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Old AMD sockets - Need help

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My friend is using a very very old PC with this particular motherboard:
http://www.gigabyte.pl/products/page/mb/ga-m61sme-s2l_20

The CPU that he's using in that motherboard is an AMD Athlon 3500+ (singlecore) (socket AM2).

He wants to upgrade his CPU without replacing the motherboard (too expensive).

We noticed that there's a much bigger variety of CPUs that have the AM2+ socket.
Will a socket AM2+ CPU work on that motherboard?

Or should he buy a socket AM2 CPU instead?

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My friend is using a very very old PC with this particular motherboard:

http://www.gigabyte.pl/products/page/mb/ga-m61sme-s2l_20

The CPU that he's using in that motherboard is an AMD Athlon 3500+ (singlecore) (socket AM2).

He wants to upgrade his CPU without replacing the motherboard (too expensive).

We noticed that there's a much bigger variety of CPUs that have the AM2+ socket.

Will a socket AM2+ CPU work on that motherboard?

Or should he buy a socket AM2 CPU instead?

I think the difference between AM2 and AM2+ is HT speed so it should work, but might be a little slower. I'm not sure on that though, i'll edit this after looking around

 

Anything AM2+ should work fine, but have a slower HT speed. "Support for Socket AM2+/ AM2 processors"

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2507#sp

That motherboard doesn't have an L at the end but I was trying to find a page that was in english, to be safe you should refer to this after deciding on a CPU

http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=2644

 

It can be expensive to find an old CPU that will work with that motherboard, and I'd suggest just saving around $200 to buy a different CPU and Motherboard since the performance gain will probably be negligible without switching out of AM2

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i'd save more money and plan a new build.

 

but to answer your question : AMD confirmed that AM2 processors will work on AM2+ motherboards and AM2+ processors will work on AM2 motherboards. However, the operation of AM2+ processors on AM2 motherboards will be limited to the specifications of Socket AM2 (1 GHz HyperTransport 2.0, and one power plane for both cores and the IMC). AM2 processors do not benefit from the faster HyperTransport 3.0 and separate power planes on AM2+ motherboards. As with AM2 components, AM2+ CPUs and motherboards are designed to use DDR2 RAM exclusively. source

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There are BIOS updates out for the board so AM2+ CPUs will work with it, albeit with a few AM2+ features missing as stated above.

 

A Phenom II x4 would be a really good step up, but I'm not sure how the motherboard would cope with higher TDP CPUs like the x6. If you can find one for cheap and update the BIOS, it'll massively speed up that machine

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A Phenom (Agenda core) would work fine in that board, but I can confirm from experience that the hyper transport speed will be capped. It won't seriously hamper performance in most cases.

Your friend could just toss in an Athlon 64 X2 or an FX 60 series. Those are monsterous dual cores even today. Built a small system for a friend on a tight budget, even runs AC Unity surprisingly well.

All are available on eBay for very cheap now.

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The AMD Athlon II X4 640 should work, It is a AM2+ CPU.
But id rather recommend a AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ for safety.

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If you are looking at replacing the processor, I would suggest getting a used one, from ebay or something, and try to make sure you don't overspend. Whatever you do get make sure it is supported but the motherboard. The motherboard manufacturer has a supported CPU list.

Not trying to muddy the waters for the OP, but has anyone checked out the supported CPU list? With the appropriate bios, it supposedly can support some AM3 processors? Wha? This seems off and may lead to an unsupported CPU.

 

Edit

 

ApolloX75 and harrynowl addressed that. So check the supported CPU list and update your MB bios.

 

Supported CPU List

http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=2644

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If you are looking at replacing the processor, I would suggest getting a used one, from ebay or something, and try to make sure you don't overspend. Whatever you do get make sure it is supported but the motherboard. The motherboard manufacturer has a supported CPU list.

Not trying to muddy the waters for the OP, but has anyone checked out the supported CPU list? With the appropriate bios, it supposedly can support some AM3 processors? Wha? This seems off and may lead to an unsupported CPU.

Its accurate. AM3 was backwards compatible with AM2/+ but not the other way around. And AM3+ is not.

Has to do with available memory controllers. The AM2 chips are inherently born with DDR2 while AM2+ handles both ddr2 and 3 hence why they work on an AM3 board.

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If you are looking at replacing the processor, I would suggest getting a used one, from ebay or something, and try to make sure you don't overspend. Whatever you do get make sure it is supported but the motherboard. The motherboard manufacturer has a supported CPU list.

Not trying to muddy the waters for the OP, but has anyone checked out the supported CPU list? With the appropriate bios, it supposedly can support some AM3 processors? Wha? This seems off and may lead to an unsupported CPU.

AM3 CPUs had a DDR2 memory controller so they can work in an AM2(+) board- but not the other way around.

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Its accurate. AM3 was backwards compatible with AM2/+ but not the other way around. And AM3+ is not.

Has to do with available memory controllers. The AM2 chips are inherently born with DDR2 while AM2+ handles both ddr2 and 3 hence why they work on an AM3 board.

 

AM3 CPUs had a DDR2 memory controller so they can work in an AM2(+) board- but not the other way around.

 

Well I guess that solves that. It is counter-intuitive, being that an AM2 board can support an AM3 CPU. I just didn't think it could all the way back to AM2.

 

So the best CPU then would be a Phenom II X4 955 (Deneb 95w).

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If AM2+ works on that motherboard, the Phenom II X4 940 would put some life back into the system.

Example: Phenom II X4940

http://www.legitreviews.com/amd-phenom-ii-x4-940-processor-review_860

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