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Processor advice

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Associate
Joined
28 Feb 2009
Posts
590
Hi all.

I have a Shuttle system (SN78SH7), which has an AM2+ socket. I am currently running the Athlon X2 6000 (3 ghz dual core). I'm looking for some more poke, and noticed the Athlon X4 quad cores on this site.

The only issue is... they're all AM3 sockets. Am I right in saying that AM3 processors are backwards compatible with AM2+ motherboards, but not vice versa?

Also, will such a processor actually WORK in the shuttle SN78SH7? I can't find anywhere that lists what processors the motherboard supports or not, only that it's AM2+.

Thanks for your helps :D
 
Yes, AM3 processors will work in an AM2+ board. I had an AM3 720BE running on an AM2 and later an AM2+ board a while back. Only thing is that some older boards are going to need a BIOS update to work properly with a relatively new CPU like the Athlon II.
 
Okay!

BIOS flash went successful (gosh, I love DOS :p :rolleyes: ),
now I'm thinking of "which processor"?

I have seen the AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core 640 3.00GHz (Socket AM3) processor here for under £100 notes. Will this be much of an improvement from my current processor, which is an AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000 (3GHz dual core)?

I imagine I could expect, technically, twice the potential increase in processor power as I am trading 2x3GHz cores for 4x3GHz cores? That right?

How does this compare to the Phenom range of processors, i.e. there is a 6 core processor @ 2.8 GHz. I take it that'll be better still due to the extra cores, even though the clock speed is lower?

I've noticed there is a Phenom X2 3.2 GHz dual core for similar price to the Athlon II X4 3.0GHz linked above. What makes Phenom better/different?

Thanks in advance, guys :) E-pints all around!
 
The only real difference between the PhenomII and the AthlonII range is that the former have a substantial block of level 3 cache on die. The L3 gives a nice performance boost because the cores have to make less trips to the main system RAM to get data.

I have to ask though, what are you using the machine for? In what way is your current processor struggling? If you're just using it to watch videos, listen to music, surf the internet and write eMails (ie usual HTPC stuff) then your current X2 6000 chip should be ample.

How much RAM has it got?
 
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