presume) would do the job and would definately be going in the basket if I was buying a new OEM 4800+ :)

EDIT: Also, yeah thats the doohicky i meant ;) (didnt mean the 7) the freezer 64 is very good for the money, reasonably quiet and really will keep a stock 4800+ cool whilst allowing headroom for any overclocking you might suddenly feel the urge for in the future. Being honest though I wouldnt say the AS was worth the £7 odd OCuk ask for it, the stock stuff should be fine in this case :)
 
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MatTT said:
hi,

I have at the moment a AMD 3500 [Skt 939] single core processor and I'm looking to upgrade to a 4600 x2 OEM processor[Before they sell out]. I have never installed a processor before! I know the OEM versions don't come with a fan or heatsink, so would it be possible to use the Heatsink/fan from my old 3500 processor or if possible recommend one to buy from Overclockers?

I have looked inside my case, and I can see a Akasa Fan, and underneath that there is a silver structure thats about half a brick size, would that be the HeatSink?

Thanks for any help,

Matt
Click to expand...

If you where intending to overclock your X2 cpu you should consider buying the X2 4400 its has 1MB cache on each the 2 cores whereas the 4600 has only 512KB on each of the cores.
 
Jleo said:
If you where intending to overclock your X2 cpu you should consider buying the X2 4400 its has 1MB cache on each the 2 cores whereas the 4600 has only 512KB on each of the cores.
Click to expand...
True but it's also very hard to source now and reasonably pricey, plus the cache makes very little real world difference. If you want to overclock, I'd suggest an Opteron, as they too have 2x 1MB cache and usually overclock very well on stock volts.
 
I have installed my new x2 processor, I followed the instructions that I
was kindly given. The heatSink was easy to take off and I removed the
Processor fairly easy. I inserted the new processor, added half a pea size
amount of Akasa paste and used a credit card to smooth it out across the
chip. I also wiped any excess stuff off the heat sink with some tissue paper.

I did find it very hard though to put the heatsink back on over the
processor. The first side clicked on ok, but it was a strugle to get the
other side on. One side still looks more secure than the other, heat dosn't seem to move though.

I will probably look into buying the recommend heatsink/fan

Thanks for all your help,

matt;)
 
MatTT said:
I have installed my new x2 processor, I followed the instructions that I
was kindly given. The heatSink was easy to take off and I removed the
Processor fairly easy. I inserted the new processor, added half a pea size
amount of Akasa paste and used a credit card to smooth it out across the
chip. I also wiped any excess stuff off the heat sink with some tissue paper.

I did find it very hard though to put the heatsink back on over the
processor. The first side clicked on ok, but it was a strugle to get the
other side on. One side still looks more secure than the other, heat dosn't seem to move though.

I will probably look into buying the recommend heatsink/fan

Thanks for all your help,

matt;)
Click to expand...
How are you finding life in the dual core world then?
 
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