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Upgrade path for a Motherboard released 11 years ago(maybe)?

risechii04
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Hiya there!

I just want to ask for some help since I got this Acer m3985 from the workplace my dad worked on, and I want to know what upgrade path I can go to. 
Appreciated the help! 

image.png.e6bb7eed9d8b165f64544c0bc770d4a8.pngimage.png.36903b4f930bc819b52b1da8d3bf56ee.pngimage.png.42b2a537805351cda7d4442e390bf1e1.pngimage.png.8306bf74915b9b5dc94b1a328b458a03.png

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12 minutes ago, risechii04 said:

Hiya there!

I just want to ask for some help since I got this Acer m3985 from the workplace my dad worked on, and I want to know what upgrade path I can go to. 
Appreciated the help! 

image.png.e6bb7eed9d8b165f64544c0bc770d4a8.pngimage.png.36903b4f930bc819b52b1da8d3bf56ee.pngimage.png.42b2a537805351cda7d4442e390bf1e1.pngimage.png.8306bf74915b9b5dc94b1a328b458a03.png

The only useful upgrade I see ist the GPU. That GT 710 is awful. Check the PSU if it has a 6 or 8 pin GPU connector. If not, you would have to stick to 75W class cards. Upgrading the CPU makes little sense unless you absolutely want have that machine maxed out. It wouldn't be worth the money. Check Acers manual on the motherboard and CPU support. You probably can fit a Core i7 of that generation (LGA1155) but check for support first. Not all boards have been updated and maybe yours won't recognize the new processor. No need to upgrade the RAM but you can disable onboard graphics to free up some of it.

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it'll take 3rd and 4th Gen Intel chips. so somehing like an i7 3770 will go in there.  I wouldn't bother with a 'k' sku cause it's got a 'B' series chipset so there's no overclocking allowed.  Like @Applefreak says, 4th Gen might become tricky if the BIOS on the board hasn't been updated.

 

Here's some information I found on the series

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/406083/Acer-Aspire-M3985.html?page=16#manual

 

 With all the Trolls, Try Hards, Noobs and Weirdos around here you'd think i'd find SOMEWHERE to fit in!

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alrighty! probably just gonna go save up for a completely new pc. since i really don't know anything about bios updating and i don't probably have the tools to do it. just gonna add my PSU i just a generic one w/o 6/8 pin gpu connector. 


Thanks guys!

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6 minutes ago, risechii04 said:

alrighty! probably just gonna go save up for a completely new pc. since i really don't know anything about bios updating and i don't probably have the tools to do it. just gonna add my PSU i just a generic one w/o 6/8 pin gpu connector. 


Thanks guys!

Here is the tools you need to update BIOS.

 

image.jpeg.9cd9ce528fe967d364c5f41b08897814.jpeg

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6 minutes ago, aDoomGuy said:

Here is the tools you need to update BIOS.

That's if you can get the BIOS for an 11 year old prebuilt's motherboard in the first place

 With all the Trolls, Try Hards, Noobs and Weirdos around here you'd think i'd find SOMEWHERE to fit in!

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11 hours ago, SimplyChunk said:

it'll take 3rd and 4th Gen Intel chips. so somehing like an i7 3770 will go in there.  I wouldn't bother with a 'k' sku cause it's got a 'B' series chipset so there's no overclocking allowed.  Like @Applefreak says, 4th Gen might become tricky if the BIOS on the board hasn't been updated.

 

Here's some information I found on the series

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/406083/Acer-Aspire-M3985.html?page=16#manual

 

Intel 4th gen CPU's use a different socket, LGA1150. LGA1155 was for 2nd and 3rd gen.

 

For gaming even a GTX 1050 (Ti) without 6-pin would be a HUGE upgrade from the GT 710

Intel Core i9-10900X, Asus TUF X299 Mark 1, 64GB DDR4 3200MHz, Asus GTX 1080 Strix, 2TB 970 EVO Plus, 2TB SN570, 8TB HDD, DC Assassin III, Meshify 2

Old PC: Intel Xeon X5670 6c/12t @ 4.40GHz, Asus P6X58D-E, 24GB DDR3 1600MHz, Asus GTX 1080 Strix, 500GB, 250GB & 120GB SSD, 2x 4TB & 2x 2TB HDD, Fractal Define R5

PC 2: Intel Xeon E5-2690 8c/16t @ 3.3-3.8GHz, ThinkStation S30 (C602/X79), 64GB (4x 16GB) DDR3 1600MHz, Asus GeForce GTX 960 Turbo OC, 1TB Crucial MX500

PC 3: Intel Core i7-3770 4c/8t @ 4.22-4.43GHz, Asus P8Z77-V LK, 16GB DDR3 1648MHz, Asus RX 470 Strix, 1TB & 250GB Crucial MX500 and 3x 500GB HDD

Laptop: ThinkPad T440p, Intel Core i7-4800MQ 4c/8t @ 2.7-3.7GHz, 16GB DDR3 1600MHz, GeForce GT 730M (GPU: 1006MHz MEM: 1151MHz), 2TB SSD, 14" 1080p IPS, 100Wh battery

Laptop 2: ThinkPad T450, Intel Core i7-5600U 2c/4t @ 2.6-3.2GHz, 16GB DDR3 1600MHz, Intel HD 5500, 250GB SSD, 14" 900p TN, 24Wh + 72Wh batteries

Phone: Huawei Honor 9 64GB + 256GB card Watch: Motorola Moto 360 1st Gen.

General X58 Xeon/i7 discussion

Some other PC's:

Spoiler

Some of the specs of these systems might not be up to date

PC 4: Intel Xeon X5675 6c/12t @ 3.07-3.47GHz, HP 0B4Ch (X58), 12GB DDR3 1333MHz, Asus GeForce GTX 660 DC2, 240GB & 120GB SSD, 1TB HDD

PC 5: Intel Xeon W3550 @ 3.07GHz, HP (X58), 8GB DDR3, NVIDIA GeForce GT 640 (GPU: 1050MHz MEM: 1250MHz), 120GB SSD, 2TB, 1TB and 500GB HDD

PC 6: Intel Core2 Quad Q9550 @ 3.8GHz, Asus P5KC, 8GB DDR2, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470, 120GB SSD and 500GB HDD

HTPC: Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 @ 3.0GHz, HP DC7900SFF, 8GB DDR2 800MHz, Asus Radeon HD 6570, 240GB SSD and 3TB HDD

WinXP PC: Intel Core2 Duo E6300 @ 2.33GHz, Asus P5B, 2GB DDR2 667MHz, NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT, 32GB SSD and 80GB HDD

RetroPC: Intel Pentium 4 HT @ 3.0GHz, Gigabyte GA-8SGXLFS, 2gb DDR1, ATi Radeon 9800 Pro, 2x 40gb HDD

My first PC: Intel Celeron 333MHz, Diamond Micronics C400, 384mb RAM, Diamond Viper V550 (NVIDIA Riva TNT), 6gb and 8gb HDD

Server: 2x Intel Xeon E5420, Dell PowerEdge 2950, 32gb DDR2, ATI ES1000, 4x 146gb SAS

Dual Opteron PC: 2x 6-core AMD Opteron 2419EE, HP XW9400, 32GB DDR2, ATI Radeon 3650, 500gb HDD

Core2 Duo PC: Intel Core2 Duo E8400, HP DC7800, 4gb DDR2, NVIDIA Quadro FX1700, 1tb and 80gb HDD

Athlon XP PC: AMD Athlon XP 2400+, MSI something, 1,5gb DDR1, ATI Radeon 9200, 40gb HDD

Thinkpad: Intel Core2 Duo T7200, Lenovo Thinkpad T60, 4gb DDR2, ATI Mobility Radeon X1400, 1tb HDD

Pentium 3 PC: Intel Pentium 3 866MHz, Asus CUSL2-C, 512mb RAM, 3DFX VooDoo 3 2000 AGP

Laptop: Dell Latitude E6430, Intel Core i5-3210M, 6gb DDR3 1600MHz , Intel HD 4000, 250gb Samsung SSD 860 EVO, 1TB WD Blue HDD

Laptop: Latitude 3380, Intel Pentium Gold 4415U 2c/4t @ 2.3GHz, 8GB DDR4, Intel HD 610, 120GB SSD, 13.3" 768p TN, 56Wh battery

 

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10 minutes ago, Pasi123 said:

Intel 4th gen CPU's use a different socket, LGA1150. LGA1155 was for 2nd and 3rd gen.

With respect.  You're wrong

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Bridge_(microarchitecture)#:~:text=Ivy Bridge processors are backward,3.0 to complement Ivy Bridge.

 

1869283247_Screenshot2023-01-07220634.thumb.png.1057a376c30ac87a300c444504f3b759.png

 

It was Skylake 6th gen Haswell and Broadwell 1st and 2nd Gen that was on 1150 socket

 

Skylake, Kabylake, Coffeelake that were on 1156

 

Comet lake and rocket lake on 1200 socket

 With all the Trolls, Try Hards, Noobs and Weirdos around here you'd think i'd find SOMEWHERE to fit in!

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16 minutes ago, SimplyChunk said:

With respect.  You're wrong

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Bridge_(microarchitecture)#:~:text=Ivy Bridge processors are backward,3.0 to complement Ivy Bridge.

 

1869283247_Screenshot2023-01-07220634.thumb.png.1057a376c30ac87a300c444504f3b759.png

 

It was Skylake 6th gen Haswell and Broadwell 1st and 2nd Gen that was on 1150 socket

 

Skylake, Kabylake, Coffeelake that were on 1156

 

Comet lake and rocket lake on 1200 socket

What you just said makes no sense at all.

LGA1156 was 1st gen Nehalem/Westmere

LGA1155 2nd/3rd gen Sandy/Ivy Bridge

LGA1150 4th/5th gen Haswell/Broadwell

LGA1151v1 6th/7th gen Skylake/Kaby lake

LGA1151v2 8th/9th gen Coffee Lake

Intel Core i9-10900X, Asus TUF X299 Mark 1, 64GB DDR4 3200MHz, Asus GTX 1080 Strix, 2TB 970 EVO Plus, 2TB SN570, 8TB HDD, DC Assassin III, Meshify 2

Old PC: Intel Xeon X5670 6c/12t @ 4.40GHz, Asus P6X58D-E, 24GB DDR3 1600MHz, Asus GTX 1080 Strix, 500GB, 250GB & 120GB SSD, 2x 4TB & 2x 2TB HDD, Fractal Define R5

PC 2: Intel Xeon E5-2690 8c/16t @ 3.3-3.8GHz, ThinkStation S30 (C602/X79), 64GB (4x 16GB) DDR3 1600MHz, Asus GeForce GTX 960 Turbo OC, 1TB Crucial MX500

PC 3: Intel Core i7-3770 4c/8t @ 4.22-4.43GHz, Asus P8Z77-V LK, 16GB DDR3 1648MHz, Asus RX 470 Strix, 1TB & 250GB Crucial MX500 and 3x 500GB HDD

Laptop: ThinkPad T440p, Intel Core i7-4800MQ 4c/8t @ 2.7-3.7GHz, 16GB DDR3 1600MHz, GeForce GT 730M (GPU: 1006MHz MEM: 1151MHz), 2TB SSD, 14" 1080p IPS, 100Wh battery

Laptop 2: ThinkPad T450, Intel Core i7-5600U 2c/4t @ 2.6-3.2GHz, 16GB DDR3 1600MHz, Intel HD 5500, 250GB SSD, 14" 900p TN, 24Wh + 72Wh batteries

Phone: Huawei Honor 9 64GB + 256GB card Watch: Motorola Moto 360 1st Gen.

General X58 Xeon/i7 discussion

Some other PC's:

Spoiler

Some of the specs of these systems might not be up to date

PC 4: Intel Xeon X5675 6c/12t @ 3.07-3.47GHz, HP 0B4Ch (X58), 12GB DDR3 1333MHz, Asus GeForce GTX 660 DC2, 240GB & 120GB SSD, 1TB HDD

PC 5: Intel Xeon W3550 @ 3.07GHz, HP (X58), 8GB DDR3, NVIDIA GeForce GT 640 (GPU: 1050MHz MEM: 1250MHz), 120GB SSD, 2TB, 1TB and 500GB HDD

PC 6: Intel Core2 Quad Q9550 @ 3.8GHz, Asus P5KC, 8GB DDR2, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470, 120GB SSD and 500GB HDD

HTPC: Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 @ 3.0GHz, HP DC7900SFF, 8GB DDR2 800MHz, Asus Radeon HD 6570, 240GB SSD and 3TB HDD

WinXP PC: Intel Core2 Duo E6300 @ 2.33GHz, Asus P5B, 2GB DDR2 667MHz, NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT, 32GB SSD and 80GB HDD

RetroPC: Intel Pentium 4 HT @ 3.0GHz, Gigabyte GA-8SGXLFS, 2gb DDR1, ATi Radeon 9800 Pro, 2x 40gb HDD

My first PC: Intel Celeron 333MHz, Diamond Micronics C400, 384mb RAM, Diamond Viper V550 (NVIDIA Riva TNT), 6gb and 8gb HDD

Server: 2x Intel Xeon E5420, Dell PowerEdge 2950, 32gb DDR2, ATI ES1000, 4x 146gb SAS

Dual Opteron PC: 2x 6-core AMD Opteron 2419EE, HP XW9400, 32GB DDR2, ATI Radeon 3650, 500gb HDD

Core2 Duo PC: Intel Core2 Duo E8400, HP DC7800, 4gb DDR2, NVIDIA Quadro FX1700, 1tb and 80gb HDD

Athlon XP PC: AMD Athlon XP 2400+, MSI something, 1,5gb DDR1, ATI Radeon 9200, 40gb HDD

Thinkpad: Intel Core2 Duo T7200, Lenovo Thinkpad T60, 4gb DDR2, ATI Mobility Radeon X1400, 1tb HDD

Pentium 3 PC: Intel Pentium 3 866MHz, Asus CUSL2-C, 512mb RAM, 3DFX VooDoo 3 2000 AGP

Laptop: Dell Latitude E6430, Intel Core i5-3210M, 6gb DDR3 1600MHz , Intel HD 4000, 250gb Samsung SSD 860 EVO, 1TB WD Blue HDD

Laptop: Latitude 3380, Intel Pentium Gold 4415U 2c/4t @ 2.3GHz, 8GB DDR4, Intel HD 610, 120GB SSD, 13.3" 768p TN, 56Wh battery

 

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