Does my motherboard support this cpu (2.0)?

[Borg20001]

I have an older Gigabyte GA-MA770-S3 AM2+ AMD 770 motherboard currently with a AMD A64 X2 5400+ 2.8G AM2 cpu. I just saw a sale that ends today for an AMD Phenom X4 9850 Quad Core Processor HD9850XAJ4BGH - 2.50GHz, 4MB Cache, 2000MHz (4000 MT/s) FSB, Agena, Quad-Core, OEM, Socket AM2+, Processor.

I have two questions that I'm hoping the experts here can help me with:

1. Does my motherboard support this cpu? I took a look at Gigabyte's site and looked up my old MB and it seems to show that it supports two versions of the AMD Phenom X4 9850 but the specs do not exactly match up with the ones I see for the one on sale.

2. Presuming this cpu is supported by my MB, would this be a decent upgrade for my older system? The sale for the cpu is under $70 shipped - but the sale ends today.

Appreciate any feedback you all can provide me before the sale expires.

Thanks

 

[mosox]

Your mobo have support for a lot of AM3 CPUs (with a BIOS update). Why not something like the Athlon II X3 or Athlon II X4? The Phenom I is not so great.

http://ee.giga-byte.com/products/mb/cpulist/ga-ma770-s3_20.html

 

[Borg20001]

Your mobo have support for a lot of AM3 CPUs (with a BIOS update). Why not something like the Athlon II X3 or Athlon II X4? The Phenom I is not so great.

http://ee.giga-byte.com/products/mb/cpulist/ga-ma770-s3_20.html

Thanks Mosox,

Actually it is strictly price driven since the phenom 1 is cheap (under $70), I was looking for an inexpensive upgrade. Also I am painfully unaware of which cpus are better than others so I appreciate your feedback

I did not know that the Athlon II X3 or X4 were better CPUs - nor did I know that my mobo would support AM3 cpus.

Is there a particular Athlon II X3 or X4 that is trailing edge (as opposed to leading edge) that would fit my price range of under $70?

 

[mosox]

The Athlon II X3 435 or 440 or 445 should fit in your budget and those Athlon II X3 are great CPUs for the money. You need to update the BIOS before changing the CPU. You can see your current BIOS version in: all programs/accessories/system tools/system information.