Processor upgrade assistance

[Marko Dash]

my pc is starting to get very long in the tooth and i'm looking for ways to improve it as cheaply as possible, from what I've seen so far the cheapest and easiest thing left that i haven't already done is to upgrade the processor itself.

what i have now is an e2160 and i'm thinking about buying a refurbished e8500 as it's cheap, compatible with the MB, and between 150-200% faster.

I've done simple upgrades before (ram, graphics card, power supply, and cd drives) but these are all basically plug and play, I've never dared tamper with the CPU, is it any more difficult? would i need to do anything with the software or will it accept the 8500 without any changes?

[Starglider]

I've done simple upgrades before (ram, graphics card, power supply, and cd drives) but these are all basically plug and play, I've never dared tamper with the CPU, is it any more difficult?

Not really. Earth yourself before handling, pick it up by the corners, line up the flattened-off corner with the socket so the orientation is correct, check that it is seated properly before putting the clamp on. Don't drop it as you can bend the pins in the socket. Clean the old thermal grease off the bottom of the heatsink and apply a thin layer of new thermal grease to the CPU heatspreader before reattaching the heatsink.

would i need to do anything with the software or will it accept the 8500 without any changes?

Make sure your motherboard is flashed to the latest BIOS version (manufacturer probably makes a Windows tool for this) before changing out the CPU.

[General Zod]

What type of motherboard do you have? You'll need to check the documentation with their manufacturer to make sure their latest BIOS will actually support the upgrade. Otherwise even if the slot is compatible the BIOS might not be able to handle running anything at higher clock speeds.

[Marko Dash]

it should, i've updated the bios and from what I've been able to find it should be fine. the e8500 is in the same family as the 2160 just a higher end, both are fairly obsolete by modern standards, but the most i ask of it is KSP and world of tanks.

[General Zod]

it should, i've updated the bios and from what I've been able to find it should be fine. the e8500 is in the same family as the 2160 just a higher end, both are fairly obsolete by modern standards, but the most i ask of it is KSP and world of tanks.

Double check anyway. Just because it should support it doesn't mean it will, unless you really like wasting money.

(In which case I happily invite you to send me a moneygram with $100.)

[Marko Dash]

yeah, from what i've been able to find it only came with two different motherboard options one for the duel cores and one for the quad cores.

even if by some fluke it has the quad core MB it can still take the duel core cpus.

http://en.community.dell.com/support-fo ... 95125.aspx

edit: and as for that moneygram, i'm only spending $30-40 on the cpu and the shipping is free, so fuck you

[Marko Dash]

transplant was a success, seeing about 10-20 avg fps increase in WoT. temp also looks good, even a bit lower since i cleaned everything out while i had it apart.