Doing a little upgrading to my computer?

[booger68]

Hi All,
I am doing a little upgrading to my older asus board that i bought last year from computers plus.It was a model that they did not sell and well that experience is what made me build my tv computer.

I have an asus m2n-e mother board it is an am2 chip style board but on the cpu support page it says that it can be upgraded to an am3 chip with a bios change.

So i got this cpu
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb
Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ955FBGMBOX

Then i got these 2 hardrives
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
One for each computer for data only.

This one will replace my 150 gig seagate in the amd computer i am posting about.
Western Digital Caviar Black WD7502AAEX 750GB
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD7502AAEX 750GB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Does this look like a decent upgrade?
The cpu in the system is a single core that came with this old dell that computers plus hammered me on last year.

I have the bios upgrade already downloaded but i have not unzipped it or anything.

Is there a way to transition all of my files and operating system over to the 750 gig hardrive that is pretty easy?
Or i guess i am asking what should i do to make this the most stable move without losing any information or programs?

I am running xp on this computer.My other one is windows 7 would i be better off upgrading to windows 7 or would it be an easyer transition if i stuck with xp?


Thanks for any help or advice
booger

[glc]

Go to Western Digital's website and download Acronis True Image WD Edition. You can use that to "clone" one hard drive to another.

[booger68]

Thanks GLC,

I hope this goes as smooth as my first build.That would be great.

Do you know if there will be much trouble going from am2 socket to am3 socket on the cpu?

thanks
booger

[booger68]

Hey all,
Another question should i update my bios before i install my new cpu?

thanks
Booger

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by booger68 Hey all, Another question should i update my bios before i install my new cpu? thanks Booger

yes, if you want it to post

[booger68]

Thanks jdeb,
I have the upgrade file saved in the my documents folder i unzipped it and tried to use the asus update and it said that this versiion is later than the current one and that i needed to flash using the asus dos utility.Would it work if i tried to do it from the internet?

thanks for any help
booger

[jdeb]

do you need to flash the BIOS then? You don't want to go backwards if you are not having any issues. What version is your BIOS now? If it is 5001 or greater, you are good to go.

[booger68]

Yes i need to flash the bios.It is older than 5001.I thought that the asus updater would do that but i gues not.

I looked into my bios and it says that an eternal is the 3rd one for boot so i could put asus flah program on that or could i just use there disc then put the 5001 file update on the thumbdrive.Just wanting to get my ducks in a row before i start pulling stuff out.

Should i clone my drive with the single core cpu to my 750 gig hd before i do my bios upgrade?What order should i go with this?

[jdeb]

follow the directions in your manual for updating your BIOS. I think the easiest way is EZ Flash 2. Insert the flash drive and turn the pc on and you hit alt and F2 to bring it up. Double check the manual for the rest of the procedure.

It is always good to back up your files, do what you are comfortable with.

In terms of moving your user profile and stuff over to Windows 7 check this video out (you may need to install silverlight). It is pretty straight forward and simple to understand. I use the User State Migration Tool.
Migrate User Files, Settings - Windows XP to Windows 7 | TechNet

or just clone it like glc said, probably easiest.

[booger68]

Thanks jdeb,

I wonder if i could save the file to a disk then leave it in the tray and try that.It is a bin file i looked at a couple of post on the asus forums and they where talking about rom files,so i guess i will try it.
I might just go buy another thumb drive because it said something about formating to a fat 32 .

I am currently formating my drive so that it will be recognized buy windows it is the e drive right now.

Will i be able to switch it to the c drive after i clone my op system or if i go with win 7 can i just do it on this drive and leave it as is?Then mayby drag my files over as i need them?

Thanks
booger

[glc]

Do NOT install Windows on the "E" drive - you probably forgot to disconnect a card reader or external drive before you started.

[booger68]

Thanks glc,
I plugged my 750 gig hd into an open slot then i formated it to ntfs it automatically assigned the drive as the e drive.What should i have done to make this my primary drive? And what can i do to fix this?

It was not recognized in windows when i plugged it up so i did a little reading and found that i needed to format and assighn a letter.

Please help!!

thanks

booger

[glc]

To make it the primary drive, you must disconnect ALL other drives and install Windows on it from scratch. The ONLY other way is to clone your existing primary drive to it using boot media, NOT using the cloning software from within Windows. Then you must disconnect ALL other drives and boot the newly cloned drive into Windows.

[booger68]

Ok i see.

Is there a way i can take the E designation from it and use acronis to do this?
Or did i already mess up buy formating it as the E drive?
if i use acronis will it reformat and do everything that i need it to then i can unplug the old and move the new to its spot?
is this how i would do this?

sorry for being a pain but i have never done this before.

Thanks
booger

[booger68]

Ok i got the cloned drive in and the cpu in rebooted first go around it said windows was missing some kind of a kernnel file .I restarted and it took off recognized everything and all.

Is there some kind of an update i can do to take care of the kernnel issue just so that it does not happen again?

Also is there some kind of a back up or something that i can do so it saves all of this info?

Is there a way to check on the cpu heat and all to make sure all is well with the guts of this thing?

thanks for all of your help GLC & JDEB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BOOGER

[David M]

If you list specifically what it says then that might help.

[booger68]

Sorry David,

I did not right it down.I wonder if there is a way to look in a log file or something like that? Well hopefully it will not happen again. But it probably will i have been too lucky doing this stuff it is bound to change.

Thanks for the reply though.
booger

[glc]

You can use Acronis in the image mode to create a backup to be stored on a different drive, internal or external.

You can install Asus Probe to monitor temperatures and voltages.

[booger68]

I am having some issues i beleive it may be with the bios upgrade.I had a couple of failure to post and a couple of what looked like failure to read my os.it said something like please insert disk then press enter it would not even let me into the bios.

I was thinking of upgrading to win7 but when i did the win7 test it said that my processor was only doing 810 it is a 3.25ghz so does this mean that i neeed to get another motherboard to take full advantage of my processor?

this is the motherboard i have now

ASUSTeK Computer Inc. - Motherboards- ASUS M2N-E

Or can i do anything to this one so i can take full advantage of my cpu.

Sorry for all the questions but this is very tricky for a new person working on computers!!

I seem to be having some trouble with my cloned os when i restart it says insert disk and hit enter but my keyboard is not even powered up during the start up i have to insert my win7 disk then it will start up xp and my keyboard is working but i cant get to bios do you guys have any idea what i can do? Is there a way to get into my bios from xp?

Thanks for any advice and for all of the help you folks have already given me!!!

booger

[booger68]

Well it looks like maybe my motherboard is not up to the cpu i have picked.I went to amds website and they showed that thi board would work.

Newegg.com - ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890GX HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

Do you think it would be a good one to get? What would be the most stable memory to get for it? DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1333/1066 ,i dont think i will be doing any overclocking but i would like to get the most out of my cpu so something that will be stable with some mild gaming for right now.My youngest son has been playing some games and such but nothing i think will need a dedicted card for yet.

Also could you recomend a psu that would be upgradeable for some time buy once cry once kind of things.

also the reason i am giving up on my old mb is that it seems to have my keyboard locked out of the bios.I tried another keyboard and also went and got a ps2 adapter all no good.
Windows will boot no problem if i have my keyboard unhooked but if it is hooked up it says to insert disk and hit enter.I cant hit enter so that is a no go there.

I have gotten this winroot system 32 ntos krnl.exe failure a few times also this is getting pretty funny now so it is time to end the games and do it right.

thanks
booger

[glc]

Get DDR3-1333. Corsair, Crucial, Kingston, or A-Data. Dual channel pair.

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

[booger68]

Thanks GLC, JDEB

Would this be the motherboard to go with,

http://www.pcmech.com/forum/newreply...82E16813131631

I think i may want to do ahead and get a mid range video card also while i am inside this thing so could you folks recomend a good one for around 200.00 ?
Would that get me a good enough video card to hook up to the tv for him to play games with? the one above has an onboard video if i go with another video card would you folks reccomend going with one that does not have onbord video or stick with the one above?

Also would the motherboard above have to be overclocked and such?The one i have now is only recognizing my cpu at 800 mhz if i went with the newer one would it recognize my cpu full specs or would i have to do the bios upgrades and all the other tweaking i am having trouble with on the old board?

thanks
booger

[David M]

It does not take much graphics power to run a TV for images that come from media, like a DVD.

For games that is a complex answer because it depends largely on which games he plays. Many games can be played on a $200 card but not the more graphically intensive games without lowering game settings, resolution and frame rates. For simpler more basic games it would be fine.

[booger68]

Thanks DavidM,
Would i be able to get a card that would give say xbox performance on this price or ps3?

[glc]

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: April 2011 : April Updates

[David M]

Originally Posted by booger68 Thanks DavidM, Would i be able to get a card that would give say xbox performance on this price or ps3?

The graphics hardware in an X-Box and the graphics for a PC are two different animals so it's hard to determine equivalency. But having seen the graphics of an X-Box, I would say they are pretty close to the same although there can be differences for the same game between a console and a PC. Images for games for consoles are "dumbed down" so they do not run too slow compared to their PC equivalents, which provide better image quality. I know that's not a great answer but I would say you would be in the same ballpark with a $200 graphics card. If he finds a $200 card is not fast enough then most retailers will accept them back within 30 days, some with a restocking fee...so he can buy a faster card. Some card manufacturers have an upgrade program with no penalties for buying a faster card.

[booger68]

Well does it look like i have everything?

Newegg.com - Nippon Labs Premium 0.5M (1.64 ft.) SATA Cable with 1 Right Angle Connector for SATA I and SATA II Hard Drive Model SATA-0.5MR

Newegg.com - ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890GX HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

Newegg.com - HIS H685F1GD Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

Newegg.com - CORSAIR XMS3 DHX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TW3X4G1333C9DHX

Is there anything else i need that you folks can think of?
Does it all look compatable?

thanks
booger

[glc]

Why are you buying a SATA cable? It appears that the motherboard comes with 4 of them.

That's pretty expensive ram - seems to me you can get a 2x2 set of quality brand 1333 for about 40 bucks.