lokiie1984

Honorable
Aug 16, 2012
11
0
10,510
I have no understanding of cpu upgrades at all, other then i know i have to make sure my motherboard will be able to use it. So some help or info would be appreciated greatly.

Here is what i have now

Windows XP
AMD athlon 64x2 5000+ (two cpu's at 2.6ghz each)
500 watt power
ASUS M2A-VM motherboard.

Now i have two questions mainly.

Assuming i could find an upgrade with my board what would be the difference between what i have now vs something of similar speed but triple/quad core. When i looked at the list of cpu's my board could take none really seemed to be much faster, the fastest i saw being : Athlon IIX2 255(ADX255OCK23GM),3.1GHz,512KB,rev.C3,65W,SocketAM3 or Phenom IIX3 740 (HDZ740WFK3DGI),3.0GHz,95W,rev.C2,SocketAM3,Triple-Core

neither of which really seems that much better, other then adding extra cores. And of course all of em that i looked at were discontinued anyway. Am i just kind of out of luck unless i try to figure out overclocking or a flat out mother board upgrade?
 

lokiie1984

Honorable
Aug 16, 2012
11
0
10,510
Phenom IIX4 945 is also discontinued is there a website or somewhere where i can try and buy discontinued parts?

Also if i could find it would be that much of an improvement? Going from 2.6 to 3.0?
 

whatismyproblem

Distinguished
Dec 25, 2009
230
0
18,690


going from 2.6 to 3.0
i'm assuming you are talking about the HT link
it only is better if you get a phenom that supports HT 3.0
 

lokiie1984

Honorable
Aug 16, 2012
11
0
10,510
I mean speed (not sure what HT link means) my cpu now is a 2.6ghz where the Phenom IIx4 945 is a 3.0ghz. However its four cores if i looked at the right one. So i'm wondering if over all if it would be a visible improvement in speed or not really noticeable. Either way i don't know if i could find it anyway, every place i looked at had it listed as discontinued and out of stock.

Would i be better off just learning how to overclock the cpu i have now?
 

whatismyproblem

Distinguished
Dec 25, 2009
230
0
18,690


i don't think your current cpu can be OC