"Downgraded" FX-55 to X2 4600+

Thanks to all for previous advice.

My upgrade (Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe) from FX-55 to 4600+ went smoothly.

To answer the biggest question: I did NOT have to reinstall Windows XP!
Windows XP Pro recognized the second CPU (i.e core) immediately. (This was
my biggest worry, as NT 4.0 Workstation and Windows 2000 Professional
required complete reinstallation when upgrading from single to dual CPU.)

System runs very smoothly - of course, multitasking is smoother when
programs are trying to hog the whole system as compared to the FX-55. I
haven't done (nor will I) any benchmarking. I figured that the 2.4GHz
512KB L2 "downgrade" (from 2.6 GHz 1MB L2) would be no more than a 5-10%
overall CPU speed hit, which would not be noticeable to me in overall
system performance (even in games). And on the contrary, given that its
now TWO CPU's at this slightly reduced speed, the smoother multitasking
when video render operations (for example) try to hog the system more than
make up the difference. I also figure that even while running a game, the
second core can be handling the software firewall, antivirus, etc., duties,
again making up for the 5-10% raw CPU speed reduction. I am extremely
happy with this upgrade.

I will say that I had a heck of a time getting any of the utilities to show
me that "Cool 'N Quiet" was operating. I had to install ALL of the AMD
utilities on their web site, despite the fact that they seem to overlap in
functionality, and Asus' Cool & Quiet utility (despite the fact that it's
included driver is way older), the AMD dashboard demo, etc. It was only
after installing all of these, and finally the AMD dashboard in
desparation, that finally Cool and Quiet seemed to be working properly.
Suddenly, all of my utilities could see it working. Works fine now.

fsda wrote in
:

Thanks to all for previous advice.

My upgrade (Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe) from FX-55 to 4600+ went smoothly.

To answer the biggest question: I did NOT have to reinstall Windows
XP! Windows XP Pro recognized the second CPU (i.e core) immediately.
(This was my biggest worry, as NT 4.0 Workstation and Windows 2000
Professional required complete reinstallation when upgrading from
single to dual CPU.)

No you don't

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;234558

"Peter Strömberg" wrote in
. 4:

fsda wrote in
:

Thanks to all for previous advice.

My upgrade (Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe) from FX-55 to 4600+ went smoothly.

To answer the biggest question: I did NOT have to reinstall Windows
XP! Windows XP Pro recognized the second CPU (i.e core) immediately.
(This was my biggest worry, as NT 4.0 Workstation and Windows 2000
Professional required complete reinstallation when upgrading from
single to dual CPU.)

No you don't

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;234558


Thanks - I was not aware that Win2000 could be switched without reinstall.
I had forgotten about the NT 4.0 utility (it came with the Resource Kit,
but there were some downsides to using this in place of reinstall).


BTW, I have noticed that the 4600+ is significantly cooler in operation
than the FX-55. Originally, I was not expecting this, as the Wattage
rating for the 4600+ is a few Watts higher. However, I now realize that
this total rated power consumption is for when both cores are operating at
whole hog (i.e. 100% utilization). With both the FX-55 and the 4600+ using
Cool 'N Quiet, I am finding the 4600+ to be running about 10C cooler in
typical operation.

I haven't checked temperature yet under gaming conditions (i.e. 100%
utilization of one core for long periods), but based on the above I'd bet
it'll still be a lot cooler than the FX-55.