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Can I put a Phenom x4 into THIS AM2+ MOBO?

J

JumBie

Golden Member
I have a ASUS M2N78-LA that is used in an HP desktop and renamed Viola-GL8E. Information on this board can be found here: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&docname=c01421635#N149

According to the website, under CPU upgrade, it makes no mention of AM3+ processors such as x4 955. However, information is conflicting about whether or not I can use an AM3+ cpu in an AM2+ motherboard. I guess my question to everyone here is, can I or can I not use a phenom x4 processor in this particular motherboard. Thanks.
 
There are a couple Phenom II X4's that work with AM2+, look for a 920 or 940, the 955 is strictly AM3 as far as I can remember.
 
As a passing comment, the i5-4690 is about 2 times as fast as an AMD X4 Phenom 965 (maybe equivalent would be E8500). Even the i3 processors are probably around 50% faster (than Phenom 965/E8500). At least according to the gaming benchmarks I've seen.
 
TeknoBug said:
There are a couple Phenom II X4's that work with AM2+, look for a 920 or 940, the 955 is strictly AM3 as far as I can remember.
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So the x4 940 is a AM2+ cpu, which should theoretically work in the mobo, however on the website it makes no mention of the phenom 2 processors as an upgrade.
 
AM3 processors are backwards compatible. (I have an AM3 945 in an AM2 board.) The issue is he doesn't have BIOS support.
 
That processor will work in your motherboard.

Here is the caveat:

If the BIOS supports the processor, then it will work as you expected.

If the BIOS does not support the processor, then it will probably be seen as a dual-core processor and be limited to 800 MHz. The computer will still work. Well, at least this is what happened when I put a Phenom IIx6 1045T into a motherboard that didn't support it.
 
So even if its a AM2+ CPU (940), this motherboard in particular still may not support it, even if its an AM2+ mobo? God AMD, could they make this shit anymore complicated.
 
Deders said:
It supports 1st gen Phenoms, no too sure about 2nd.
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lol....god why cant AMD just keep this shit simple like intel. One socket, all mobos of that socket support said cpu, this crap where an AM2+ mobo MAY or MAY NOT support a AM2+ CPU is ridiculous.
 
JumBie said:
lol....god why cant AMD just keep this shit simple like intel. One socket, all mobos of that socket support said cpu, this crap where an AM2+ mobo MAY or MAY NOT support a AM2+ CPU is ridiculous.
Click to expand...

It was supposed top be an upgradable platform, I had an AM2+ board for a quite a while, but I couldn't upgrade to a Phenom because the bios capacity was too small. Obviously something they didn't foresee.

Even though a near identical board from Foxconn managed to cram the info into a smaller bios space, EVGA never bothered to do the same, so I switched to Intel hoping that a new socket would mean years of upgradability. Lynnfield was discontinued less than a year later.
 
JumBie said:
lol....god why cant AMD just keep this shit simple like intel. One socket, all mobos of that socket support said cpu, this crap where an AM2+ mobo MAY or MAY NOT support a AM2+ CPU is ridiculous.
Click to expand...

Intel needs BIOS support as well.
If you wanted upgradability you shouldn't have gone with an OEM board.
 
JumBie said:
lol....god why cant AMD just keep this shit simple like intel. One socket, all mobos of that socket support said cpu, this crap where an AM2+ mobo MAY or MAY NOT support a AM2+ CPU is ridiculous.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it was great how Intel let all LGA775 processors run in any LGA775 socket motherboard. Oh wait, hang on...
 
JumBie said:
lol....god why cant AMD just keep this shit simple like intel. One socket, all mobos of that socket support said cpu, this crap where an AM2+ mobo MAY or MAY NOT support a AM2+ CPU is ridiculous.
Click to expand...

You mean like Intel, on 775, where one socket might support Pentium, Celeron, Pentium D, Celeron D, Core2, or Core2 45nm, depending on VRD spec and mobo design, and BIOS?

Trust me, Intel is no better.
 
I know they aren't as good as the phenom II, but why not get a 9x5x phenom? from my checking a 9850 will work in the board.
 
JumBie said:
lol....god why cant AMD just keep this shit simple like intel. One socket, all mobos of that socket support said cpu, this crap where an AM2+ mobo MAY or MAY NOT support a AM2+ CPU is ridiculous.
Click to expand...

This has nothing to do with AMD. Any AM2+ motherboard will physically support any AM3 (but not AM3+) CPU, even a Phenom II X6 1100T. Whether or not the motherboard has BIOS support and strong enough VRM's to power it are up to whoever made the motherboard.

And if you think Intel is any more user-friendly when it comes to this, you've living in fantasy-land. Socket 775 was the worst case of "socket-roulette" in the history of x86 computing.
 
pyjujiop said:
This has nothing to do with AMD. Any AM2+ motherboard will physically support any AM3 (but not AM3+) CPU, even a Phenom II X6 1100T. Whether or not the motherboard has BIOS support and strong enough VRM's to power it are up to whoever made the motherboard.

And if you think Intel is any more user-friendly when it comes to this, you've living in fantasy-land. Socket 775 was the worst case of "socket-roulette" in the history of x86 computing.
Click to expand...

This. All AM3 Phenom IIs have both DDR2 and DDR3 IMCs, and will work on either platform (so long as the motherboard can handle the power requirements)
 
Okay, so I am seeing quite a bit of different opinions here. Some are saying I can pop a 9850 in there, others are saying that I could toss a x6 in there. Does anyone have a definite answer for me here? I would hate to go out and grab a cpu only to have it not work on this mobo.
 
I wouldn't risk it personally, the evidence we have points to just 1st generation Phenoms, with no mention of 2nd gen in the bios updates.
 
JumBie said:
Okay, so I am seeing quite a bit of different opinions here. Some are saying I can pop a 9850 in there, others are saying that I could toss a x6 in there. Does anyone have a definite answer for me here? I would hate to go out and grab a cpu only to have it not work on this mobo.
Click to expand...

Nobody has said you can put an X6 in there.
 
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