CPU Help - Upgrading Ancient Desktop

[SuperOwnJK]

My Mum uses an ancient HP A6421.UK desktop. Specs are listed below. The main bottle neck of the system is the CPU. Seems to be pegged at 90% constantly even with fresh install.

 

I'm wondering what is the highest performing CPU that I could use to upgrade this? I've found a number of AM2 CPUs for a mere £20 on eBay, just not certain which will work. 

 

HP A6421.UK

AMD Athlon 64 x2 4400+

MSN68-LA Mobo

Corsair DDR2 4GB

Corsair 60GB SSD

Some terrible discrete graphics card (it's good enough)

 

Cheers!

[GeorgeKellow]

Kill it with fire! 

[Moondrelor]

If you love your mum just buy her something new lol.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($114.89 @ OutletPC) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master GeminII M4 58.4 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($31.93 @ Amazon) 

Motherboard: ASRock H81M-DGS R2.0 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($47.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($39.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.98 @ OutletPC) 

Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($28.99 @ NCIX US) 

Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($28.38 @ Amazon) 

Total: $342.15

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-22 16:59 EST-0500

[SuperOwnJK]

Kill it with fire! 

C'mon! It isn't that bad! She only uses it for Chrome and Word. 

[SuperOwnJK]

 

If you love your mum just buy her something new lol.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($114.89 @ OutletPC) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master GeminII M4 58.4 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($31.93 @ Amazon) 

Motherboard: ASRock H81M-DGS R2.0 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($47.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($39.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.98 @ OutletPC) 

Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($28.99 @ NCIX US) 

Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($28.38 @ Amazon) 

Total: $342.15

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-22 16:59 EST-0500

 

Haha I do love her, I just can't afford to get her a new computer. Cheers though!

[Belgarathian]

In theory anything AM2 should work, just make sure it's on the MBs supported CPU list. Worth checking the BIOS updates in case they've added support for newer CPUs later down the track. 

[HazeTheBeater]

This one a little bit better http://www.amazon.com/AMD-Athlon-512KB-Socket-Dual-Core/dp/B0016P38WU/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1450821907&sr=1-4&keywords=am2+cpu

Maybe a brand new one would do the job 

[Gas_Mask_]

That shouldn’t be happening... I had that exact same cpu for like 4 years, and had no such problem...

[HazeTheBeater]

http://www.amazon.com/AMD-Sempron-3400-Socket-AM2/dp/B000MC7RNO/ref=pd_sim_147_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=41qLPQ54BhL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=06JHSZ4TD9A5MGZ02NPH

[harrynowl]

A 4400X2 isn't bad enough to be pegged at 90%. Something else is wrong.

[SuperOwnJK]

In theory anything AM2 should work, just make sure it's on the MBs supported CPU list. Worth checking the BIOS updates in case they've added support for newer CPUs later down the track. 

Checked the Mobo spec. Can support up to Phenom 9600 Quad. Cheers for the advice!

[SuperOwnJK]

A 4400X2 isn't bad enough to be pegged at 90%. Something else is wrong.

Got any suggestions about what might be wrong mate?