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amd processor upgrade help

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devilhunter | 00:06 Wed 07th Jun 2006 | Technology
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I currently use a MSI K7N2 motherboard running a 1.2mhz AMD Athlon processor with 256mb ram.


What is the best speed processor I can upgrade to and can I just swap it over with the one I have.I also intend to upgrade the ram at the same time.


I dont want to change the m/b so please bear that in mind as I am not very skilled in pc building.

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http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_detail.php?UID=436


a 5 second search on google found the above.It would appear that it will support up to Athlon XP3000+.


You can just swap it over but it would be very unwise.You will need to buy a more powerful heatsink and fan for starters that is compatible with the faster cpu that you choose.I used www.thecoolingshop.com when i upgraded in a similar way.CPU's and fans are easy to install but need to be handled with care to avoid damage and 'smudging' of the thermal paste on the heatsink.

The link provided by Mattk indicates that the mobo will run any and all of the Socket A processors produced by AMD. Officially the most powerful is the Athlon XP 3200+, although they did also produce the Athlon XP 3300+ for HP/Dell.

Socket A production was discontinued a few years ago and even though Socket A mobos are still readily available finding CPUs anywhere other than ebay is quite difficult, especially the high performance models.
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So would I actually notice the differance if I up graded to a 3200 or is it just worth me just upgrading the ram ?

Devilhunter, click here and read my last post.
Question Author

cheers peanut.

You would definitely notice the difference if you upgraded to an Athlon XP 3200+ but (provided you could find one) it would cost around �150. You could choose a less powerful CPU such as a Sempron 2400+ or slightly better for around �50.

Upgrading the RAM would offer less of an improvement, but improvement it still is.

You can buy 256MB DDR for around �15 and 512MB for around �25.
Kempie is quite right in what he is saying.I bought my cpu from ebay(XP 3000+ as thats the highest my MB will go) and it was quite pricey but short of upgrading your MB too its still the cheaper option.
Devilhunter, im not sure of the conversion rate if you are in Europe or anywhere else other than the USA but i have a AMD Athalon 64 3400+ 2.4ghz and paid $151 American. Go to Zip Zoom Fly here and order one. There are many to choose from. No matter what you do, you still need to upgrade that memory.
Oh yeah, be sure to check how much your motherboard can handle first.
The Athlon 64 is only available for socket AM2, socket 754 and socket 939 mobos and as such is incompatible with the MSI K7N2 socket A mobo, which will only support Athlon, Athlon XP, Duron and Sempron processors.
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Thanks very much to for all your imput.A faster processor and more memory is on the way from the good old ebay :)

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