I Need Some Friendly Advice

Burr

<div class="IPBDescription">processor upgrade</div> Tax Returns are good. Im going to get a new processor and I have some questions. One of them is can you use an Intel if you had an AMD installed before, and where is a good place to get one. Heres a screenshot of my curretn processor (you'll see why I need a new one <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->)

Burr

oops, here is the picture

DOOManiac

you need amd cpu's for amd motherboards, and intel cpu's for intel motherboards. But your motherboard is so old that you'll need a new mobo regardless of which type you go with, because the new AMD cpu's are not slot-a anymore, let alone the whole clock-speed issues.

As far as the absolute best bang for the buck goes, the Pentium 4 2.4Bghz is the absolute best balance between price and performance. A cheap mobo for it will run you $100, and you'll need DDR ram too. If you want a nice board, the sexy performance beasts using the Intel E7205 chipset are about $220.

AMDs are actually *NOT* cheaper than intel right now, which is wierd. Traditionally, they usually are cheaper, but right now, they are the exact same price. And as far as quality goes (and I'm sure somebody will try to dispute this), Intel CPU's are of higher quality (better heat tolerence for sure).

If you're on a budget, I'm selling my 1.4ghz AMD + motherboard for $70. :) You'll still need that DDR ram though.

As far as buying stuff goes, You can try <a href='http://www.googlegear.com' target='_blank'>Googlegear</a> or <a href='http://www.newegg.com' target='_blank'>Newegg</a>. For your ram, I recommend you go with <a href='http://www.crucial.com' target='_blank'>Crucial</a>.

Burr

damn, new motherboard eh? Are they easy to install? Ive installed RAM, A video card, a CD burner, and a Hard drive before. Can I get a motherboard WITH a processor already installed on it?

Burr

I was at 99 posts, now I have 100, I just had to <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->

DruBo

If you're computer savvy enough to install all those other things, you can install a motherboard too with very little trouble. It just requires taking everything else out (except some of the drives, depending on your case) because everything is connected to the motherboard.

You can get processors bundled with motherboards, but I've never seen them shipped with the processor actually attached, since processors are generally somewhat fragile and could break if something in the motherboard box came loose and started rattling around.

If you want more specific advice, email me lastminutepanic@breathe.com and I'll be glad to give you more help, but I'd rather not go into detail on the forums as that usually ends up heading into argument territory.

FlatlineUTD

I don't think you can get a board w/ a preinstalled processor unless you get a bare-bones system.

Just get a good board and a processer/heatsink/fan kit. I recommend Soyo Dragon boards. <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->

DOOManiac

I dunno about intel cpu's, but the way AMD ones are the attatching of the CPU heatsink to the board (and thus the cpu) is the most delicate part, as because AMD's core is very fragile you gotta be very careful to not break your CPU.

Otherwise it's cake. Just screw in the mobo to the case (do this first heh), plug in the CPU, put on the fan, plug in your ram, cards, hook up IDE, remember the all vital power supply, and power up.

Also, remember you'll have to reinstall Windows when you swtich out motherboards because of some of the internal drivers + addressing stuff it does w/ the hardware, so your existing windows copy will be mega broken.

DY357LX

Ignore this, I clicked REPLY instead of PM
/me runs away

Thansal

and as for installing a CPU ZIFI (how I prounounce XFI)

Zero Force Insertion. Little lever on the side of the slot, pull it up drop the cpu in the slot (it iwll fall in if you have it aligned properly, thus zeroforce) and close the lever ALL DONE

now comes the hard part ;D (well it used to be hard). Attaching the fan/heatsink to the top used to be fn hard b/c you didn't have a little notch on the bar that you press on (thus no screw driver to help)

And yah, I actualy say go with the AMD, yes they run hotter, but that is simply compensated with a good fan/heatsink (and they all ship with one).

meh, /me is just a loyal AMD customer ;D