Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in
Your question

Can my CG1330 Motherboard Handle a Processor Upgrade? (From 2.6GHz to 3.2GHz)

Tags:
  • AMD
  • CPUs
  • Processors
  • Motherboards
  • Phenom
Last response: in CPUs
Share
September 29, 2014 12:46:23 PM

Hey guys, it's me again, and I promise to not be stubborn in this thread!

As a AM3 socket user on a budget, I've had trouble finding a good processor to upgrade to. However, I found just the processor that even Alien: Isolation reccomends, and it's the AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz. I currently use the AMD Phenom II X6 1035T, which has 2.6GHz of speed. It's capable of hitting 3.1GHz, but Turbo Core never activates when more than 4 cores are used, which is dumb. Shame on you AMD, and I like you because you're the underdog of processors (but not of graphics cards apparently)!

My 1035T did its best, tackling games like Tomb Raider, Battlefield 3, Hitman, Thief, FarCry 3, Splintercell Blacklist, Crysis 3, Metro 2033/Last Light Redux and other high fidelity games. The thing is, I've been able to run these games even if my processor doesn't even meet the minimum requirements, and all on medium settings with high texture quality/filtering. Even Wolfenstein: The New Order, one of my most beloved games now, ran pretty good despite the memory devouring id Tech 5 Engine! Maybe an upgrade isn't neccesary since I'm happy with my performance , but I'm a bit concerned for this poor processor and its ability to feed data to my graphics card. The future of gaming is now, and my processor is way behind. Nevermind my 1GB graphics card, for now, the 7850HD is actually pretty celebrated amongst budget GPUs and has 4K resolution support!

So, only one thing left to ask: Can my CG1330 motherboard handle a upgrade like this? Every time I attempt an overclock with my current processor, it bluescreens, making me assume my motherboard isn't capable of handling anything higher than 3.0GHz. I did get this PC at Best Buy, so it has all the screwed up prebuilt problems, but my PC has been so stable and worked so well so far. For about 3 years. It accepted two new graphics cards total and a 600 watt power supply!

I just need this final answer and I'll go ahead. I'll probablly have a laptop handy with a CPU installation video as I do this. I'm odering my processor from Amazon used, but in great condition as it says, and with Arctic Silver thermal paste. I'm sure a new heatsink or fan is'nt neccesary since it's practically the same processor, just with higher clock speeds and the same cooling technology.

More about : cg1330 motherboard handle processor upgrade 6ghz 2ghz

a b à CPUs
September 29, 2014 1:47:49 PM

Honestly, the x6 1035T should handle Alien Isolation fine. As you noted, your below spec processor has handled modern games fine, and the Phenoms are pretty phenomenal processors (pardon the pun). Processor is generally a less important part of gaming, particularly when you roll up to higher resolutions and texture detail levels.

I wouldn't bother with a replacement. Save up for a platform switch instead.
m
0
l
September 29, 2014 2:55:46 PM

blue17echo said:
Honestly, the x6 1035T should handle Alien Isolation fine. As you noted, your below spec processor has handled modern games fine, and the Phenoms are pretty phenomenal processors (pardon the pun). Processor is generally a less important part of gaming, particularly when you roll up to higher resolutions and texture detail levels.

I wouldn't bother with a replacement. Save up for a platform switch instead.


Platform switch? I hope you don't mean console gaming. I like console gaming, but I love PC gaming more, I don't want to stop PC gaming. If you mean a new PC, then sure.

Yeah, my fears could be unwarranted about my processor. 2.6GHz is slow, especially these days, but it seems like it can pump enough data into my 7850HD graphics card. I think I barely reached the point of bottlenecking, and all problems that occur in terms of performance are CPU bound performance problems.

However, I like any and all feedback, so thanks a lot for your answer!
m
0
l
a b à CPUs
September 29, 2014 7:12:36 PM

no, by platform switch i mean a new mobo socket, though i can see why you were frightened. your current rig is still pretty much stronger than the new consoles anyways.

you have a pretty well balanced system. i would suggest saving up for a decent i5/z97 combo, then worrying about the video card in a year or two. it's $350 or so as opposed to $100, but you'd be throwing it at a real performance increase rather than just kinda shuffling stuff around. (more accurately i suppose you'd be throwing it at future proofing, an i5 is still kinda overkill for most gaming)
m
0
l
Related resources
!