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CPU Upgrade

Seek assistance with all types of tech. - computer, phone, TV, heating controls etc.
ReformedCharacter
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Re: CPU Upgrade

#152932

Postby ReformedCharacter » July 17th, 2018, 3:43 pm

GeoffF100 wrote:I have no problems in identifying the motherboard. It is an Intel D945GCNL D97184-102.

If the first two sections do not match, your desktop board was manufactured for a specific third-party manufacturer. You should contact that manufacturer for help with your board."[/i]



Yes, but you should be able to find an ID for the specific third-party manufacturer (I would have thought).

RC

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Re: CPU Upgrade

#152953

Postby GeoffF100 » July 17th, 2018, 4:55 pm

Here is the manufacturer:

https://www.stonegroup.co.uk/

I have a serial number for the computer and a serial number for the mother board.

I do not expect that Intel has written special firmware for Stone, but Stone has clearly entered information into the BIOS information fields. I expect the BIOS version is blank to prevent end users from updating it. I expect Stone got a bulk discount on the basis that Intel would not provide any end user support.

However, the minimum BIOS version for the existing processor and the new one is the same, so I do not expect that will be a problem.

If the worst comes to the worst, I have a power supply, hard drive and DVD drive. The case is rather cramped, but I have a flying start for a new build.

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Re: CPU Upgrade

#154785

Postby GeoffF100 » July 24th, 2018, 6:58 pm

The used Core 2 Duo has arrived. It was sent by airmail from Hong Kong before the start of eBay's delivery window. All nicely packaged with a little sachet of thermal paste. There is note in broken English saying if I want to return it contact them directly and not via eBay. Hmm... I will have to find time to install the processor. Hopefully, it will work, or failing that, not trash the motherboard.

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Re: CPU Upgrade

#155642

Postby GeoffF100 » July 27th, 2018, 4:53 pm

I appear to have a success! I have booted Lubuntu and System Information is now showing my Core 2 Duo. The Blowfish benchmark has improved from 10.81 seconds to 6.49 seconds. Psensor is showing much the same CPU core temperatures as before. Removing the Intel cooler was not difficult. I cleaned off the old thermal paste with meths and coffee filter paper, which is supposed not to leave a residue. The used Core 2 Duo came with a little sachet of thermal compound, so I used that. Removing the Pentium and installing the Core 2 Duo was easy. I used latex gloves to do that (Intel recommends gloves). Reinstalling the cooler was tricky, but I eventually managed it.

I now have a processor with about twice the processing power as before, and about twice that of an entry level Chromebook. I now also have 2 GB of RAM with dual channel operation, up from 1 GB with single channel operation. Web browsing is now impressively fast with Firefox.

The machine still has the old 250GB SATA II hard drive. Boot time is about 40 seconds, and does not appear to have been speeded up by the processor upgrade. Adding an SSD should not be too difficult, and would cost me about £30, which is about what the computer is worth. Nonetheless, it is an amazingly capable machine, considering its age (about 10 years).

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Re: CPU Upgrade

#155651

Postby Breelander » July 27th, 2018, 5:47 pm

GeoffF100 wrote:I appear to have a success!...


Congratulations! You had me worried a bit back with the 'broken English' remarks that you had been scammed. But apparently not, you found an honest eBay retailer (what are the chances of that?) ;)

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Re: CPU Upgrade

#155670

Postby GeoffF100 » July 27th, 2018, 7:21 pm

Breelander wrote:Congratulations! You had me worried a bit back with the 'broken English' remarks that you had been scammed. But apparently not, you found an honest eBay retailer (what are the chances of that?) ;)

Yes, I am very impressed with the retailer. Very quick. Nicely packaged. I even got some thermal paste. That saved me about £3. I expect that eBay publishes return stats, and the retailer wants to game that by getting people to contact them direct rather than by going through eBay. I expect that used processors have a significant chance of failure. I do not expect that everyone checks thoroughly for compatibility, and it only takes tiny speck of dirt to spoil the show. If eBay asks me for feedback I will be very positive. Given the xenophobia that is around nowadays, it is good to see international commerce working well.

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Re: CPU Upgrade

#156404

Postby GeoffF100 » July 31st, 2018, 7:08 pm

Interestingly, the ASRock DeskMini 110 is CCL's best selling bare bones PC:

https://www.cclonline.com/category/206/ ... ebone-PCs/

I looked at the Gigabyte Brix BXBT-1900 last year. Very interesting, but people have had problems running Linux on it. I expect that the problems are soluble, but it does not make sense to buy into problems.


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