Fx-62 swap to phenom 9850
 

Hi, I have an old fx-62 running nicely on win7. Just saw sale of phenom 9850( 2.5ghz) on memory express for $56. Will this be an upgrade that is worthwhile and can be felt? I don't play too much game. Occasional dota and hon is about it plus I watch movies and transfer large files out.

Will this be a direct swap of CPu in my am2 socket , or do I have to reinstall win7? I think both CPUs are 125 watts.
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swap should be fine. worst case is you'll need a bios update for your motherboard. and you won't need to reinstall win7.

as for it being an upgrade, i'd say so since you'd be moving to 4 cores- but since you don't tax your computer, it would be a marginal one to notice. not until you start using an multi-threaded apps like photoshop etc.

Are there any other options (cpu chip) for my AM2 socket mobo to take this plugn'play swap for significant upgrade? my mobo is pretty new, i dont wnat to upgrade to AM3 board.


Edit: my motherboard manual says" AM3 ready".. dunno what that means

I just did a quick google search on the AM2 and AM3 socket compatibility and some AM2 and AM2+ motherboards are forwards compatible with AM3 CPU's. Its simply a bios update. the only downside is you'll still be using DDR2 and wont be able to get the advantages of DDR3 ram because of the motherboard. But the performance upgrade will still be there.

yup, quite the puzzle

I think your upgrade will be worthwhile, especially for $56. I prefer to run quad core CPUs on my main systems, primarily because they do not bog down when under heavy load. If you run Prime95 in the background on a quad core CPU, you won't be able to notice it. Not so on a dual core machine.

thanks all, gonna wait for boxing day to see if there are any phenom II for cheap, the $56 is a phenom I.

The Phenom II are faster, but they are still current stocking items. You will likely only get such a good deal on an obsolete CPU.

Will phenom II x2 555 be better than phenom 9850. It is 30 dollars more than 9850.
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got a phenom X4 940 for $99, hoping this will work right out of box without bios update

What's your motherboard model? The jump from FX-62 to 940 is big.

i cant remember, but i think its this one Gigabyte GA-MA78LM-S2H

You should consider doing a BIOS update beforehand. If you have problems, you might need to reinstall the old CPU to do the update.

Update:
got Phenom II 940 as a christmas present
Updated BIOS for motherboard
Swapped out my FX-62 and insert the 940 Chip.

Computer started up and auto-adjusted its settings without me doing anything. IT literally takes 20 secs to load Win7 ultimate as compare to before, it would be like 45 seconds.

Idles temperature for cpu is like 32 degree. (i dunno if its bad or not, this figure came from the bios menu)

NOw I will sit and wait for NCIX boxing day sale for a nice video card.

thx for all the advise in this thread :)

p.s should i sell FX-62 for cheap ($50) or build a HTPC with it down the road