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Looking to Upgrade AM3 Socket CPU! Please Help!

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Hello, Guys! I am looking to replace my AMD Phenom x2 2.8 GHZ CPU to and AMD Phenom x4 965 3.4ghz CPU

Phenom x2 - http://www.amazon.com/Athlon-240-2-8GHZ-45NM-4000MHZ/dp...

Phenom x4- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SRQ214/ref=ox_sc_a...

Now the price between them is not that major but I believed to that the performance increase I would get would be MAJOR as I have almost 1ghz more speed and 2 more cores. My question is, would this be worth the upgrade? Im upgrading more to run higher settings in my games. If this is not a major upgrade for me, Could anyone suggest a very good affordable AM3 Socket CPU as I don't want to also upgrade my Motherboard so I'm sticking to the AM3 socket.

If it is of any consolation I have an GTX 460 1GB DDR5 with 4 Gigs of Ram * Also upgrading to 6 * running Windows 7.

I always believed my bottleneck to be in my CPU and I am hoping by upgrading to the X4 I can up some settings and perhaps start streaming some games.

More about : upgrade am3 socket cpu

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Also if anybody has a better alternative for an AM3 Cpu around the same price range let me know, Or perhaps even a suggestion to change to a different motherboard so I can run an Intel processor, also let me know. I am mostly looking for help to upgrade my processor to make my components run well with each other as I feel my current processor is bottle-necking me very badly in higher end games such as BF3.

It would be an excellent upgrade, I run the 945, a few steps lower than yours and mine does work in my mid level budget computer :D 

I've also heard that they're going to do away with the AM3 CPU's (but I've heard this many times before) but with the new line coming out in a few months it might be for real this time, so now would be a good time to buy one, $105 is a pretty good price too.
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noob2222 said:
the x2 and x3 are identical internally, you unlock them the same way.

and no 4170 is not better than the 965.



Thanks for the reply, I also downloaded CPU-Z and it tells me that I have this motherboard apparently.

http://www.ascendtech.us/foxconn-a74mx-k-am2-740g-pcie-...

Alot of those motherboards say they dont support AM3, but i have an AM3 socket CPU.. is my current motherboard fit to run an 965? And perhaps upgrade some ram? After looking at this motherboard I have a feeling this might be were my bottleneck resides.


Also sorry to be a bother, But i was unable to find a step by step in the link you provided me on how to overclock my x2, and i dont want to dive into it confused, Im aware of the dangers of overclocking so I would hope you can provide a more detailed step by step to Unlock the cores.
CPUs Authority

unfortunately that particular motherboard can't unlock cores, and doesn't support 125W cpus.

The fastest cpu you can put in there is the phenom II x4 945, looks like your in luck because tiger direct stll has some.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/ite...

The difference with am2/am3 is the memory used. all amd phenom cpus can run on ddr2, so they are downward compatible. AM2 cpus however can't run ddr3 memory so they are not forward compatible in that way. Buying older memory is usually more expensive because its no longer in demand.

you should see quite an improvement with the 945, especially for multiplayer gaming.

noob2222 said:
unfortunately that particular motherboard can't unlock cores, and doesn't support 125W cpus.

The fastest cpu you can put in there is the phenom II x4 945, looks like your in luck because tiger direct stll has some.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/ite...

The difference with am2/am3 is the memory used. all amd phenom cpus can run on ddr2, so they are downward compatible. AM2 cpus however can't run ddr3 memory so they are not forward compatible in that way. Buying older memory is usually more expensive because its no longer in demand.

you should see quite an improvement with the 945, especially for multiplayer gaming.



Hey thanks for the replies, I went looking for an ACC option in my bios and i couldnt find it, However, I did find a CPU Frequency adjuster and changed my voltage to 150... My cpu Frequency was at 200 and I upped it to 230 * Not knowing what increase I would get* Doing this i restarted my comp and am now running at 3.2GHZ... Was what i did an overclock and was it safe?
CPUs Authority

you need to check temperatures, but thats how you overclock a cpu. download amd overdrive, run the stress test and keep an eye on the cpu temperature.

sometimes the system will lock up also, thats a sign that its too fast for the cpu.

overclocking is finding a good balance between speed and voltage where it doesn't get too hot or doesn't crash the computer. Try to keep the temperature below 60C.

Thanks alot man, I really appreciate your help, and all your information made me reconsider buying a processor If i am able to squeeze out the extra speed from my current one, to match anything I am able to buy for this P.O.S motherboard I have. If there is anything else you can let me know please feel free! Wish there was a way i could upvote you for your help! If that was reddit +1000 Karma for you.


Also I downloaded AMD Overdrive, when it run it it says it cannot find an AMD chipset on my computer >.< But cpu-Z finds it just fine
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