Planning on switching processors

[Snake_skull]

Hi!

 

So for the past year or two I have been using a AMD Phenom 9150e x4 1.8 Ghz Processor, not too long ago I bought a GTX 750ti and installed it. Now I am looking into upgrading the processor, the processor I am planning on buying is the AMD Phenom II x4 940 3.0 Ghz processor.

 

Is there anything major I need to keep in mind during the upgrade process?

 

What steps should I follow for switching out the processor?

 

Or is there anything else I should look into doing? (Besides building a new PC.)

 

(Yes I know the processor is extremely old. But I can't afford building a new computer from scratch.)

 

Thank you for your time.

[Bastian]

I don't know these old AMD cpus very well, but what i know is, that they consum a lot of power and can get very hot, so would recommend to check, if your PSU has enought power to run the Phenome II x4 and probably would buy an extra cooler (with thermal compound!!!) for it.

 

An other option to get more power and up to date is to buy a new motherboard with a new cpu and replace them with the old one, but then make shure, that everything you plug on to it is compatible...

 

Sorry for my bad english. (I'm German)

[Creiger]

-The most important thing is to make sure you don't bend (or even worse, break off) any of the pins under the processors. Bent ones CAN be fixed, but it's a huge pain in the butt. Also make sure you disconnect the power.

 

-I can't give a direct step-by-step since I've never worked with those processors, but it's basically:

1. Disconnect the heatsink fan's power by unplugging it from the motherboard.

2. Disconnect the clips holding the heatsink to the processor.

3. Gently pull the heatsink away from the processor (you usually have to swivel them side to side slightly to break it free from the thermal grease).

4. There should be a small, metal lever you'll raise up to unlock the processor pins from the socket itself.

5. Lift out the old processor.

6. Put the new processor into the socket (there should be a small triangle on the processor as well as one on the socket; make sure they line up) and lower the handle. It should go snug, but if it's absolutely refrusing to lower check and make sure nothing's wrong with the pins and whatnot.

7. Clean the old thermal grease off of the heatsink (I generally just use a lint-free paper towel; no solvent or liquids or anything. They wipe fairly clean with some effort.).

8. Apply new thermal grease to the middle of the processor, roughly the size of a grain of rice. You don't want to use too little or it won't transfer heat properly, and too much will ooze out onto the motherboard and cause bad things. If you don't already have some new thermal grease, I generally prefer Artic Silver (runs $10 or less, and ya get multiple uses out of 1 tube).

9. Place the heatsink back over the processor, and as you lower it down swivel it side to side again to work any air out of the contact space, and make sure you keep pressing firmly for the next step.

10. Refasten the heatsink to the bracket, and plug the fan power cable back in.

 

You should be good from there. It does take heat from the processor to fully spread the grease around, so after changing one out I'll generally play a fairly CPU-intensive game for 2 hours while keeping tabs on the temperature just to make sure it doesn't get too high until I'm confident it's a successful install. If the processor you're buying is a used one, clean it off the same way as the heatsink before ya insert and lock it into the motherboard, just be mindful of those pins.

 

*Edit: Bastian has a good point about the heat. If the Phenom 2 is coming with its own heatsink, you should be fine, but if it's just the chip I would highly recommend getting a new heatsink from a 3rd party. Anything that's compatable with an AM2+ socket should work just fine, as long as its dimensions will fit inside your case. Just note that depending on the heatsink, you may have to disconnect everything from the motherboard (including the mobo itself) and install a new support bracket for it, because the brackets clamp onto both sides of the motherboard.

[Snake_skull]

Thank you so much Creiger. The instructions make it very clear and very straight forward.

 

And thank you Bastian, The PSU i have right now is only 430 watts so I might need to look into getting a new one. 

The seller of the new processor doesn't include the heatsink, but AM2+ Socket type heatsinks shouldn't too hard, or expensive, to find.

[Creiger]

The 212 EVOs are some of the best ya can get as far as air cooling goes: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099&cm_re=212_evo-_-35-103-099-_-Product Might be able to find it for cheaper if ya check around.

 

As far as PSU goes, ya can get a vague estimate here as well: http://images10.newegg.com/BizIntell/tool/psucalc/index.html?name=Power-Supply-Wattage-Calculator

I did a guess on your system based off what ya listed, and that came out to 444w, so yea, you'll probably have to bump up a bit since that doesn't even include peripherals. 500w I'd think should be enough. It's of course not always drawing the max amount, but ya do need to cover any upticks so it doesn't run too close or over capacity for too long. Overclocking can affect what ya need too.

[FruitBasketSilex]

The 212 EVOs are some of the best ya can get as far as air cooling goes: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099&cm_re=212_evo-_-35-103-099-_-Product Might be able to find it for cheaper if ya check around.

Its cheap, but not the best.

[Snake_skull]

I have hit a snag!
I am researching my motherboard (Which absolutely sucks btw).

And it says:

Socket type: AM2+

Motherboard supports the following processor upgrades:

• Phenom with Quad Core (Agena) technology (AM2+) up to 9600 (up to 95 watt TDP)

So I guess I cant get the 3.0 Ghz Quad core.

[Creiger]

 

I have hit a snag!

I am researching my motherboard (Which absolutely sucks btw).

And it says:

Socket type: AM2+

Motherboard supports the following processor upgrades:

• Phenom with Quad Core (Agena) technology (AM2+) up to 9600 (up to 95 watt TDP)

So I guess I cant get the 3.0 Ghz Quad core.

 

Well, fudge. D:

 

Well, if it'll help any, here's a complete listing of every Agena ever made:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_Phenom_microprocessors#.22Agena.22_.28B2.2FB3.2C_65_nm.2C_Quad-core.29

 

Just make sure none of the model numbers ya might be considering go above the 9600 mark, but on the plus side only the models higher than that can have a higher draw more than 95 watts. Unfortunately it looks like you're not gonna get higher than a 500 Mhtz boost out of the top size you can fit though (not counting any overclocking, which you'd need the 9600 Black Edition for in order to mess with the clocking multiplier). Dunno if that'd still be helpful or not to your plans. The only other option would be to replace the mobo, which then moves into entire new system territory, sadly.