Author Topic: Upgrading CPU (Read 386 times)

DiabloTX · « **on:** May 25, 2005, 10:57:37 PM »

I am wanting to upgrade my AMD Athlon XP 2100+ to a Athlon XP 3000+. I have never done a CPU swap before. Any advice?

My stats:
ASUS A7N8X deluxe MB with 1 Gig/RAM running XP Pro.

Any help would be appreciated.

maddog · « **Reply #1 on:** May 25, 2005, 11:31:43 PM »

running that same setup on one off my sys..AMD3000+ runs great... But have always had raid 0 fail.... Just use as SATA controller now..... And when I say fail I mean both drives get hosed... Has happened on 2 diff sys now with nforce chips..... Running on as raid 1 and seems to be OK

DiabloTX · « **Reply #2 on:** May 25, 2005, 11:40:25 PM »

Thanks for the reply.

My question is, I have read the installation information I found at the AMD website but it seems that for every "do it this way" there's 5 "don't do it this way!!!!". I mean, damn, how hard can it be, right? Just I am just a little gun-shy about doing this.

DiabloTX · « **Reply #3 on:** May 26, 2005, 12:48:44 AM »

Another question, what would be the best video card I could get for this system. Right now I use an nVidia G-Force 4 Ti 4200 AGP w/64mb.

Roscoroo · « **Reply #4 on:** May 26, 2005, 02:06:10 AM »

the 9800 pro rocks on that setup .. or you can go x800 / 6800 if ya can spare the $$$ .. ( 9600 pro id say is the best bottem line card for the $$)

as for the swap (ive swapped tons of cpu's )

turn it off .. flip off the power switch on the power supply , disconnect the monitor .

now i leave mine plugged in for grounding purposes / but that doesnt matter too much .. (its best to touch the case to discharge any static)

next pull the cpu fan plug .. then very carefully press the spring clip down and out w/ a screw driver ..(or down then take a second screw driver and pry it away just a touch and let up .. the heat sink will come off now .

take note the step in the heatsink base.

the metal/ or plastic bar now can be popped up and it releases the cpu .. it will be straight up from the board when its released . lift gently on the cpu and it will come off ( place in on a anti static plastic or insulated surface)

note : the arrow at the lower right .. this will match up to the corner of were the release bar pivots .. (on the asus a7n8x)

... really easy ..now just line up and drop the cpu in .. dont force it , but sometimes you have to push gently .. now while holding down put the lock back down (the cpu moves slightly when doing this)

Put a drop of artic silver on the center of the cpu chip ... and replace the heat sink ( affter All the old stuff has been cleaned from it ) remember the step goes over the white part that says "socket462" push lightly and twist just slighly and the compound will spread nice and even

now get the clip back on (dont slip here )

plug fan back in ... set ur stack back up .. ect ..

fire it up while holding the deleate key ..

go to "Advanced / adv chipset features

i think the stock setup for a 3000+

is 166 x 13.0 = 2.16 ghz .. but it should run in other combonations just fine. ( 200 x 11 ) or (200 x 11.5)

once this is set reboot and your are done except for checking the temp ..
use either the asus probe program or the hardware monitor in the bios ..
if ya did it right it should be below 46C

if its over 50c then somethings wrong .

Roscoroo · « **Reply #5 on:** May 26, 2005, 02:17:01 AM »

ps ... run dxdiag when your all done so it gets refreshed to the new cpu and besure its correct speed ect ...

Davenrino and I also run the same Main board as you... Asus A7n8x- dlx

so feel free to yell if ya need too.

DiabloTX · « **Reply #6 on:** May 26, 2005, 09:20:29 AM »

Ros, huge Texas-sized many a thanks!!!!!

Kev367th · « **Reply #7 on:** May 26, 2005, 12:40:19 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by maddog
running that same setup on one off my sys..AMD3000+ runs great... But have always had raid 0 fail.... Just use as SATA controller now..... And when I say fail I mean both drives get hosed... Has happened on 2 diff sys now with nforce chips..... Running on as raid 1 and seems to be OK

Back when I had the same board it was a well known RAID 0 problem.
Later BIOS'es and drivers fixed the problem.
Tip - If you upgrade a BIOS with new RAID components in it, update your Windows drivers FIRST.

Check the Asus forum here -
http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/

StarOfAfrica2 · « **Reply #8 on:** May 26, 2005, 09:12:12 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Roscoroo

now i leave mine plugged in for grounding purposes / but that doesnt matter too much .. (its best to touch the case to discharge any static)
Quote

Good advice. From a guy who's done several on lots of different cases though, take the precaution of getting a wrist strap anyway and use it. I cant count the number of times I've had to pull the PS for easier access to the heatsink spring. If you can get away with doing it Roscoroo's way, its easier and quicker reassembly though.

Quote
next pull the cpu fan plug .. then very carefully press the spring clip down and out w/ a screw driver ..(or down then take a second screw driver and pry it away just a touch and let up .. the heat sink will come off now .

take note the step in the heatsink base.

now get the clip back on (dont slip here)

One thing I'll add here. Again, from bitter experience. Use a small enough flat-blade screwdriver that it seats easily in the notch and wont pop out. You sometimes have to put a decent amount of pressure on these things, and if the screwdriver slips out it can wreck the motherboard in an instant. Check the fit of the tool before you use it. Better to wait one afternoon if you have to go to the hardware store and buy a 1 dollar screwdriver than screw up (pardon the pun) and buy an expensive motherboard. Also, if you had any cooling issues before with your old heatsink and fan combo, it would be a perfect time to upgrade (if the old ones worked fine, just clean them good and reuse). If you do swap, I strongly recommend one with the three holes vs the single hole spring. Much more stable mounting, and a good sign of quality in a heatsink (not always, but hey, every rule has exceptions).

Otherwise, it really is as easy as Roscoroo makes it sound, and the fact that he has this setup already is a great help for you I'm sure. I dont want to make you overly worried about it, just want to inject a note of caution where I've made some mistakes myself.

Good luck!

Roscoroo · « **Reply #9 on:** May 26, 2005, 10:25:21 PM »

my advantage is im one of those non static types .. (not shure what causes this ) but remember how someone would touch metal or a car on a cold day and get a shock then transfer that to anouther person ... . beleive me i tried to zap my lil sis hundreds of times ,,,, well that never worked for me .. lol ..

well just touching the case befor you pull the ps is enough for most people and will discharge any static you have .

the static charge has to cross from you thru the component and to ground if it is to do any damage .. but most componets will with stand this anyway
ok im sort of ramblin here ..

as for a wrist strap .. id say only get one if your in a high static enviroment .. or your doing alot of sensitive electronics . (but then you'd be probely be working on a grounded bench )

this is probely why everyone brings me there broken pos pc's all the time . Im still mad at that pent 4 the dweeb brought me 2 weeks ago .. (he expects me to work wonders for free . and still doesnt get it when i tell him i dont have any p4 stuff to test the cpu or mb with, ive got plenty of amd stuff though : )