Free Help For You / Mini Tutorial

Ok, atlast I now have a Core2Duo screamer, and I couldn't of been any happier :D

Originally I had this:

An E2200 P4 Dual Core CPU (1 x 2.2GHz), which was rather 'basic' and 'slow' with no punch. My system had a mere 2GB of RAM and a lousy ATI Radeon HD3650, basically my PC was crap.

Now I have a Core2Duo (2 x 3.00GHz) with 4GB of RAM that literally 'kicks Asss'. Ok I still have the same lousy card, but as from this weekend I am on the hunt for a newbie GFX card that will compliment my FS9 screamer PC.

My new CPU upgrade cost around £80, and the new 2GB Ram module cost £32.00.

The stock CPU cooler that was originally attached to my old CPU was a stock Intel cooler, so I bought a new cooler at the cost of £8. This cooler was a 'new' from a Core2Quad that my local pc store had lying around. All new CPU's come with coolers anyway, either use the cooler supplied or buy an upgrade such as the CoolerMaster212 which sells for around £18, it's important that the new cooler for the new CPU can cool your new chip to the required temperature, so never just replace your CPU and use the old cooler, use the new cooler supplied as it is designed for your new chip.

To keep my new chip even cooler I added an extra 80mm PC case fan for a cost of £1.50.

So overall I spent:

£80 on CPU
£8 on CPU Cooler
£32.50 on RAM
£1.50 on Fan................................Totalling £122.00

When replacing the CPU make sure that you use decent thermal compound on your new CPU, many new coolers that come with modern CPU's such as Intel come with pre-applied compound, this is more than enough, so your free to use what's comes with the cooler.

"Replacing your old cooler with your new cooler can be very fiddly and tricky, it may take a good few attempts to get the pins of the cooler legs to slot into the 4 holes in the motherboard, never apply too much pressure as you may break the flimsy plastic legs and completely destroy the cooler"

Once I replaced my CPU and Cooler, it was pretty much time to add a PC case fan to the back of my case, it never had one, and this meant that I could keep my CPU even cooler. I bought an 80mm case fan and attached it to the back of the case by using four M4 bolts, this didn't come with the fan so this bolts were bought separately. The new fan attached to 3 pins on my motherboard that were labelled 'SYSFAN' which was near the pins for the CPU fan.

So now I have the CPU fan in my pc, new cooler, and additional fan. The RAM was next. I purchased matching RAM to what I already had in my system. It is important to always install your RAM in matching pairs. Otherwise there could be problems. Remember (xp users) that WinXP32 can only utilise 3.5GB of RAM, but a matched pair totals 4GB of RAM this is the only way to do it, and the way to go!
The RAM just pushed into the slot until it clicked.

Your system may still be configured for your old CPU so, before upgrading you must always check your motherboards website to see if it is compatible with your new CPU, if it isn't then you cant upgrade (unless you buy a new motherboard). The BIOS on your system may still be configured to the existing CPU so if you are to upgrade, it might be a good idea to flash your BIOS with an update as the update may be required to support your new CPU, if this is the case then flash your BIOS before your replace the CPU. Once you have flashed the BIOS then complete the physical upgrade. Once the upgrade is complete then set your BIOS to auto detect new hardware. When loading up your OS, go into my computer properties or system info and you will see the new CPU listed on your pc.

For those who don't know anything about the BIOS or how to flash the BIOS it is strongly advised that you read up about the BIOS and what it does before touching it, the BIOS is the Input Output software for your computer and altering can potentially down your PC for good unless you know what you are doing. If you dont know what you are doing, DONT TOUCH IT, leave it alone and get an expert to help you. Writing about the BIOS is enough to send you to sleep and I could be here for ever, so please do your research and know what your doing before you even attempt to look at it!

For those who have a clue about the BIOS, flashing the BIOS is quite easy. You need to get the updated BIOS file from your motherboards website and either copy the files to a floppy disc or usb flash stick. Once the files are on your removable hardware, turn off the pc, enter BIOS and change the sequence to boot from your removable hardware, save changes, exit BIOS and reset PC (with removable hardware in pc still). Now your pc should boot from the floppy or usb stick and automatically apply new BIOS update, once this is done either follow through to OS startup and then turn off PC. Now enter BIOS again and change back the way that the pc boots (ie set back to boot from c:/ ), save changes and then let OS boot. Now you have completed the BIOS flash. Again DONT CHANGE / DONT ALTER / DONT UPDATE BIOS if you dont have to, or dont know how to.

Some say that re-installing windows is required after upgrading a CPU or BIOS, generally this wasn't required for me, its debatable if you do this or not. In my case no windows re-install was required.

With windows now running a million times faster, you will notice the speed difference, you will be amazed by how fast your pc is compared to your last PC. It is now a good idea to check your CPU temp just to make sure that your CPU is cool and not overheating (if your CPU overheates, then your pc will just turn off with no warning). An overheating CPU is generally the result of a poorly fitted CPU cooler and your CPU cooler may not be attached properly in which you should investigate and refit if required.

Here is a link to a piece of software that will display your CPU temp, download it as it is free and an awsome utility to have on your pc, download:

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/Core-Temp-setup.exe

Now check your cpu temp against your CPU:

http://www.pantherproducts.co.uk/Art...eratures.shtml

If your CPU is at a critical temperature then there maybe something wrong with your CPU, and this could be the result of a malfunction such as broken fan, broken cooler, not enough vents etc.

To keep your pc cool, try to install at least one system fan to your pc case and add a side exhaust, if possible add a fan to the front of your case for added coolness. A cool PC is a happy pc! Keeping you PC cool will prevent all sorts of problems in the future, your CPU could fail completely if it is burnt out, your motherboard components could overheat and shut down, all sorts of things could happen to an overheating PC, so to prevent this, monitor pc case temp, ambient temp and cpu temp. Common sense is the decider of if you should act to cool you pc or not, but its best to check it anyway (like a mini pc checkup).

Anyway, I dont know if this was any help to anyone or if it is just me waffling on about an upgrade BUT my experience is here if anyone would like to read it....

Enjoy....

Alex@MC