upgrading from an a64 3000+ to a x2 3800+

[brikis98]

I have an MSI K8N Neo4-F Socket 939 motherboard running an a64 3000+ (Venice) cpu.

With the recent price drops, I've been very tempted to get a s939 x2 3800+ CPU. Would I be able to just drop this CPU in, boot up, and have no problems? Do I need to update the BIOS first (and if so, to what version)?

Would a heatsink/fan that did a good job of keeping my a64 cool (even when significantly overclocked) be ok for an x2?

What is the performance of an x2 3800+ as compared to a a64 3000+ in single threaded applications (such as most games)?

Anything else I should be concerned with?

 

[myocardia]

Unless you've updated your BIOS in the last 10 or 12 months, you would have to update it. You'd also have to reload Windows. And whether the heatsink you have now would suffice, I can't tell you, since you didn't say what heatsink it is. The X2 3800's come with a heatsink that will allow overclocking up to 2.4-2.5 Ghz. And lastly, the X2 3800's are 200 Mhz faster than a stock 3000. For them to perform the same, in a single threaded app as what you have now, would require it to be overclocked as high as you are now.

 

[KyaAvalanche]

When I put my 4400+ in I was able to boot up and run no problem using Windows XP Pro. XP found the new hardware and installed the currect drivers. I also did do a bios update to the latest bios. I upgraded from a 3200+ and found that playing games now are much smoother... Also I would go under device manager Computer and check to see if it changed to Multiprocessor...

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: KyaAvalanche
When I put my 4400+ in I was able to boot up and run no problem using Windows XP Pro. XP found the new hardware and installed the currect drivers. I also did do a bios update to the latest bios. I upgraded from a 3200+ and found that playing games now are much smoother... Also I would go under device manager Computer and check to see if it changed to Multiprocessor...

That's good to hear... I'm running Win XP Pro, so I'm hoping I don't need to reinstall my OS....

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: myocardia
Unless you've updated your BIOS in the last 10 or 12 months, you would have to update it. You'd also have to reload Windows. And whether the heatsink you have now would suffice, I can't tell you, since you didn't say what heatsink it is. The X2 3800's come with a heatsink that will allow overclocking up to 2.4-2.5 Ghz. And lastly, the X2 3800's are 200 Mhz faster than a stock 3000. For them to perform the same, in a single threaded app as what you have now, would require it to be overclocked as high as you are now.

I'll have to check which heatsink it is when I get home, I don't remember off the top of my head.

However, I guess what I'm really wondering is if the x2's generate significantly more heat than single core a64's.

 

[KyaAvalanche]

Originally posted by: brikis98
I'll have to check which heatsink it is when I get home, I don't remember off the top of my head.

However, I guess what I'm really wondering is if the x2's generate significantly more heat than single core a64's.

Mine went up about 7 degrees

 

[imported_inspire]

Seems like the Toledos (S939) do...

 

[brikis98]

What about power consumption? I have an older Antec Truepower 430w PSU that runs my current system without a hiccup.

How much more power will a dual core CPU drain? Additionally, if I upgrade to 2GB of RAM and a newer vid card (e.g. 7800gtx), would I need a new PSU?

 

[PingSpike]

My toledo 3800+ runs hotter then my 3000+ venice did. Particularly at full load on both cores. In typical operation (games) I haven't seen it get up above 45c or so. But when I was priming on both cores overnight at 2500mhz it got up close to 60. However it seems to have cooled down some, either because of the weather or the AS5 has 'cured'.

 

[lifeblood]

I ordered my X2 +3800 (Manchester) yesterday and should have it tomorow. Hopefully I won't have to reinstall XP. I will let you know how well it works.

Going from a 3000+ (1.8ghz core) to an X2 3800+ (two 2.0ghz cores) probably won't result in a huge speed increase in my applications when I only run one at a time, but I frequently run more than 1 application at a time. For example, I will be playing Everquest 2 or City of Heroes, while talking to my friends on Skype, with Firefox up showing a map of my current game zone. In this senario the dual core will (I hope) really start to shine over it's single core cousin.

 

[KyaAvalanche]

Just make sure your bios is up-todate. The multi-tasking part of the dual core is awsome.

 

[skriefal]

You shouldn't need to reinstall XP. At least *I* didn't when I swapped an x2 3800+ in place of a 3000+ a few weeks ago. It's showing up now as an ACPI multiprocessor system in the System applet, and I didn't have to do anything to make that happen. No manual HAL swap... nothing.

 

[adairusmc]

I have a X2 4800+ sitting on my desk, and as soon as I get back into town today, I am gonna try to replace my 4000+ chip with it, I am also hoping I will not have to reload windows. That would be a real bummer.

 

[CCityInstaller]

I went from a 3200 to a 3800X2, and did not have to reinstall Windows XP Pro. I simply installed the X2, rebooted and Windows detected it as new hardware, loaded the driver and prompted me to reboot. It showed up as a mulitprocessor in device manager, and it works great, especially @ 2.65Ghz. I installed the AMD dual core driver, then the AMD dual core optimizer. Everything worked fine, but I still felt something was a little off in terms of smoothness when multitasking. I installed the MS Hotfix, and everything went from smooth to buttery smooth. I haven't had a hicup when switching between CAD, iTunes, FF with 10-15 windows, Outlook and F@H running.

 

[brikis98]

thanks for all the replies guys.

however, i'm still wondering how much more of a stress it is on the PSU to power a dual core rather than a single core CPU?

 

[lifeblood]

I replaced my 3000+ with the X2 3000+ yesterday and it was simple. Windows automatically loaded the needed driver but I still went to AMD's website and got the optimizer. I can't tell if the X2 uses more power but I did notice a temperature increase. My 3000+ would idle at 34 C while the X2 idles at 38 C. From that I would assume the CPU is drawing more power.

Performance in single threaded applications was somewhat improved. Performance while running multiple apps was night and day. with the single core if I had Everquest 2 running and tried to open firefox it would take 3 minutes. With the X2, Firefox would open in 10 seconds.

 

[KyaAvalanche]

Actually, The heat increase is because you are now running two core instead of one. The X2 3800+ uses less wattage/voltage than the Single cores, so it should be less of a stress on your PSU.

 

[Parasitic]

Hey

I have a 3500+ overclocked to 250*10...would I observe a general performance improvement with the dual core?

 

[KyaAvalanche]

Clock to clock nope.