Cpu upgrade

Hello,can a am2 socket processor be upgraded to am3 ? thanks

Depends what board you have

it is stock gateway FIC K2BC51 board thanks

It looks like no

Most AM2 boards won't. I'd actually guess that NO OEM am2 boards would. Many AM2+ boards will. Not sure how many OEM AM2+ boards will take an AM3 CPU. Remember that the OEM wants you to buy a new machine, not upgrade the one you have.

wait, what's your current processor in that board.?

there are better chips for that board.
you might have lesser expensive options to upgrade and possibly keep this unit longer if you wish..

ah, I see.
what is your intended usage for this unit.?

about the questions and statement earlier, some AM2 boards can take the athlon x2 7750 and 7850 BE...
they are the class of athlon chips in between the athlon 64x2 and then athlon ii x(2,3,4) named Kuma class.
I was thinking if you had gotten that one by mistake then you might be in luck after-all.

this might be outside the box but what if:
sell that chip you got since you only paid $30 for it your bound to make a profit right.?
just something to think about.
now you can always keep it and start out with it too.
100% positive that the motherboard you get will be cpu upgradeable so you can get to it later.
but when ready then at least look for an athlon ii x3 435 (2.9GHz) Rana (newegg.com $72).
that third core will make a difference since in honesty the athlon ii x2 chip isn't that strong. I have a few of them..

if your trying to game on a dual core cpu the athlon ii x2 is not it.
I do understand you got it for $30.
all I said above might be for nothing if this is not to be a gaming unit.
and if a simple internet box then the athlon is fine..
I'm just trying to shed some light and help you understand.

no problem, I've been there.
so you are looking at or should I say you need to look for AM2+ motherboards.
now the question is what size and features in the motherboard are you wanting to have.? and price range.?
what RAM do you currently have that you want to carry over, what specs.?

that RAM has to go.....
DDR2 800MHz 4GB(2x2GB) in dual channel mode is what you NEED.
9500GT is enough to get you started but not a card to keep.
that a damn good motherboard.....
the RAM will kill it's capabilities and performance..

maybe a combo deal for RAM and motherboard...!?
then you are going to want to upgrade that processor after that because it will then be the weak spot..

let me know what else I can do..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131595
http://www.crucial.com/store/mpart [...] 5FA5CA7304

not necessarily but I just had a flashback when you said that.
I went through the same type of thinking long ago..
I have an AM2+ board with nVidia chipset since I favor nVidia over ATi.
they are harder (real top-notch) to find but I can locate a couple options for you.
interested.?

that's a decent board but the harder to find top-notch ones are the AM2+: ASUS M3N78-EM and M3N78-VM boards.
they have the 8300 and 8200 chipset respectively and the board option you found on newegg has the 7-series chipset.
it's older and the board doesn't have the abilities as the 8-series..

i was actually looking at that earlier.....
i was window shopping.
that motherboard IS special....
I have one and trying to get another now..
I'm actually bidding on one of them on eBay now..!

no, your athlon ii 250 is a better chip..
that's a good backup chip to have or starter chip when assembly of a unit with extra parts or something...
it's good to have backup hardware..
i keep an extra chip just in-case..

mate, that sounds like a plan.
good-luck.

cool gotta love it when a plan works out!!

the M3N78-VM board with the cpu and 2GB of 800 memory is up to 100.00 you think its worth going after? or wait for bare board

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=M [...] op=1&_sc=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.d [...] 3D1&_rdc=1

Gonna keep hunting good luck with your next build, thanks again

I managed to get the M3N78-vw for 29.77 plus shipping and 4gigs of A data 800mhx for 40.00 plus shipping just playing the waiting game now thanks again for your help

for your motherboard, don't forget the I/O shield..
http://cgi.ebay.com/ASUS-M3N78-VM- [...] 230d1b31af

you know what, it just hit me..
since you ended up buying new RAM anyways you could have went AM3 all the way with AM3 board and DDR3 RAM.
you do have the option of DDR2 1066MHz and DDR2 1200MHz with your board when running a AM3 processor and that's cool.
so you could even get faster RAM then what you ordered.
and I just check then AM3 nVidia boards are still on the expensive side for ones that match the quality of the AM2+ EM and VM ASUS boards.
considering the price you got the VM board and RAM for....
I thought to myself, you did alright after-all..
it's gonna turn out nice.

Ah yes I have seen those shields listed as well memory is 4x1gb