Hi guys. I have a MSI K9A2 CF motherboard and was wondering if you guys can answer a few questions for me. Right now i have a quad core AMD Phenom II 9500 cpu, which is a AM2+ chip set. I wanna get the AMD Phenom II X4 965, but that is a AM3 chip set. I wanna know if i can put that onto my existing motherboard.
According to the CPU support list,
MSI Global ? Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop, Mainboard, Graphics and more
yes. Just need to have the 7388v18 bios.
Sorry, bot enough coffee when I typed that, should be v1B, not v18.
Sure, you could update your BIOS now, and it wouldn't hurt.
Just be sure to update it sometime before you upgrade your CPU.
Just to add to the already posted posts, even though the X4 965 is AM3, it is backward compatible with AM2+. Thus, you won't be seeing the stated performance associated with this processor if it were installed in an AM3 motherboard. But you should still get good performance from it.
A reason to go with the AM3: Upgrading PC
By buying an AM3 now, you could buy a AM3 motherboard later down the road and use the AM3 CPU you already have instead of needing to purchase another CPU.
AM2+CPU(1)>AM3CPU>AM3Mobo
But, if you get the AM2+, then if you plan on upgrading again, you will need to buy a new AM3 CPU when you get a new mobo that has AM3.
AM2+CPU(1)>AM2+CPU(2)>AM3CPU>AM3Mobo
Other than that, all other posters are probably right:
AM2+ will be cheaper (probably)
AM3 CPU wont ge the same performance in the AM2+ board as it would in an AM3 board.
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