Processor upgrade on gateway

[gmixx003]

i bought a gateway dx 4300-11 like 2 years ago and i think its due for upgrading... ive upgraded the power supply from a 300? to a 550W ive upgraded the video card from whatever it may have had to a geforce GTS 550 (both of these upgrades were done about a year ago) ive been researching trying to figure out how big i can go as far as a processor upgrade. my processor is currently a AMD Phenom II x4 850 2.5 Ghz... i want to hit over 3 Ghz i play PC games not hardcore or anything but id like to run SC2 at Max settings with high FPS as well as Diablo 3 when it comes out.. im not big on PC shooters so no battlefield or MW3 or crysis on my PC.. the motherboard is RS780 please help i just dont wanna purchase something and it not work i dont want to buy a new Mobo and deal with hassle of trying to see if it fits in my tower (gatewat DX 4300-11)

 

[abekl]

The highest processor you can put on this MB is:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103935
http://support.gateway.com/s/desktop/2009/gateway/dx/dx4300/DX4300sp2.shtml

AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HDZ980FBK4DGM - OEM

At 159 it's a good buy.

 

[gmixx003]

something i was looking at was leading me to only believe i can use 95W processors and if that was the case i was interested in..
AMD FX-6100 Zambezi 3.3GHz
AMD FX-4100 3.5 Ghz

assuming fx 6100 is better even with less ghz

im pretty good with computers just the whole compatibility issue with mobos and processors i never really looked into

 

[abekl]

You can't use the fx CPUs because the MB only has an AM3 socket, not the required AM3+ socket.

You can use 125W CPUs on that board.

 

[gmixx003]

is that a big upgrade from what i currently have with my amd x4 850 2.5ghz?
i was torn between buying a whole new PC so i could have intel i7 but if i can upgrade as reasonable price why buy new pc

 

[abekl]

It's a pretty significant upgrade. It's almost 1 GHz faster.

 

[gmixx003]

i liked the AMD phenom X6 1100T but i doubt i can use that bad boy

 

[gmixx003]

to install i just open the pc up pop old one out and pop new one in correct... also do BIOS update before installing ... i checked for bios updates on my pc but none have been released the whole time ive had this pc 2 years now

 

[esrever]

your gpu is going to be the limiting factor in most games as the 550 ti is low end.

a cpu upgrade is nice tho and a 960t or any phenom II x4 would be a good upgrade but not really worth it with your gpu.

 

[esrever]

he has a phenom 2 in there right now..

 

[leenoshiro]

Maybe im seeing the specs wrong.... but i believe it says Phenom, not Phenom II, and a stock Phenom II x4 850 is clocked at 3.3ghz not 2.5ghz, i think you got the wrong cpu name. and none of the CPUs listed here can be used with your motherboard.

 

[abekl]

Maybe im seeing the specs wrong.... but i believe it says Phenom, not Phenom II, and a stock Phenom II x4 850 is clocked at 3.3ghz not 2.5ghz, i think you got the wrong cpu name. and none of the CPUs listed here can be used with your motherboard.

You're right. I looked back at the specs, and indeed, the board only supports the Phenom, not the Phenom II.

In this case, I change my opinion, and I think a MB, CPU, and memory upgrade are in order. There is no sense in getting another Phenom CPU.

 

[gmixx003]

um i have a AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core Processor in my PC

 

[gmixx003]

so my GPU (graphics card right) isnt no good lmao i bought it off neweggs like a year ago for 150$ i think its... Palit GeForce GTS 450.. 1024 MB Gddr5

 

[gmixx003]

AMD Phenom II X4 805 Quad Core Processor

 

[abekl]

Now I'm confused. The specs on the GW site say that that model only supports the Phenom, not Phenom2, but you are saying that you can see for yourself that the cpu is a phenom 2.

Well, if in fact it's a Phenom2, then there's no reason that my original recommendation shouldn't stand - that is that the following CPU is the best you can match to that board:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103935

 

[gmixx003]

this is my Desktops full specs...
Windows 7 home premium 64 Bit
AMD Phenom II X4 805 2.5Ghz
8 GB of DDR2
1 TB HDD
GeForce GTS 450 1GB (Palit)
RS780 MOBO
bought 2 years ago i upgraded from the Radeon 3200 integrated to the GeForce
and also upgraded my power supply up to a 550W

 

[gmixx003]

that is what the sticker says on the side of my PC i ran that CPUZ thing it says AMD Phenom II you can look up base model for my pc before i upgraded GPU and PSU...
Gateway DX4300-11

 

[esrever]

I think a gpu upgrade would be better than a cpu upgrade

 

[gmixx003]

i bought the PC 2 years ago because it looked like it had decent specs minus the GPU which i was gonna upgrade on it from the gate as soon as i purchased it, im sure 2 years ago when i bought the thing for 1000$ the CPU was pretty good not top of the line but pretty decent... i just dont understand what i look at to see whats compatible
i assumed if i swap out a AMD phenom II any AMD phenom II can replace it i know i obviously cant replace it with an Intel.

 

[esrever]

yes, you should be fine with any phenom II x4s.

 

[gmixx003]

im pretty sure the Windows Experience Index is a joke right... this is my specs...
processor.. 7.1
RAM 7.5
Graphics 7.3
gaming graphics 7.3
HDD 5.9

i updated my video drivers and got increase from 7.2 to 7.3 Booyah

would updating BiOS do anything for my processor ive never updated it ive looked on gateway site and "there was none"

is upgrading my HDD even worth it i mean i have a TB of space which ill never use and unless a faster spinning HDD makes a massive difference i wont waste my time...

i also have this thing called VTune which i can overclock my video card

 

[leenoshiro]

you would see a bigger difference by going SSD instead of a 10k rpm hdd. although either of these is costly and the ssd more so per gb

 

[gmixx003]

AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition 3.7GHz Socket AM3 Quad-Core Desktop Processor - OEM
45 nm Deneb 125W
6MB L3 Cache
4 x 512KB L2 Cache

that over my current amd phenom 2 x4 805??.... 160$

the small increase in W shouldnt matter should it the PC came stock with 300W and i upgraded to 550W bc of GPU i put in

 

[esrever]

you'd really see no difference in in running a game with a better drive except for the loading times.

also windows index isn't the best thing to read for gaming. a gpu upgrade would still make more sense than a cpu upgrade because with my 6850 I get 7.8 for graphics and my phenom 2 at 3.6ghz I get 7.4.