This thread will probably not be of interest to many crunchers, but for those "in the know", I would sincerely appreciate thoughts and comments.

I would like to consider the feasibility of upgrading the cpu on my "budget" desktop pc.

I have the $199 CompUSA special, which contains a Sempron 3400+, 100GB HDD, and 256MB RAM (which was upgraded to 1.75GB by adding three 512MB sticks for an additional $100).

Specs at: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?cc=us&docname=c00572527&lc=en

So, for ~ $299 I think I'm on the winning side of the price/performance ratio! (How much does Win-doze XP itself cost off the shelf?!)

That being said, having gotten into this "Rosetta thing", I would consider spending some extra $$$ (given how little I paid initially) for a "new" cpu.

I understand that that I have a Socket 939.

I also understand that on eBay there are affordable Athlon 64 X2's.

I am not the most mechanically inclined, but if it is as simple as purchasing an X2 and swapping out the cpu's, I could probably handle it.

Or is it more complicated, involving things like motherboard specs and flashing the bios?

And I assume there would be a noticable increase in the amount of daily crunching I could contribute.

Thoughts? Comments?

Thanx for your time!

For a dual AMD you need to know what your motherboard is to tell what it will take. I`ll look at the specs but don`t expect it to tell me. If you can open the case and look to see if you motherboard has a make and number it would help greatly !

Edit : Got mobo number am looking for it now.

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Not all Czech`s bounce but I`d like to try with Barbar ;-)

Make no mistake This IS the TEDDIES TEAM.

No, you can't upgrade Sempron system (trivially) to a Dual Core Athlon system, as the Dual core processor uses a Socket 939, and the Sempron is using a Socket 754, so there's some 190 pins difference... ;-)

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Mats

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carl.h,

Thanx for helping.

Mats,

I know that *some* Semprons were Socket 754, but as per spec link included in original post, I have reason to believe (though not 100% certain) that the Sempron 3400+ is a Socket 939.

Even if I can't go to DualCore, I'd at least like to see if I could go to an Athlon or FX (single core).

No, you can't upgrade Sempron system (trivially) to a Dual Core Athlon system, as the Dual core processor uses a Socket 939, and the Sempron is using a Socket 754, so there's some 190 pins difference... ;-)

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Mats

Not true Semprons are also 939....@Mats

Your motherboard is an Asus A8AE-LE which is an OEM motherboard made especially for HP. I can find no more information than that at present.Contacting HP maybe a quicker option.

I have found links indicating that AMD Athlon 939 3800+`s have been used on this board.

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Not all Czech`s bounce but I`d like to try with Barbar ;-)

Make no mistake This IS the TEDDIES TEAM.

the 754 will fit the 939 and vice versa. You just have to push alot harder to get it in there.


LOL

Just kidding, Don't try this at home.

Worth a look

http://forum.matrox.com/mga/viewtopic.php?t=19303&view=previous&sid=a446679006a991a7c0fbbbd421d2ab22

"I am looking at buying the HP A1350N (ASUS A8AE-LE motherboard) with AMD4200 X2 CPU "

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Not all Czech`s bounce but I`d like to try with Barbar ;-)

Make no mistake This IS the TEDDIES TEAM.

No, you can't upgrade Sempron system (trivially) to a Dual Core Athlon system, as the Dual core processor uses a Socket 939, and the Sempron is using a Socket 754, so there's some 190 pins difference... ;-)

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Mats

It seems like the HP/Compaq website conflicts with the above information, but I'm pretty sure that www.amdcompare.com is better at accurately describing how many pins a particular model of processor has than the vendor of any particular machine...

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Mats

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Here is your mobo specs and yes it will take a dual

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?x=5&dlc=en&lc=en&product=1817035&lang=en&cc=us&y=5&docname=c00496280

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Not all Czech`s bounce but I`d like to try with Barbar ;-)

Make no mistake This IS the TEDDIES TEAM.

Mats, I can assure you it is possible to get socket 939 Semprons. HP are supplied by AMD with these to this day. You wont see them on the AMD site for sale nowadays though. BTW, as well as 939 and the 754 there are also Socket A Semprons.
[Edit]I forgot about the AM2 Semprons as well Mats.[/Edit]

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AMD to many peoples surprise make CPU`s in many flavours, I myself did not know about the Sempron 939 until last month.

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Not all Czech`s bounce but I`d like to try with Barbar ;-)

Make no mistake This IS the TEDDIES TEAM.

I guess this is another deal where AMD is selling some parts specifically to some OEM's which are not available to general customers [although OEM's often sell surplus stock to the "grey market" which means that these products turn up in retail shops in the end anyways...].

Sorry for the confusion...

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Mats

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No problem Mats the industry often springs surprises like that and it`s not until you come up against it that you learn about it.

The Good news is the Bad Penguin can get his dual if he so wishes, there are some good deals on them at the moment as the AM2 with DDR2 has taken over.

939`s are not exactly in short supply but you may have to look a bit !

Good luck BP

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Not all Czech`s bounce but I`d like to try with Barbar ;-)

Make no mistake This IS the TEDDIES TEAM.

Great first step, thanx to all who assisted!

Knowing that my motherboard has a socket 939 and can be upgraded to Athlon 64 X2 is terrific!

Now, its just a matter of the "nuts and bolts".

Any suggestions where I could look on the "how to" ?

I am "hoping" it is as simple as:

(1) Buy new cpu
(2) Ground oneself
(3) Remove old cpu
(4) Insert (very carefully!) new cpu
(5) Hope that bios recognizes new cpu
(6) All is wonderful in Rosetta-crunching-land.

I'm not sure how the OS will handle it. . I know windows has a single cpu kernel and one that it uses for hyperthreaded and multi-cpu systems (maybe not the kernel, but HAL.dll). Someone on here will probably have a better idea, but it will be more than just a hardware swap.

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The Heatsink and fan can be tricky, but are not beyond the average user.

The heatsink and fan sit sit on top of the CPU are held tightly in position by a sprung piece of metal.

I`ll try to find a walkthrough for you.

Ethan Windows should be set as ACPI and pick it up automatically or this can be changed I believe.

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Not all Czech`s bounce but I`d like to try with Barbar ;-)

Make no mistake This IS the TEDDIES TEAM.

http://www.hardwarezone.com/guides/amd-socket939/

Heatsinks differ and the standard AMD one is different to that in the picture with perhaps more free space for you to work.

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Not all Czech`s bounce but I`d like to try with Barbar ;-)

Make no mistake This IS the TEDDIES TEAM.

deleted - reread the thread and the RAM's already been upgraded!

You'll probably be able to get a decent return on your Sempron on ebay too.

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Good advice, sorry if I wasn't clear in itital post. At time of purchase, I "splurged" the extra $100 (on top of the $199 for the 'puter) to fill in the three empty spaces with 512MB sticks, bringing the total to 1.75GB RAM. 1GB sticks weren't on sale :(

TBP, even if you don't upgrade the CPU, you would see a huge benefit from installing more memory on that machine if you haven't already.

The spec says it has 256MB, which isn't very much to begin with, especially if running Rosetta which uses a fair bit itself, but as you're planning to upgrade to dualcore, you'll be running two copies of Rosetta so it'll use even more memory. I'd recommend adding 1GB of RAM (it' DDR and you have plenty of sockets for it - there are 4 on that motherboard), which will cost somewhere around $100.

HTH
Danny

you were- I looked at the link and didn't read the rest of the post properly!

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