Installing a new CPU!

[lexwraith]

Hi Guys,

I'm not a computer whiz, but I've done a lot of research and I wanted to ask for community feedback if I got the steps to upgrading a CPU correct:

Okay, so I have a MSI K9A2 CF motherboard...I checked the specs and apparently it says AM3 compatible, despite currently running a AMD Athlon X2 4200+ (AM2+ Socket).

With that in mind, I looked around for the best deal that fits in an AM3 socket and won't hurt my PSU (700W, plenty). I settled on:

Phenom II X4 Quad-Core Processor 955 Black Edition Boxed

I checked the CPU's bus speed, which is 2000MHZ or 4000 MT/s...the K9A2 supports up to 5200 MT/s, so that means I'm good right?

And preemptively, is this what I'm suppose to do to install the CPU:

Bring isopropyl alcohol, q-tips, and flathead screwdriver
Unscrew fan/cooler/whatever to get access to chip
Unscrew chip, remove, clean it
Apply thermal paste to new chip
Insert, screw in
Re-install fan/cooler
Boot up, cross fingers

Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[ghnader hsmithot]

Yes.But i like using lint free cloth.They are used to clean glasses and they are better.But q tips are great to.

Anyway dont forget to flash the bios to the latest bios available.But one bad flash then BOOM your mobo is dead(Not dead but some mobos are a little difficult to recover from a bad flash).

Or of course you can use MSI live update, but i havent flashed my bios through the OS.

 

[lexwraith]

I already did. I can vouch for Live Update (which only downloads the flasher), and the flasher worked just fine in Windows, though it makes you close everything down prior (which makes sense, in case this thing crashes).

 

[loneninja]

Only think you need a screw driver for is getting into the case, you don't need a screw driver to replace the fan/heatsink or cpu from the motherboard. You might want to view this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLVHFaokdgA

 

[lexwraith]

Okay, so now I'm stuck in BIOS.

I successfully installed my chip, as the following screen comes up when I make my motherboard show the POST rather than the BIOS splash screen:

A7388AMS V1.13 092010
AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 955 Processor
Memory Frequency For DDR2 800 (Unganged mode, 64-bit)

1 AMD North Bridge, Rev C3
4096MB OKSETUP...

Auto-dtecting Pri Master..ATAPI CDROM:Optiarc DVD RW AD-7190A 1.04
Auto-detecting SATA3 IDE Hard Disk: hitach HDS721616PLA180 P220ABEA
Auto-detecting USB Mass Storage Devices..
00 USB mass storage devices found and configured.

That's it. Frozen. I had managed to get into the BIOS before A-OKAY, but now this screen keeps coming up ever since I pressed Tab to see POST (whatever that is) in the BIOS splash screen.

Thanks a lot in advance!