I want to replace my 3 year old motherboard

[Mr. Jon Pope]

I am looking for suggestions.

The CPU is a AMD 5400x2

 

[DL]

And whether you have a retail version of Vista or only an oem version might
have some relevence

 

[Rick Rogers]

Why? What are you looking for in a new one that doesn't exist in the current
one?

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Mr. Jon Pope]

Well I don't do gaming or video editing I just wanted to bring the board up
to date. I do have 4gb of pc-800 ram also

 

[Leroy]

ASUS M3A78-CM AM2+/AM2 AMD 780V Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131330&Tpk=asus m3a78-cm

 

[Just Me]

And whether you have a retail version of Vista or only an oem version might
have some relevence

Only in the legality sense it seems. I have used an OEM version to
install the OS when major parts have been changed. I didn't even need
to phone Microsoft.

 

[Mr. Jon Pope]

Well I was hoping that a newer board would accept the 5400 x2 so that in
time then I could replace the cpu. Since I am on Social Security

 

[Dominic Payer]

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socket_AM3

If you want the possibility of a CPU upgrade later you will need a board
with an AM2+ socket, so that you could fit either an AM2+ or AM3 CPU.

But when you are ready to upgrade, neither of these may be in current
production and/or the current CPU versions may not be compatible with
the motherboard without a BIOS upgrade which the board manufacturer
might not produce.

 

[Mr. Jon Pope]

Yes I know that. In time I want to replace the CPU but right now I just need
suggestions on a current motherboard, not 1 that is 3 years old. In time I
might look at the Pheom 2 or 3 but not right now

 

[Dominic Payer]

Since you are not gaming or doing video editing, and have not suggested
that you do anything else which is processor intensive, I do not think
that replacing either or both the motherboard and processor will bring
you any advantage.

The only reason I would replace the motherboard is if there was a need
for something your current board did not have. Even then, it is usually
possible, and much less expensive, to fit an add-in card to fill the
need rather than replace the board.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Well I don't do gaming or video editing I just wanted to bring the board up
to date. I do have 4gb of pc-800 ram also

Your choice of course, but in my view bringing the board "up to date"
is meaningless. Unless you have a real objective in terms of
performance or compatibility with hardware, what you are suggesting
will just be a waste of money.

 

[Mr. Jon Pope]

OK Ken and Dominic I finally agree with you. It is a waste of time and
money. So I will not replace it. The only reason why I was thinking now was
in time getting a better CPU that would be compatible with the x2 and maybe
a Phenom 2 or 3 that way all I had to do was replace the CPU in time

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

OK Ken and Dominic I finally agree with you.

Glad to hear it and you're welcome.

It is a waste of time and
money. So I will not replace it. The only reason why I was thinking now was
in time getting a better CPU that would be compatible with the x2 and maybe
a Phenom 2 or 3 that way all I had to do was replace the CPU in time

But two more points here:

1. Depending on what CPU you want and what motherboard you have, the
new CPU may or may not work. Your motherboard will only accept some
CPUs.

2. A new CPU may improve your performance, *but* -

a. what it will do for performance depends on what apps you
run. Some apps are very sensitive to the speed of the CPU, but others
are not. To take an extreme exampled, if you converted to the fastest
available CPU, you would likely see no improvement at all in the
performance of Solitaire.

b. Are you unhappy with your current performance? Unless you
are, having a faster CPU may make little of no difference to you. If I
replaced my Toyota Camry with a Ferrari, yes, I could go faster, but
no, I never would.

c. If you are unhappy with performance, there are several
possible improvements you might make. Depending on what hardware you
have and what apps you run, your biggest bottleneck might be something
other than the CPU. For example, many people will often see a bigger
performance boost by adding more RAM rather than upgrading the CPU.

 

[STAN STARINSKI]

Faster clockspeeds also generate more RF radiation, and will kill you w8ith
brain cancer MWAHAHAHAHA
But I am dead serious. For hours & days, when performing research, I'd
rather be on my HP Netbook with its ultralow voltage CPU, low-intensity
Organic Display or Kindle which drawsa no power while text is displayed, and
it's not shining - it's reflectign like like PAPER.
Healthy, natural.

If you think to replace CPU with Phenom or add 16GB memory to run
wordprocessing, or even Excel spreadsheets, I tlel you this:
REPLACE YORU BRAIN, as it's relaly stupid.