Installing New Processor....

[greatfolios sysop]

Hi All,

 

I am thinking of installing a new processor to work with some other newer hardware....

 

I am real good with computers inside and out, but have never done a cpu change. I am not too sure how tough this is, or what all I can do to upgrade the machine.

 

the specs are as follows:

Operating System System Model

Windows 2000 Professional Service Pack 4 (build 2195) 00101850 6730 15133200050200

System Serial Number: 4094HPPAV3

Processor a Main Circuit Board b

600 megahertz Intel Celeron

32 kilobyte primary memory cache

128 kilobyte secondary memory cache Board: Trigem Computer, Inc. Cognac

BIOS: Phoenix Technologies LTD 1.09 01/27/00

Drives Memory Modules c,d

18.25 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity

3.52 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

 

H+H CDROM Drive SCSI CdRom Device {CD-ROM drive}

IOMEGA ZIPCD 650 USB USB Device {CD-ROM drive}

SAMSUNG CD-ROM SC-148

3.5" format removeable media {Floppy drive}

 

ST310212A {Hard drive} (10.24 GB) -- drive 0, s/n 5EG0DQMB, rev 3.02, SMART Status: Healthy

WDC AC310000B {Hard drive} (10.00 GB) -- drive 1 256 Megabytes Installed Memory

Local Drive Volumes

 

c: (on drive 0) 10.24 GB 1.50 GB free

d: (on drive 1) 8.01 GB 2.02 GB free

 

(I love Belarc advisor!)

 

Any thoughts?

 

The device I want to istall needs a P II / 800mhz minimum. (dvd burner)

 

otherwise the machine works fine for me and I have no other reason to upgrade it.

 

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Mr. Bill :Nerd:

[TCH-JimE]

Hi,

 

The first thing is to check your motherboard to see whats the fastest processor it can take and if its still available and the cost involved.

 

At this point you may find that the processor is either no fastest enough, no longer produced or too costly. If any of these factor in, then I suggest you look at changing your motherboard with a new chip. You can get some very decent AMD ones at present!

 

Regardless of this, if you have the processor ready to go then:

 

1) Make sure you have the correct heatsink and fan. this may need to be upgraded too

2) Backup all your data

3) Turn off the machine, unplug everything apart from the power cord. Make sure the power cord is turned off at the wall though! This earths the machine against unwanted static

4) I always disconnect the hard drive at this point.

5) Open the case and remove the fan cord to the motherboard. Note where it goes

6) Unscrew or remove the fan from the heatsink.

7) Remove the heatsink. This is very very very tricky and you may need a lot of force to do so. They are normally (assuming you haven't got a slot loader) held in by two clips and need to be eased off. Its possible to push too hard at this point and crack the motherboard, damage the chip and slip and gouge/scratch the motherboard

8) When off, use hover to suck up all the dust in the heatsink

9) release the CPU from its holder. This often requires using a little lever

10) When your ready, insert the new CPU, making sure alignment is correct with pin one and make sure the lever is fully down

11) Now spread some silver paste on the CPU die, I infact have never done this yet but everyone says you need to do it.

12) Here comes the tricky bit, reapply the heatsink. Make sure you dont break, scratch, gouge the motherboard or the CPU. It needs to be a tight fit though

13) Replace fan and attach.

14) Turn on power and boot up. If all goes well, motherboard should recognize chip ok. Watch temp for a bit (possible in most bios)

 

When ready, replug back in the hard drive, start up the machine and enjoy the new boost in power.

 

Jim

[Guest schussat]

Yipes -- Jim's instructions intimidated me, and I've done this stuff before! <grin>

 

However, technically, Jim's right. You may need to do all that stuff, depending on what kind of options are available for your motherboard, and on the existing chip's installation. The absolute first thing to do is get the specs on your motherboard, because as Jim says that will determine the limits of your upgrade. I've found that google groups is a great resource for looking up this information. Your motherboard's manufacturer is also likely to have some documentation online. A couple of key pieces of information you'll need to verify (in addition to outright chip support): Do you need to upgrade your BIOS? And, do you need something like a slocket to mount the new chip to your motherboard? Most google groups discussions of upgrades will include some of this information.

 

(A slocket is sort of a small expansion card that will let you mount some CPUs on a motherboard not explicitly designed for their architecture; they cost $12 or so, and I needed one to upgrade an old PIII-450 to a Celeron 1000. Works great.)

 

Once you've figured out what kind of upgrade you're dealing with, use a site like pricewatch to find the CPU. The easiest path, I think, is to find a boxed retail CPU, because that will include a heatsink and fan -- hence you'll need fewer of the delicate steps Jim outlines. The cost will be a few dollars higher for it, but you're not talking about a top-of-the-line chip for this motherboard, anyway; you're probably, at most, looking at $50 for the whole deal, which I'm guessing will get you a 1ghz Celeron or so. That will be a nice bump in speed, and should certainly be enough speed to run your burner.

 

Best of luck!