Upgrading CPU

[ant900]

Strange how I'm making my first post here instead of somewhere else...

Anyway, I build systems as a hobby (and also as a side income to support the missus), and even though many have already posted here, I'll go ahead and post my input.

Nice choice of CPU first of all, it's a good upgrade from a Core 2 Quad. Since you're replacing both the CPU and Mobo, the obviously different hardware will more than likely require you to re-activate your copy of Windows XP, unless you get extremely lucky. Though with Microsoft's recent tactics at anti-piracy you'll probably be forced to buy another product key for it, which shouldn't cost more than $100 the last time I checked.

Thankfully a CD Key won't be any problem since I have one or two extra copies of XP lying around somewhere.

Unless you feel confident enough to make the upgrade to Windows 7, which I strongly recommend. Mainly because it was designed to support the newer Intel i7 CPU's and LGA1156/1366 sockets, where XP wasn't. Technically, it should still run, but tell Mobo manufacturers that. A few Mobo's still support XP, but most don't because of Microsoft trying to push the upgrade to Vista/7 which results in you getting a BSOD, even if you use safemode. If you want to try your luck with keeping XP, try procuring a copy of XP Professional x64. Yes, you will have to do a clean install, but the chances of it working on the new Mobo are much higher than a copy of 32-bit XP. Since you'll probably have to purchase a new product key anyway (unless you're a crafty pirate like myself), it's better off anyway since a clean install on a new/rebuilt system is better than trying to fudge it into working properly. Any products you have installed that use a hardware ID will deactivate anyway because of the change.

If I do have to do a clean install I figure I might as well go with Win7 like everyone has been saying.  Have to upgrade sometime  As for Pirating, I try to avoid pirating software as much as I can since that is where my own livelihood comes from (yes I know how that sounds coming from a person posting on a torrenting site).

You're last concern is drivers, since at worst when it tries to load the old one's, you'll get a BSOD. Of course if you really want to keep XP, and not do a new install period, you could go into safemode and remove all the drivers for the old Mobo and install the ones for the new Mobo. I'd also uninstall the drivers for your GFX and Sound cards and get the newest ones for the best compatability. If anything, safemode will let you retrieve your files.

I'm guessing you are saying to go into safe mode before I switch out the hardware?

Other benefits to at least switching to XP Pro x64 are the removal of the 3.25 GB RAM cap that 32-bit systems have. 7 is also just as zippy as XP, especially considering the CPU you will be using. Hope that helps. I'd post more, but the missus has me cooking.

Definitely, Thanks!


Also this is the Mobo I decided to go with.  A bit expensive, but it is future proof (usb 3.0 and sata 6) and has good reviews on new egg.

[nstgc]

There is no such thing as future-proofing. I find that its best to buy not so new stuff more frequently. Its cheaper to do it that way. I'd rather upgrade a few things every year than upgrade those same things every 4 years.

[ant900]

There is no such thing as future-proofing. I find that its best to buy not so new stuff more frequently. Its cheaper to do it that way. I'd rather upgrade a few things every year than upgrade those same things every 4 years.

Obviously it won't be 100% future proof, but I don't plan on spending money on hardware every year, hell I wasn't even expecting to do this upgrade, but the i7 just sort of dropped out of the sky so I figured I might as well use it.  After this upgrade I don't plan on doing anything else beyond utilizing SLI for quite a while (much more than 4 years).

[kyanwan]

1. Backup your stuff
2. Uninstall all drivers from the hardware you want to replace
3. Replace the hardware
4. Pray to your god(s) if you have any that things will go well
5. Turn on the computer

The worst you can encounter is a BSOD which would mean a reinstall. The best you can expect is a reactivation since you probably changed three(?) hardware in your PC--processor, motherboard and memory.

If swapping your MB you would need to switch your PC from ACPI to Standard.   If your system detection fucks up, though - you'll be stuck on Standard PC - and a reinstall or in-place install will be necessary.

If you're just swapping out the CPU though ... I don't really see any reason why you would need to go nuts.  

I just swapped the whole board, memory, and CPU out of 2 XP systems here.   I ripped out the drivers - then let windows restart.  Unfortunately - needed to do in-place installs of XP on both systems as well.

It was a couple hours each - BUT - it was a WHOLE shitload faster than reinstalling all the software and crap on both systems.  

My new CPU is a different Socket from my current so I have to switch out both.

Yeah - so uninstall all your chipset, video, usb drivers - anything around your motherboard.  Reboot.  

After your reboot - go into your Device Manager - click on "Computer" and change it from "ACPI PC" to "Standard PC"

After you change it - shut down your computer, DO NOT RESTART

Install your new Motherboard,  then boot.  

Once you boot up - go to Device Manager, and make sure it says "ACPI PC" in there where you changed the setting.  If it DOESN'T say "ACPI PC" - you'll need to do an in-place upgrade ( repair install ) of your windows copy.  

Uninstalling those drivers though, if you didn't do that - an in-place install would probably never work - for me, it always BSOD'd.   I just did this a couple times, worked great.  It saves a load of time.  

There is no such thing as future-proofing. I find that its best to buy not so new stuff more frequently. Its cheaper to do it that way. I'd rather upgrade a few things every year than upgrade those same things every 4 years.

Obviously it won't be 100% future proof, but I don't plan on spending money on hardware every year, hell I wasn't even expecting to do this upgrade, but the i7 just sort of dropped out of the sky so I figured I might as well use it.  After this upgrade I don't plan on doing anything else beyond utilizing SLI for quite a while (much more than 4 years).

Yeah - you'll never be able to future proof fully - but if you put as much money as you can into getting the most modern motherboard, and a really beefy video card - you'll be set.   Then you can skimp on the CPU a little - and upgrade it a little down the road.   That's how I usually do it if I don't have the $ at the time I'm doing an upgrade.   I never ever skimp on the video card or motherboard though.  

I'd stay away from SLI myself - I prefer getting a single bad-ass card rather than two half-ass cards.   If you wanted SLI that bad - soon as you get the cash then do it with the two bad-ass cards once you can get the second. 

[nstgc]

There is no such thing as future-proofing. I find that its best to buy not so new stuff more frequently. Its cheaper to do it that way. I'd rather upgrade a few things every year than upgrade those same things every 4 years.

Obviously it won't be 100% future proof, but I don't plan on spending money on hardware every year, hell I wasn't even expecting to do this upgrade, but the i7 just sort of dropped out of the sky so I figured I might as well use it.  After this upgrade I don't plan on doing anything else beyond utilizing SLI for quite a while (much more than 4 years).

Actually its cheaper to upgrade a few components every year to keep them up than it is to upgrade everything every 4 years.

[ant900]

There is no such thing as future-proofing. I find that its best to buy not so new stuff more frequently. Its cheaper to do it that way. I'd rather upgrade a few things every year than upgrade those same things every 4 years.

Obviously it won't be 100% future proof, but I don't plan on spending money on hardware every year, hell I wasn't even expecting to do this upgrade, but the i7 just sort of dropped out of the sky so I figured I might as well use it.  After this upgrade I don't plan on doing anything else beyond utilizing SLI for quite a while (much more than 4 years).

Actually its cheaper to upgrade a few components every year to keep them up than it is to upgrade everything every 4 years.

That is assuming that I would be buying the top of the line hardware (or even the really good hardware), and like I said I plan on keeping the new build as is for a lot longer than 4 years.

[fohfoh]

There is no such thing as future-proofing. I find that its best to buy not so new stuff more frequently. Its cheaper to do it that way. I'd rather upgrade a few things every year than upgrade those same things every 4 years.

Obviously it won't be 100% future proof, but I don't plan on spending money on hardware every year, hell I wasn't even expecting to do this upgrade, but the i7 just sort of dropped out of the sky so I figured I might as well use it.  After this upgrade I don't plan on doing anything else beyond utilizing SLI for quite a while (much more than 4 years).

Actually its cheaper to upgrade a few components every year to keep them up than it is to upgrade everything every 4 years.

That is assuming that I would be buying the top of the line hardware (or even the really good hardware), and like I said I plan on keeping the new build as is for a lot longer than 4 years.

Agreed.

But seriously, the savings you get aren't that huge when compared over several years. We're looking at something like 50-100 bucks a year or like 4-10 bucks a month overall. Personally, I'm not that stingy AND I give away most of my old stuff when upgrade anyways. So I really don't care about stuff like the "Time value of money". In all seriousness, I need to upgrade, I pool up money, make a budget and go. I need a desktop soon but the idea will be the same. I'll make a budget (probably 800-1200 CAD) build a computer that fits my needs and if it's below budget, it's a bonus. Within budget, it's expected. Higher than budget, I'll consider if I need to. And upgrades wise? Only if I feel that I could have a better experience if I do so. (Generally cheap things like RAM, HDD etc. and not huge overhauls). Either that, I just consider a new computer.

Really considering an i7 build for my desktop and gaming needs. I like what I've seen so far with the one I built for my work place and the price is about what I'd consider spending. I'd rather spend the extra cash to spend less time on my computer. A few hours is ok for a fix here and there, but not like days and weeks spent to figure out OCing etc. (I'm a n00b and it's not worth my time. I'd rather spend that time on other more entertaining things) Not that I'd have huge issues with like the difference between 2.53GHz vs 2.73Ghz. I can wait a few seconds. Upgradability isn't something I weigh high. But functionality is what I weigh highly.

[nstgc]

My logic is that if you switch out components more frequently keeps your computer at a base line. If you upgrade every 4 years your computer, by the end of that 4 year period, is a piece of shit. To avoid this you would have to start with an absurdly good, and expensive, machine. The value of my computer bounces between 800 and 1000 dollars. This, however, doesn't mean I have to drop 800 dollars every year. If I were to buy a computer now that would be that good 4 years from now, surely I would end up spending over 2000 dollars. Many parts don't need to be replaced frequently. Cases and optical drives, for instance, are good for quite a while.

Additionally you reduce the chances of failure due to age.

One downside is the bottlenecking. I upgraded my video card from an nVidia 8600 GT to a Radeon 3870. My CPU was a major bottle neck.

[edit] As an example, consider that Radeon 3870. Four years ago, not even the top of the line video card would be able to compete with that. I also would assume that whatever the top of the line at that time was, would have made up more than half the value of the entire computer. In order for it not be be bottle necked like mad, I would have also had to have an expensive CPU. For the CPU not to have been choked, I would have had to have at least decent RAM.

[edit2] I'm currently waiting for either the price of the 5770 to drop to $150 or the end of the semester. I also will likely buy, this year, a new hard drive, for no more than $150. I don't expect any other expenses. So a good guess as to my yearly computer expenditures will be $310.

[ant900]

My logic is that if you switch out components more frequently keeps your computer at a base line. If you upgrade every 4 years your computer, by the end of that 4 year period, is a piece of shit. To avoid this you would have to start with an absurdly good, and expensive, machine. The value of my computer bounces between 800 and 1000 dollars. This, however, doesn't mean I have to drop 800 dollars every year. If I were to buy a computer now that would be that good 4 years from now, surely I would end up spending over 2000 dollars. Many parts don't need to be replaced frequently. Cases and optical drives, for instance, are good for quite a while.

Additionally you reduce the chances of failure due to age.

One downside is the bottlenecking. I upgraded my video card from an nVidia 8600 GT to a Radeon 3870. My CPU was a major bottle neck.

[edit] As an example, consider that Radeon 3870. Four years ago, not even the top of the line video card would be able to compete with that. I also would assume that whatever the top of the line at that time was, would have made up more than half the value of the entire computer. In order for it not be be bottle necked like mad, I would have also had to have an expensive CPU. For the CPU not to have been choked, I would have had to have at least decent RAM.

[edit2] I'm currently waiting for either the price of the 5770 to drop to $150 or the end of the semester. I also will likely buy, this year, a new hard drive, for no more than $150. I don't expect any other expenses. So a good guess as to my yearly computer expenditures will be $310.

I'm not saying what you are doing is wrong, in fact if you want to keep your computer running the best games on good hardware, it is probably the best option, I am just saying that it doesn't apply to me.  I do not mind playing games on substandard graphics.  Hell I was playing Left 4 Dead on a Pentium IV with some random outdated Radeon graphics card up until I got my current rig late '08 (Had that computer for probably 5-7 years, upgraded graphics card once).

Anyways this talk is a bit off topic and I'm not entirely sure how we got on it in the first place.


I should be getting the Mobo sometime next week, and then after I get some DDR3 memory I'll upgrade the computer once I don't have any work to do

[Stsin]

If staying with Intel, by going by their past record, it's best to upgrade the whole lot at once.  With their CPUs requiring new MBs and RAM, it's not wise to plan on upgrade paths when using Intel CPUs.

I used to get complete new systems often, from one of the first Pentiums, Pentium IIs using slot 2, to PIII's requiring MBs using the expensive Rambus RAM.   Not any real upgrade paths with them.  Then AMD came along and gained the lead shortly, and switched to that.  And was able to just upgrade their CPUs when needed.  And while using AMD, I've learned it's silly to keep buying the top.

My $500 system from over a year ago, buying AMD's 940 BE Quad when released, is still a great system today.  Scoring 9.4+ on all Win7 Index, except for my Caviar Black Drives (5.9).  I don't feel behind at all with the latest I7's being released today nor I doubt from a year from now either, and I don't even overclock it.  Though I did OC it just to see how far it will go on a stock system, but realized it's not needed with such little actual gain.

With something that you'll upgrade every few years, should look at the best bang for the buck.  And with most systems, upgrade the whole package, MB, RAM, CPU, and OS to get the most out of it.

[vuzedome]

Intel's planning for a new socket for 2011.
And I too agree that a full pack upgrade is a smarter choice.

[kyanwan]

Intel's planning for a new socket for 2011.
And I too agree that a full pack upgrade is a smarter choice.

+ also mention the poor lack of selection for AMD and the lack of anything really good. 

AMD, today, is shit.

( Unless you're working on a budget of a couple hundred bucks - and want something decent. )

[Stsin]

If you are still using an old computer, either AMD or Intel, it is shit, today.

What matters is what you are using right now.  If still saving for an upgrade, you are still using a shit system

Will repeatedly go through this situation for the rest of your life.

[nstgc]

Intel's planning for a new socket for 2011.
And I too agree that a full pack upgrade is a smarter choice.

+ also mention the poor lack of selection for AMD and the lack of anything really good. 

AMD, today, is shit.

( Unless you're working on a budget of a couple hundred bucks - and want something decent. )

AMD's best CPUs are about the speed of Intel's mid-range CPUs, but they cost less, and the motherboards are cheaper. ATi (which was purchased by AMD) is better than nVidia in both cost and performance.

Also Nazo works for AMD, and we like Nazo.

[ant900]

Well I finally got a chance to upgrade my computer last week.  And I must say this new machine is pretty sexy!  However sadly I (probably) screwed up transferring over XP to the new hardware so I blue screened every time I tried to authenticate it.  So I went and bought Windows 7 ("OMG he bought software?!? *Gasp*!"), and while it does have a few quirks here and there that I don't like, overall it is a nice OS.  Also I didn't know that when installing it takes everything from your old windows install and puts it in a folder, which was nice, and prevents me from having to mess around with my backup drive. Though as always reinstalling everything is a bitch (especially getting a hold of another copy of VS2008 >.>)

few pics for the curious:

Part of my work area before I removed my old hardware


My old mobo.  My cpu fan looks so tiny compared to my new one.


My small army of harddrives.  1.5TB, 1.0TB, 160GB, & 250GB.  Sadly I overlooked IDE support on my new MOBO so my 250 gig had to be taken out (along with an old, rarely used CD-ROM drive), but thankfully this gives me a chance to put in a new 1.0TB harddrive, though I am not too happy about the hole on the front of the computer my CD drive left, I might put the drive back in just to get rid of it -_-


new mobo all set up (except for wires)


It's alive!! (and glowing)


Konata and Aria watching over my computer making sure nothing happens to it



Thanks to everyone that replied to this thread!  If it wasn't for you my sexy cpu would probably still be sitting in its box ^.^

P.S.:  Did you guys know that Best Buy doesn't carry full copies of Windows 7?  What kind of BS is that?  Had to go next door to Office Depot to get it -_-

[fohfoh]

Mmmm... Looks nice. Can't wait to take a look at my budget to see if I have cash to build a desktop. A few unexpected problems came up which drained quite a bit of cash.

[bork]

About that IDE problem, Google Sata IDE adapter

[Mycanid]

Nice pics ant900 ...

[ant900]

About that IDE problem, Google Sata IDE adapter

and invalidate my reasoning for buying a new harddrive? *keeps on pretending that adapters are imaginary*

Mmmm... Looks nice. Can't wait to take a look at my budget to see if I have cash to build a desktop. A few unexpected problems came up which drained quite a bit of cash.

Funnily enough my free i7 ended up costing me around $600 (+300 for the os) since I had to buy a bunch of new stuff to accommodate it.  Not exactly an amount I was happy about, but it was better than having the cpu laying around.

Nice pics ant900 ...

Thanks!  Here is another one of me playing around.  It shows me smoothly running 4 instances of unreal (1 server and 3 connected clients), Firefox with a few tabs open, VS2008, and my beautiful task manager.  Definitely couldn't have done this on my old build

[fohfoh]

Free i7? Damn... that's nice. I got a free opteron chip once... ended up giving it away to our other company tech guy. I looked it up, a mobo for that proc alone cost upwards of 300 USD for the cheap ones. (It was that weird pinless one)

800 bucks sounds about right for a rig I was planning to build. I'm still thinking about it. I don't really game and SC2 just really isn't making me excited. Diablo 3 on the other hand might give me a bigger push. In general, I think I just want more along the lines of a dedicated computer for torrenting (leaving my laptop on for long periods of time sorta sucks) and for the extra power (Since mine even if it can handle it... heat issues)

Ofc, I can always consider using it as a media centre and then moving it elsewhere when I want to game..... only problem is, I need to figure out how to get the cable to the basement if I want internet. I really don't enjoy the wifi I'm getting. (Unless someone can find a way to really increase the wifi AND find a way to keep the damn thing from crashing when the load gets too high... Even though it's/was a 200 dollar draft N)