Need help upgrading CPU on an older PC

Guest · Apr 24, 2015

Hey guys,
I have an older computer, a Gateway GT5694. And, can't afford a new system right now, so am trying to breathe a little more life into my current one. So far I've put Windows 7 Home Premium on it, then maxed out the RAM to 8gb, and added a low-profile Nvidia Geforce GT 610 video card, which suits my needs for light gaming. I am tackling the processor next, and the Phenom 9100e @1.8ghz is very slow by today's standards. It struggles to handle mufti-tasking, downloads take forever, and it sometimes freezes while watching Netflix and Hulu. i need a little more juice, my budget is $100.

PC Specs: http://www.cnet.com/products/gateway-gt5694-phenom-x4-9100e-1-8-ghz-4-gb-640-gb/specs/

Any suggestions would be helpful, thanks!

digitaldoc · Apr 24, 2015

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/292436-30-will-work-motherboard

Your MB is AM2+, and it does not look like there will be an upgrade path for the CPU. Even if there was, the other AM2+ CPU's would not be incredibly faster.

Your money would be better spent saving up for a budget CPU and MB to build a modern system.

DonkeyOatie · Apr 24, 2015

I'd be sucking it up and saving for a better motherboard. A 'new' CPU will cost a bit, but not advance the system that much. I think you'd be throwing your money away.

I'm concerned that your BIOS will not support any other CPU. The Phenom II X4 920 is the sort of thing that might work.

Guest · Apr 24, 2015

DonkeyOatie :

According to the motherboard manual, only AM2/AM2+ CPU's are supported.

AMD RS780 Series User's Manual
1.2 Specifications
CPU
-Supports AMD
®
Socket AM2+/ AM2 processors:
-AMD Phenom™ / Athlon™ 64 FX / Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual Core/ Athlon™
64 / Sempron™
-Hyper Transport Bus 5200/2000 MT/s (HT 3.0/1.0)
-Note: 125W TDP processors are not supported by this board

Source: http://www.power-color.com/mainboard/manual/PowerColor%20RS780.pdf

Chicano · Apr 24, 2015

That user manual is probably from when AM2+ was the latest AMD socket, and AM3 socket CPUs are said to be compatible with AM2+ motherboards with a BIOS update, so a AMD AM3 Phenom CPU would be your best bet. Something like the AMD Phenom II X4 960T 95W CPU would increase around 2.5 times your processing speed.

I would suggest you check your system for software issues because multitasking should not be so bad with 8GB of RAM, software related freezes can occurr with any CPU, and downloads shouldn't take forever even with your CPU speed. Run these tweaks to improve your system speed first, and if necessary after that, upgrade the CPU.
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1863469/slow.html

AMD Phenom II X4 960T
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+Phenom+II+X4+960T&id=369

Gateway GT5694 - Phenom X4 9100e 1.8 GHz - 4 GB - 640 GB Specifications http://www.cnet.com/products/gateway-gt5694-phenom-x4-9100e-1-8-ghz-4-gb-640-gb/specs/

Description: Socket: AM2+, Clockspeed: 1.8 GHz, No of Cores: 4, Max TDP: 65 W
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+Phenom+9100e+Quad-Core

DonkeyOatie · Apr 25, 2015

In order to get significant performance improvement by replacing your CPU, you will need to do something like what I and Chicano suggested. People have successfully replaced 9100es with Phenom II X4 9?0 CPUs, although there are often BIOS issues.

Is the hassle worth it? A more significant motherboard/CPU upgrade or complete system replacement seems to be a better use of funds.

Guest · Apr 25, 2015

Chicano :

What about upgrading to the Athlon II X3 450? I came across this board, apparently the OP is trying to do upgrade his 9100e, and this was the solution he was given...

"A 1.8GHz original Phenom is one of the slowest processors known to man. Upgrading the CPU would definitely help out. If you're looking to spend $300 though, the best bet would be to start on a whole new system.

If you really want to upgrade this thing, I am thinking along the same lines as Mark. Just spend $68 on something like an Athlon II X4 450 and call it a day. "

Source: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2210143

DonkeyOatie · Apr 25, 2015

$70 is as much as a new motherboard. How long do you think this will keep the need for speed at bay? That suggestion was made in 2011. The world has moved along considerably since then.

It's your money and you know what you want to do (I hope). That CPU will be an improvement, but....

Guest · Apr 25, 2015

DonkeyOatie :

Or I could save a couple hundred more and get this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883101054

DonkeyOatie · Apr 25, 2015

That's what I meant. Have a rummage through these refurbish deals. http://www.newegg.com/Refurbished/Store?Tpk=refurbish If you look carefully you might find something you can build on.

Chicano · Apr 25, 2015

The Athlon II X3 450 would be another option but it's not as fast as the Phenom... The Acer Aspire ATC-120-UC22 Desktop PC with AMD A10-6700 Quad-core (3.7GHz) would be the best option if you have the money. I was under the impression that you could only afford a faster CPU but if you have the $309 for the Acer PC you could get that... you could alternately buy the components new and build your own PC but the total may come up a bit higher.

CPU/APU assigned name / benchmarked speed / aproximate prices. These are probably the original prices and present day prices may be much lower (if you can find the items). The A10 6700 APU in the Acer Aspire ATC-120-UC22 Desktop is the faster option.

AMD Phenom 9100e Quad-Core - 1866 - $179.81
AMD Athlon II X3 450 - 2625 - $121.87
AMD Phenom II X4 960T – 3872 - $200.00*
AMD A10-6700 APU - 4636 - $116.84

Guest · Apr 25, 2015

Chicano :

Out of these computers, which is the best option for a light gaming system? http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100019096%20600184112%20600184108%20600218180%20600014733%20600014730%20600337482%20600014732%204018&IsNodeId=1&page=1&bop=And&PageSize=30

DonkeyOatie · Apr 25, 2015

This http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883798023 looks interesting. i5, albeit older, and capability to add a GPU and 64bit OS means you can use 8Gb.

Guest · Apr 25, 2015

DonkeyOatie :

That's a good choice, but I also like this one. It has a bigger hard drive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA70B2NB3872

DonkeyOatie · Apr 25, 2015

Yes, but the $30 price difference would take care of that. Go with what you are comfortable with. CPU and motherboard are 'forever' as I think you have discovered. Storage can be improved as and when needed.

Guest · Apr 25, 2015

DonkeyOatie :

There's just something I don't get, why do i3 processors outperform AMD's Phenoms? the i3-2100 is a dual-core, and phenom 9100e is a quad core. The quad core should be faster.

DonkeyOatie · Apr 25, 2015

CPUs are a bit like car engines, more cylinders does not necessarily mean more power, and more RPM does not mean more power either. AMD and Intel have pursued different designs. Intel goes for fewer, more powerful cores, which works well when there are fewer threads. AMD has gone for more, lower powered cores, which pays dividend when more threads are used. Games tend to use fewer threads.

Overclocked, the dual core G3258 is an absolute beast and can keep up with everything but the best overclocked i7's when there are only a couple of threads active.

Hers and article on the subject if you are interested. http://www.overclock.net/t/1493307/relative-access-to-execution-throughput-comparison-chart

Guest · Apr 25, 2015

DonkeyOatie :

Thanks for clearing that up. I'm currently weighing my options on a new PC, with a $300 budget, it's a toss up between the one you suggested, the HP tower, or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA70B2NB3872

DonkeyOatie · Apr 26, 2015

Note that although the title says 500GB, the specs say only 250Gb. Check carefully. Which is right?

Guest · May 26, 2015

DonkeyOatie :

After doing some more research I discovered that my board will accept AM3 processors that are only 95w. I don't want to put too much more money into this system, so I am limited to these:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/CPUs-Processors-/164/i.html?_from=R40&_dcat=164&Socket%2520Type=Socket%2520AM2%7CSocket%2520AM2%252B%7CSocket%2520AM3&LH_BIN=1&LH_FS=1&_nkw=95&LH_PrefLoc=1&_sop=15

I'm thinking about getting the AMD Athlon II X4 640 or the AMD Phenom X3 8750 2.4 GHz Triple-Core

Chicano · May 26, 2015

The Athlon II X4 640 (rev. E0) is socket AM3 compatible with AM2+ and DDR2 RAM and performs 40% faster overall, than the AMD Phenom X3 8750 (BE) which is socket AM2-AM2+... the Phenom has L3 cache memory and the Athlon only L2 memory but is still faster. You will need to update the BIOS before installing the Athlon II.

AMD Athlon II X4 640 (rev. E0) vs Phenom X3 8750 (BE)
http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/850/AMD_Athlon_II_X4_640_%28rev._E0%29_vs_AMD_Phenom_X3_8750_%28BE%29.html

AMD Athlon II X4 640 3.0 Ghz vs Phenom X3 8750 2.4Ghz
=171&cmp[]=295]http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=171&cmp[]=295

popeyeistheman · Mar 10, 2017

I have a Gateway DX4200-09 running an AMD Phenom X4 9100e Quad-core processor and 4 GB DDR2 RAM. For whatever reason, this computer seems to run turtle slow after a clean install of windows. I only use this box for internet surfing and doing my taxes, but it's slow even at that. What is the best bang for the buck CPU that I can drop into this system?

I've seen it said that I can drop in the AMD Athlon II X3 450 and that the BIOS will accept it. I've found it for $35.

I also see the Athlon II X4 640 3.00GHz Socket AM2+/AM3 Propus CPU Processor that I can get for $40. I'm not sure if the BIOS will play nice with it, though. Does anyone know and if so, is it better than the x3 450?

Aside from those two processors, are there better $40 - $50 solutions that will make things run faster. Keep in mind, I just want web pages to load so I'm not really doing a lot with this box.

Thanks!!

Need help upgrading CPU on an older PC

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