Upgrading 939 CPU, how to do it?

[shredman]

Hey guys, I just bought an Opty 185 from Newegg (they are $222 now) and want to drop it into my DFI Ultra D motherboard and replace my San Diego 3700 which is currently OC to 2.7. What do I need to do to make that happen? What I can figure out so far is that I need a Dual Core Patch?? from AMD and then I just swap out the CPUs. Anything else?

 

[myocardia]

I'd suggest getting one of the later BIOS's, from this page. You'll also need both the dual-core driver and the dual-core optimizer, from this page. You'll also have to change the HAL in Windows from uniprocessor to multiprocessor, assuming you don't want to reload Windows, although reloading Windoze seems to work slightly better, I've found.

 

[shredman]

Thanks Myocardia, esp for including the links. I'd prefer not to reinstall windows if possible. Can anyone else comment on the success of doing it without a windows reinstall?

 

[Gronich]

No need to reinstall Windows - You need to go into Device Manager and update the driver for the Computer from ACPI Uniprocessor PC to ACPI Multiprocessor PC - reboot and voila! Two processor with appear in Task Manager!

If you would like me to post the exact steps let me know; but it is as simple as that.

 

[shredman]

Gronich, that's good news....woohoo! Ok, I guess I'm not keen enough to know the exact process, but here is what I think I need to do.

1. backup everything
2. download the Dual Core Driver and Dual Core Optimizer and INSTALL
3. Go into Device manager and update the driver from Uniprocessor to ACPI multiprocessor
(how do I do this? I've found it in device manager, but do I "update driver"?? and where do I get it?)
4. Do I need to reset my bios to defaults for it to detect the new CPU? I'm currently overclocking my 3700
4. Turn off computer and pop in the new CPU

Anything else? Can anyone suggest a bios? or is mine ok, (in my sig)

thanks guys, I'm really excited to get this CPU!

 

[Gronich]

Okay

1) Probably no need to backup up but better safe than sorry!
2) Load all necessary drivers...
3) Go into device manager; expand the Computer tab to show ACPI Multiprocessor PC; Right click ACPI...Tab and click properties; click driver tab; click update driver and click next when the "Upgrade Device Driver Wizard" appears; Select Display a list...driver and this screen and click next; Select Show all hardware...class this should bring up a Model list i.e. ACPI Multiprocessor PC; ACPI Uniprocessor PC etc. select ACPI Multiprocessor PC and click Next and next again this will copy/enable the drivers and ask you to reboot when it's finished.

*** Note I have never seen and installation which doesn't have the other processor drivers installed but if so you may need you OS install disks - These instructions are for Win2K but XP is very similar if not the same-I've no experience with Vista as yet! ***

4) BIOS will automatically detect the new chip but definately reset the BIOS as the new chip probably will require re-optimising for the Mobo.

5) I would do things in the following order:

i) Backup everything
ii) Reset BIOS
iii) Install new CPU
iv) Install Dual Core Drivers etc. (Download them before you start this process)
v) Update device driver from Uni to Multiprocessor & reboot
vi) Check in the task manager that you have two processors showing under Performance and CPU History.
vii) Marvel at the wonders of Dual Core Processing :thumbsup:

 

[shredman]

Ok, Thanks, that is perfect. The CPU is sched. to arrive on the 31st, so I will post my results if all goes well.

Now, to look into what kind of overclock I can get out of an Opty 185....

 

[shredman]

Hmm, I've been looking at the AMD forums and there seems to be some discussion about the Dual Core Optimizer and Opterons....It seems that if you disable Cool N Quiet, you many not need or want to install the dual core optimizer. Here is a sample of the discussion...

http://forums.amd.com/forum/messageview...85379&highlight_key=y&keyword1=opteron

The files I think I need to install are:
-AMD Dual-Core Optimizer
-AMD Athlon? 64 X2 Dual Core Processor Driver for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 Version (x86 and x64 exe) 1.3.2.16

Is this correct?

 

[zylander]

Does the DFI LP Tultra-D even support Opteron CPUs? I have the same mobo and found a good deal on a Opty 165 but when I went on DFIs site it says it supports A64/A64FX and sempron.


edit: nm, did some more checking and it does support opteron, sorry bout that.

 

[SickBeast]

I'm actually wondering if I should upgrade my Opteron 144 to a dual core.

I do alot of multitasking.

The thing is, I'm a gamer and I have this chip at 2.7ghz.

 

[MarcVenice]

you could get a cheap opteron 165 and oc it to 2.7

 

[shredman]

Any more discussion on Dual Core Optimizer use?

The new CPU arrives tomorrow, so any help is appreciated.

 

[Puffnstuff]

Originally posted by: zylander
Does the DFI LP Tultra-D even support Opteron CPUs? I have the same mobo and found a good deal on a Opty 165 but when I went on DFIs site it says it supports A64/A64FX and sempron.


edit: nm, did some more checking and it does support opteron, sorry bout that.

Yes I put a 175 on my sons mb and it works great.

 

[Amaroque]

You shouldn't have to really do anything besides update the BIOS, just drop it in. Windows will automatically install the multiprocessor kernel. I've done this on a half dozen computers already (you may need the windows CD).

Make sure you put all your BIOS OC options to default though. Then start OCing the chip from default.

Like myocardia said, update your BIOS first, this is important.

IIRC, the dual core patch is for CnQ only.

 

[Teetu]

what about the MS hotfix for dual cores? is this not very critical?

 

[Amaroque]

You can D/L that from windows update after you get everything running though.

 

[Noubourne]

I went from 3000+ to Opty 165. I just plugged it in and that was it. It was auto-detected (Win XP) immediately. Installed those two drivers for good measure, and then cranked the holy hell out of it.

 

[Amaroque]

Originally posted by: Noubourne
I went from 3000+ to Opty 165. I just plugged it in and that was it. It was auto-detected (Win XP) immediately. Installed those two drivers for good measure, and then cranked the holy hell out of it.

Yep, thats pretty much it. :thumbsup:

Make sure your BIOS is updated to recognize dual core CPU's though, that's the only critical step.

 

[shredman]

Ok, I think I have everything working fine....only up for 20mins so far, but keeping my fingers crossed...

1. I removed all the o/c settings on my old CPU and reset the bios (cleared cmos, loaded optimized defaults)
2. Installed a new bios from OCZ Tony 0704-2bta and then cleared cmos, loaded opt defaults
3. Booted to windows and removed the old CPU in Hardware settings
4. Went into bios and reset/clear cmos
5. Installed new CPU
6. on first boot, went into bios and loaded optimized defaults
7. booted to windows, it found my new dual core and installed multi processor acpi
8. installed AMD Dual Core Patch, reboot
9. installed AMD Dual Core Optimizer, reboot
10. Smiled

A couple of weird things did happen. The first time I tried to install the Dual Core Optimizer, my system hung about 1/3 way through....I let it sit for 30 mins but gave up hope. I rebooted and it wasn't in the add/remove programs control panel, so I redownloaded (to be safe) and reinstalled...it installed in about 2 seconds this time????

Also, the first few boots into windows it only detected SOME of my RAM. Sometimes 496mb or 524 or 1.25 gigs, anyway, after rebooting after installing the dual core optimizer, it detected it correctly??? Go figure. Not sure if that was a coincidence (I think it was).

Thanks and I will post more details as they emerge.

 

[myocardia]

I'm not surprised that the dual core optimizer hung while installing; as far it could tell, you didn't have an AMD dual core processor, since you didn't install the AMD dual core driver first. Also, if you're a gamer, you'll want to install the dual core optimizer-- it has alot more "fixes" than just enabling CnQ.

 

[shredman]

Myocardia, actually I did install the dual core driver first (I just called it "patch" above by mistake) and then rebooted, then tried to install the dual core optimizer, which hung the first time.