A8N-SLI and new CPU

[richxr7]

I'm looking into upgrading my cpu and I want to know about updating my mobo bios. Currently its 1014 and I am running an AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice Socket 939 CPU. Is there any other items or processes I need to take care of before I purchase and install the new chip. I am looking into getting the AMD Opteron 170 or 175. I was also curious are there any methods within the mobo settings that I can increase the amount of mem my system uses. I have just installed 1gbx2 which brings me to a total of 4gb.

 

[imported_rod]

I have the A8N-SLI deluxe.
I had the 1014, and IIRC, the Vcore settings on the 1014 BIOS didn't work.
But the 1017 (which I'm currently running) seems good - Vcore control is fine, and my X2 is supported.

If you want your system to be able to use all 4GB of your RAM, you'll need a 64-bit OS - preferably Vista 64bit.

 

[richxr7]

You prefer the Athlon 64 X2 over the Opteron 165,170 or the 180?How hard is it to upgrade the cpu? Do I have to reinstall all my software and os again?

 

[MarcVenice]

No, you ploink in the cpu, and windows will auto detect it. You might have to install a hotfix from microsoft or AMD, dual core optimizer, but that's it. No reinstalling anything. I got a x2 3800+ myself, oc-ed it to 2.6ghz. The opterons cost more then the x2's, but often the price difference isn't justified. You should check out your options, I bet you can get a faster clocked x2, for the same price as a opteron 170-175.

 

[richxr7]

Thats what I thought. I was originally looking at the Athlon X2 4200 but I was told about the Opterons. I was also told that I have to reset the cmos, change the bios, then do a repair of the os and reinstall some of my system software. It seemed like it wasn't necessary for something like a cpu swap out.