[lousq7]

Due to the visual quality of the games and applications i run on my computer, im desperately in need of upgrading my processor. this is the computer im currently using

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/setupCategory?product=3239113&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en

the only hardware that i've upgraded is the ram and the video card. the motherboard that this computer sports is http://www.ascendtech.us/itemdesc.asp?ic=MB64HPNAOSGL6&eq=&Tp=

i've done some research to find that this motherboard will not support a dual core processor, which is what im looking to get. i now want to upgrade the motherboard so i can use a dual-core, but im afraid if i upgrade it there will be all sorts of conflicts with the hardware and nothing will work. using the link of my computer that i provided, can anyone tell me what motherboard will support an athlon dual-core 4400+ and the rest of the hardware of my computer such as the hard drive and power supply? any help is greatly appreciated

 

[koala]

Hi, welcome to TSF

Do you already have the 4400+ or is it a CPU that has been recommended to you? If you haven't bought it yet, you might want to consider an Intel dual core which is much higher quality for about the same price.

Do you have any other parts from your current PC that you will be using in the new build? Is you hard drive IDE or SATA?

What make/model is your PSU, and how long have you had it? The power output from all PSUs decreases over time, so it might not be strong enough to handle the upgrade.

Your current motherboard's maximum RAM type is PC2-5300 240-pin DDR2. Are you using this or the lower speed PC-4200? Most new motherboards support faster RAM, but they are backwards compatible so you can use your existing RAM without any problems.

What graphics card did you upgrade to? Will your new motherboard need onboard graphics and/or sound capabilities?

How many SATA ports will you need? Do you also need external ports like Firewire or e-SATA?

You might need to do a repair install of Windows to recognise the new motherboard, but we'll come to that later.