CPU for my pc of choice...

[SirChick]

Ok i have chosen to buy this pc :

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...uct_uid=102523



And i wanted to know if it will support a dual core CPU ? But i duno the terminology of it all. My mate said it wouldnt cos was something to do with the socket type ? I dont know to be honest but perhaps you can check for me ! The specifications are shown on the link.

[dom_xbox]

My understanding of AMD Cpus are that they usually have something that indicates they are dual core..

the 64bit 3400+ does not... but it is 64bit compatible (for windows xp/vista 64bit editions) I think the dual core cpus are the X2 and the opterons... ummm they will have something on their too stating they are.. for that price i would be very suprised if it was a dual core system.

[scrandman]

Hard to be absolutely sure, but I'd say no.

AMD only officially released the 3400 rated A64 on the S754 platform which does not support dual core.

It may be that ACER got AMD to specially manufacture S939 A3400 CPUs (not unheard of) in which case it might. Failing that it looks like its a no go.

[moose82]

Did a bit of rummaging and found the following on a retailers site for that pc.
It IS a socket 754 board and so will not take a dual core processor (they require a 939 socket)

3 ( 2 ) x PCI
1 ( 1 ) x PCI Express x16
1 ( 0 ) x processor - Socket 754
4 memory - DIMM 184-PIN
1 ( 1 ) x CompactFlash Card - type I/II
1 ( 1 ) x SD Memory Card
1 ( 1 ) x SmartMedia Card
1 ( 1 ) x Memory Stick
1 ( 1 ) x xD-Picture Card

Still the 3400+ should be pretty good for a while.

[FatalSaviour]

I haven't looked at anything, but AFAIK, the 3400+ CPU was only made in S754 format.
So Moose is correct. There have been/and are unlikely ever to be, and dual core CPUs made for that socket.

AMD Dual core CPUs are in S939 and AM2 flavours

[moose82]

Sorry should have added the New AM2 bit in there too, sorry (940pin)

[SirChick]

Ok is there a way to change the socket to a 939 or do i need a whole new Mother Board? Or is the mother board seperate to this socket your on about, I've never heard of sockets before so i dont know what im talking about, so i could of just said mother board when it may not be related
The main reason i wanted the dual core is cos my activities on the pc requires very fast speeds, im getting the pc up to 4 gig of ram, once i have purchased it, and a nice lovely fast sound card for recording music.

I do alot of film editing and music recording so i thought dual core would help alot.

[nichomach]

Buy a different PC. Look, you would need to replace the motherboard completely. Assuming that you could, from what you're saying, you don't know what a socket is so you'd be hard pressed to upgrade the CPU. Assuming that you upgraded the motherboard, CPU and memory correctly, that assumes that the power supply could handle it, which it probably couldn't, you'd still spend more than you would on getting a suitable dual core machine to start with.

Why have you settled on this machine? It's an obsolescent spec, it's not got that much grunt and if you're doing a lot of audio encoding it's a very poor choice. If you're looking at pre-built AMD, look at Evesham's Axis series. Either that or if you decide to go Intel, then look at something like the Dimension 5150 (NOT the 5150C, the 5150) or the Dimension 9150, and make sure you get a dual-core Pentium.

[-ChEM-]

for games everyone will say get an A64 or wait for an intel core2duo, but as youve got different priorities you would be ok with an old (i.e current releases) intel and theyre crashing in price at the moment... but if you want to play games too you can get the best of both worlds with a dual core AM2, the DDR2 support will help for what you want to do unlike all the gamers for whom its exactly the same or worse speed-wise

edit: by the way to add to the "that machine sucks ass" list, it will be single channel memory and most likely the board will only hold 3 dimms for that reason, and even if it does hold 4 dimms you will have to cut the speed back to DDR333 as only venice and san diego cores (plus all the dual core chips) can handle 4 dimms properly... and for video editting you will really notice a bandwidth drop like that