BleepingComputer.com: Will this CPU work w/ this Motherboard (specs)

Hi all,

I am putting together a system, and I am not sure if this CPU will be compatible with the motherboard. I know, it is a little dated, but the price point is what we can afford at this time. What confuses me at this point is the whole FSB/1000MHz Hyper Transport (2000 MT/s) thing...

I can't seem to find, or at least understand if the CPU I have chosen is correct, spec wise.

Here is the CPU - AMD Athlon X2 5800+ 3.0ghz 1MB SOCKET AM2 ADA5800IAA5DO CPU OEM

And here is the mobo - Foxconn M61PMV AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro ATX AMD

I also noted this in neweggs specs - "*Designed for low power CPU's 95w and lower." This CPU is listed at 89 watt. Still under the limit, but close? Or is that considered okay?

And, am I okay on the specs otherwise, FSB, etc.?

Thanks for putting up with my noob questions!

I think it should work just fine

Don't worry about the FSB. The motherboard has a 95W limit. So long as the processor is at or under that limit, you're good to go.

DJBPace07, on Oct 13 2009, 05:18 PM, said:

Thanks guys - A few more questions;

1 - Where does the FSB figure into the equation when selection a processor?

2 - And, is this processor a dual core? I am kinda hazy on understanding dual/quad core & how they work w/ system & programs.


3 - Does a certain program have to be configured to work with multiple cores? In other words, will multiple cores come into play during "general" computing?

4 - How about something such as viewing tv on the pc? That can be processor intensive, streaming video. Will a dual/quad core cpu be beneficial in those instances?

Thanks!

1 - Where does the FSB figure into the equation when selection a processor?

It all depends. In reference to what? In general, FSB used to connote a standard data rate for processing speed....but that's kind of changed. Read all about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front-side_bus.

2 - And, is this processor a dual core? I am kinda hazy on understanding dual/quad core & how they work w/ system & programs.

Yes, all Athlon X2 processors are dual-core.

3 - Does a certain program have to be configured to work with multiple cores? In other words, will multiple cores come into play during "general" computing?

No, it's all determined by program coding, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-core.

4 - How about something such as viewing tv on the pc? That can be processor intensive, streaming video. Will a dual/quad core cpu be beneficial in those instances?

Viewing TV is not CPU-intensive. Rendering video files (saving them. converting them, etc.) IS CPU/RAM intensive. That being said, the general public has been rendering video files since the days of Duron 900-series CPUs...today's processors just do it faster.

If the software is written so that it takes advantage of the mulitcores...not all software will...then multicore processors shorten the time that it takes to process/render a video file...compared to what it formerly would have been.

Louis

Quote

I guess what I am looking at for this would be a video card with a high ram amount, since that is basically what I want to use this pc for. It will mainly be used for viewing tv via. streaming internet programs.

Thanks so much for the good info. & links. I will read up on them. I have read some of the wiki articles in the past, but it is kind of hard to keep up with all the changing architecture when you don't do builds/upgrades all the time.

I don't think recent versions of AMD CPU's even use FSB. I think they use HyperTransport. With AMD processors, it is easy to tell which ones are dual and which ones are quad core since their names have an X2 or an X4 in them. Not all programs can use multiple cores, however. A video card doesn't always need a large RAM amount on them. 512MB of VRAM is acceptable for most people with 19-inch monitors or smaller, people using multiple monitors, gamers, or monitors larger than 19 inches should have 1GB or greater VRAM amounts on their graphics cards. As for system RAM, 4GB is good for most users but gamers or people wanting performance, get more. You will need a 64-bit operating system to use 4GB or more of RAM. You will also need a TV tuner to be installed on your PC and many will not decrypt some of the digital encrypted channels.

Thanks for all the info. As I mentioned, I will be using this pc (mostly) for viewing TV streams from the internet, out of the S-video & into my CRT tv (for now) Plan to upgrade to a big screen LCD TV in the future. At that time, I suppose an HDMI input would be in order, but for now, s-vid works fine.

Since I am viewing free streams, I do not have a need for a tv tuner card. I have used those in the past, but I have since ditched "pay" tv. It is a dream to watch streaming tv, as there are very limited commercial interruptions for most shows, and pretty much all the channels feature a full large screen without that annoying tv channel logo in the lower right corner.



Any more thoughts or suggestion, I am interested in hearing.