Athlon II x 2 upgrade to Athlon II x 4 hp desktop

xray686166233 · Dec 24, 2013

I would like to replace athlon II x 2 240 Regor with Athlon II x 4 645 95 Watt Propus core . I have Pegatron MN268-LA Narra 6 AM 3 motherboard rev 6.1 in an HP S5302f slimline desktop.

I 've already put an HD 6450 low profile video card and Xonar DGX sound card and USB WI FI in it nice inexpensive upgrades
that worked real well so I would like to finish it with the II x 4 CPU .

It looks like it should work I think the Athlon II X 4 645 came out ~ 6 mo or so after I bought this PC no bios updates are avail .

I've read the board supports max 95 watt CPU up to Phenom II x 4 845 but not higher numbered Phenoms .
Hopefully it will also support the Athlon II x 4 645 95 watt CPU I have on the way .

spec page says ,
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c02103421&cc=de&dlc=en&lc=de#N232
Motherboard supports the following processor upgrades:
Socket type: AM3
TDP: 95 watt
AMD Phenom II X4 9xx/9xxe/8xx Quad-Core (Deneb)
AMD Phenom II X3 7xx/7xxe Triple-Core (Heka)
AMD Phenom II X2 5xx (Callisto)
AMD II Athlon X4 6xx/6xxe (Propus)
AMD II Athlon X3 4xx/4xxe (Rana)
AMD II Athlon X2 2xx/2xxe (Regor)
AMD Sempron 1xx (Sargas)

clutchc · Dec 24, 2013

The specs state it will work with the AMD II Athlon X4 6xx/6xxe (Propus). Do you have some reason to doubt that?
Btw, if the HD 6450 doesn't do the job for you after awhile, look into the LP HD 7750: http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-100357LP-128-bit-Express-Profile/dp/B0095MRLJ2
I had that card in a low profile build I did awhile back with a triple core Athlon II. It was an amazing little gamer at 1680x1050.

xray686166233 · Dec 24, 2013

clutchc :

I was just concerned about HP proprietary bios compatibility the II x 4 945 was introduced about 3 mo after I activated my computer hopefully Pegatron and HP
were able to include that in the bios there are no bios updates avail. AFAIK . The 7750 looks like good card but I'm not a PC gamer just PS 3
the HD6450 otherwise does HD video and DVD up scaling well with HDMI out put to HDTV second screen .
I was hoping someone did a same upgrade on same or similar HP PC It looks like it will work but you never know with ready made proprietary bios .

I also have an HP P7 with an i3 sandybridge I would probably use that for PC gaming
before using this box.
Nice build you have there I have the Athlon II x 2 OC to 3.4 stable from orig 2.8 on stock air . it runs OK for what it is but the
2 X 4 should get it a little closer to the i3 .
best regards

clutchc · Dec 24, 2013

OK. If your not a gamer, then there's no reason to change cards.
I can't think of any reason the proprietary BIOS would be an issue if the specs for the PC containing said BIOS state that it works with that line of processors. As long as you stay with a 95W version of those CPUs, you should be fine.

xray686166233 · Dec 25, 2013

clutchc :

I will post back when the CPU gets here it's coming from China and is at customs in S.F. right now it should work .
The only problem I read about was when someone tried to put a 125w phenom II 955 in one of these ofc the bios did not support it he ended up getting a 95w Phenom II x 4 945 that worked in it.

My i3 sandy bridge HP is limited to 66 watt i3/i5/i7CPU AFAIK the only i7 that will work in it is an i7 2600s those are like $300.00+
I wonder if a 77 watt IB/ or Haswell 15/i7 CPU will work in there without changing out the MB ? The i3 is working well for my uses though I added some ram and an audio interface and upgraded the PSU to a 550W it failed just out of warranty. I might upgrade the graphics.

Maybe next time I will build my own I did that for many years in the past.
built some Cyrex 686 and AMD K6 also the old slotted Celerons (Overclocked ofc ) and PIII's
Then I started buying ready mades with P4,Core Duo and then these two boxes .

clutchc · Dec 25, 2013

Wow, you must be as old as I am to go back to the Cyrexes, K6s, and PIIIs. lol...
The wattage processor your Intel build can handle will depend on the MB it sits in. http://www.cpu-world.com/Sockets/Socket%201155%20%28LGA1155%29.html
Although all 1155 socket MBs should handle 95W processors. Be sure to check the CPU support list for you MB to be sure it has a late enough BIOS version to recognize the replacement processor you choose.

And keep in mind that Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge use an LGA 1155 socket, while the Haswells use the LGA 1150 socket. So if you have a SB i3 now, you must have an 1155 socket MB.

xray686166233 · Dec 26, 2013

clutchc :

Correct I do have an 1155 board in the intel box and from what I can tell the Bios is limited to 66 watts
might be better just to change out the motherboard and get a decent i5 IB or Haswell but it's doing fine for now .

Installed the Athlon II x 4 645 in the AMD rig today no post no bios not even a cursor nothing .
re checked install 3 times no bent pins everything looked OK ended up putting the II X 2 back in ofc it works fine so I will
have to return the Athlon II X 4 and try to find another one maybe another 645 or 640. or maybe a 95 watt Phenom II x 4 .Yea I'm too old retired baby boomer .

clutchc · Dec 26, 2013

The BIOS doesn't limit the wattage of the CPU you can use, the MB does. Where are you getting that 66W figure from?

If you listed the correct support page for your PC, that CPU should work. Is it possible that the page you listed is for a slightly newer version of your PC? One with a newer BIOS? Yours may just need a BIOS update for the MB to recognize the Athlon II X4 645 (assuming it is not a dead CPU). But finding a proprietary BIOS can be difficult sometimes. You may want to contact HP. Or jump in one of their support forums. Ask them to explain why a listed processor doesn't work.

xray686166233 · Dec 26, 2013

clutchc :

Nope that's a correct page exact PC exact bios no newer bios is available. the same bios is ofc avail for download as are the oem drivers .

I think it might be a dead CPU it was a used system pull from E bay although the seller says it was tested and working on an Asus board He gave a 14 day warranty and is top rated + seller he approved the return already can't complain there so far.

I think I will try to find a new 95 watt X4 Phenom II or Athlon II
the new 95 w chips are out there now and then but at a premuim that
temps me to get an FM 2 board and a new FX 6 or 8 core .

FWIHR the Motherboard and the HP bios both are limited to 95 Watts on that board in the AMD box . I've read on HP forums the bios won't recognize anything over 95 watts .
ofc they are probably locking it down by the CPUID # rather than actual wattage
but none the less accommodating the specified limitations in that way . I suspect my i3 box is similarly locked down.

I've also read HP locks down their boards that way with their proprietary BS bios probably to discourage user upgrades who knows

ofc the MB specs imply that
all of the 95 watt phenom II x 4 Denab and Athlon II x 4 Propus CPU's will work but they don't list the full numbers

The Athlon II x 2 645
is newer than the board or Bios but I would think it would work anyway and maybe just not be correctly recognized at worst.

I'm assuming the i3 board is locked down the same since it only lists a max 66 watt CPU on the MB specs on HP support page and not to many options as for CPU upgrades only SB i5/i7 with the S letter on the end ex ; i7 2600s is the only i7 listed those are low power i5/i7 CPU's . I'm thinking these 2 will be my last ready made boxes .
AFAIK no modded bios for these two boards are out ther either.
If the I3 box would take an i5 2600s or similar and a mild OC
that would be cool but it wont.

clutchc · Dec 26, 2013

OK. The 66W number was coming from the Intel system. I got confused thinking you were referring to the AMD system.

It's always dicey when dealing with pre-builts and their proprietary designs. But I just can't imagine your Intel HP not accepting any i5/i7. However, if you say the page lists only 66W CPUs, I guess I'll have to go along with that. Strange. It's been quite a few years since I dealt with pre-builts. I must be behind the times. They didn't used to be that bad.

xray686166233 · Dec 26, 2013

I'm learning not to buy pre builts and expect any type of reasonable upgrade path
I think they do that purposely so you have to buy their overpriced upgrades.
or a new box . On the Intel box I should just get an i5 ****K CPU and board and be done with it for a while .ofc then there is the SS HD thing it will never end .

I think I'm going to price out an FM 2 board and an 6 core FX cpu for this one at fry's or new egg sometimes they get off of those with a combo deal reasonably .

clutchc · Dec 26, 2013

xray686166233 :

Unless you mis-typed, the FM2 and FM2+ boards don't use the FX processors. They use the A line of processors (or the new Athlons). For using an FX processor, you will need an AM3+ MB.

xray686166233 · Dec 27, 2013

clutchc :

Right about the FM2+ a brain fart or vacancy on my part I sure don't want an A series too bad the AM3 board I have wont take one . I don't know what HP did with the Bios on these things documentation could be better and HP is no help so far maybe they should have just a padlock on the case!

xray686166233 · Jan 13, 2014

Luckily the EB seller accommodated a refund on the Athlon II X4 645 .
It will be interesting to see if it still works for him when he gets it back
so I will follow up on that .

I won a bid on the bay for an Phenom II x 4 945 - 95 watt CPU that should work it was introduced months prior to the build date on the PC so I'm thinking it should work .

I don't know why the first one did not work it was introduced about 3 or four months after the build date on PC so I can only guess that for some reason the Bios did not have settings for it or it was a DOA for some reason . It came from Hong Kong I wonder if it got x rayed and nuked in customs they probably do that for fun. I will get the new from USA CPU tomorrow and post back with results .

best regards

xray686166233 · Jan 13, 2014

I installed an Phenom II x 4 945 95 watt CPU today in this box
Passmark CPU result was 3897 at stock speeds and stock air over twice as fast as the Athlon II x 4 240 was on passmark that it replaced feels like it also.
The rest of the System marks came up some as well and overall syst. mark by 1/3 so I'm a happy camper.

Getting this box up to decent speed for my uses is cool funny thing it beat out my i3 box
on Passmark CPU score by about ~200 points .

It multi tasks much better now feels as fast as my Intel i3 box this one is my daily driver .

I'm glad I was able to give it some speed without spending for a later board and CPU.
These old Phenom X 4's aren't bad at all for a daily driver I think I'm good with it now.

I put an HD 6450 in it a while back so it outputs HDMI and decent HD video to the other screen a 32" HDTV .

I'm playing an HD video on the other screen and typing this on this screen no typing lag while multi tasking now way cool, loads everything including videos lot's faster now,
boots in 40 seconds now not bad for win 7x64 it opens the browser instantly now
and does does everything much faster now.

It does everything I need plenty fast . New fster Hdd ,better CPU and clean install really gave it a decent very noticeable boost .

I should be able to sell the old CPU for 1/2 of what I paid for the
this one I got on the bay for $56.00 all in all a worthwhile upgrade .

I'm playing an HD video on the other screen and typing this on this screen no typing lag while multi tasking now way cool.

Best regards

clutchc · Jan 13, 2014

Good to hear of your success. I'm still a fan of the old Phenom IIs. Apparently so are others from the price they get on ebay.
I'm about to put together a 'Franken-puter' from an assortment of aging parts. 3.4 GHZ Phenom II X2 B59 that unlocks to a stable quad core and an Asus M4A78T-E board.

xray686166233 · Jan 13, 2014

I had to snipe the Auction on E bay at the last minute it was on my watch list there were 26 bidders I had two screens going one bid in and another ready to submit . After fishing out the automatic bids I put this bid in during the last 7 seconds only way you can win with 26 bidders .

They usually get a bit more for the used ones and the Hong Kong folks selling NOS parts get enough money for them that you could almost get an FX or an i3 ofc that would require a new MB I was thinking about it but this one will hold me a while.

I really like being able to type at full speed and multi task at the same time now without input lag and errors the now like i can on the i3 box the Athlon II x 2 couldn't keep up it probably comes from working in corporate middle management (retired now) for 30+ years we were never far away from our laptops and/or desktops .
I'm a serial multi tasker so this was a good upgrade .

Good luck with your new project that's the cool thing about decent aftermarket boards
a lot more flexible than the crappy OEM boards sounds interesting I think I will resist the urge to OC this for now I woulden't notice any diffrence other than benchmarks for my uses.

. Post back with your results .

best regards

xray686166233 · Jun 15, 2014

clutchc :

xray686166233 · Jun 15, 2014

Did you ever make the frankenputer ? If so how is it working for you ?
This One is doing fine replaced the hdd it was getting unrecoverable bad sectors
new ones a little faster ,bigger also did a clean install it's working well.

clutchc · Jun 15, 2014

xray686166233 :

Yes. It worked well. Unlocked to a quad core and passed Prime95 and Intel Burn Test. But since then I came across a brand new Phenom II X4 965BE still in its sealed box. I put it in and now have it OC'd to 4GHZ. Passed all the above tests. I put a R9-280 in the system along with it and use it for... well, I have no use for it, but it is fun to build and play around with. Lol.

xray686166233 · Jan 8, 2015

G , delayed reply I missed UR reply earlier it sounds like the II X4 965BE build turned out well ....... cool !

You going to OC ? ☺

clutchc · Jan 8, 2015

xray686166233 :

Yeah, already did. Had it stable at 4.0GHz. Was a very competent gaming machine with the R9-280. Now that one too is sitting in pieces on the shelf, and I'm off on another build. I have more PCs in various states of completed and disassembled that a sane person should have... lol.

Athlon II x 2 upgrade to Athlon II x 4 hp desktop

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