M4A79XTD EVO support Bulldozer/Piledriver?

X-Morgan · 12 Nov 2012 at 21:31

Hey folks,

Pretty much what the thread title says. I'm running a M4A79XTD EVO and was wondering if it would support one of the newer AM3+ Bulldozer/Piledriver CPU's.

Hopefully it can so it will let me upgrade on the cheap. Thanks!

SeraphX · 12 Nov 2012 at 21:41

It doesn't

X-Morgan · 12 Nov 2012 at 21:53

SeraphX said:
It doesn't

I saw that too, but I think that list is from 2010 before those CPU's came out. Well, hopefully it's avoided me spending money on a CPU that won't work.

I take it no one else has had any experiences using an older motherboard with a CPU brought out after it?

SeraphX · 12 Nov 2012 at 21:58

The motherboard needs to be AM3+ if you had the M5A99X it would work with bulldozer, possibly piledriver too, but well you don't, i had the same board a while ago, and swapped to the M5A after hearing about bulldozer, AM3+ is different to AM3 by 1 pin if memory serves.

X-Morgan · 12 Nov 2012 at 22:17

Dammit. That's not the answer I was looking for. Thanks though!

On another related note, I have the Phenom II 555 BE running tri-core at 3.6GHz, would it be worth it getting a Phenom II 955/965 and overclocking that?

It's funny; I build a PC in 2010 with the savvy to research all my options and know the ins and outsto find myself 2 years later, and the tech world have once again overtaken me!

SeraphX · 12 Nov 2012 at 22:23

a 955 would be magic with that board (mine was and it hit 4.5Ghz)

But yeah, the mobo is pretty damn good, it had my phenom rock solid for ages at 4.2Ghz under water, Think i've still got mine up the loft somewhere lol

X-Morgan · 12 Nov 2012 at 22:26

I have to admit, it's been one of my favourite motherboards I've ever used.

Overclocks easily and the ability to manipulate the RAM is fantastic.

I've seen no need to upgrade it, so I'm looking to expand it to Phenom 955/965, 16GB RAM and a Radeon 7850.

I think that should keep it going for a while longer.

Also, reassuring to see you hitting 4.5GHz. If I see 4.0-4.2 then I'll be happy!

SeraphX · 12 Nov 2012 at 22:36

ooof, not with 16Gb of ram you won't, well unless it's 2x8Gb set, if you fill all the ram slots on the motherboard it will limit the OC you'll get because of the onboard memory controller

X-Morgan · 12 Nov 2012 at 23:02

Aye, I read about that. They were a good deal and they're running at a speed lower than they're rated for, so hopefully that'll give me some flexibility when it comes to finding a good balance.