[tpochedly94]

Hey everyone, I'm looking to upgrade my underpowered hp slimline s5123w. right now it's processor is a AMD sempron running at 2.2 ghz which sucks, on the specs page which can be found here hp specs the specs page tells me that the processor must be a am2+ socket type, but when I look for AMD processors they're all AM3 type sockets now, so my question is can I use a am3 processor in my am2 socket? I've read that they forward compatable but I wanted an expert opinion! the processor I'm looking at is a AMD Athlon II 255, found here amd procc., and my tdp is fine on this, the one in now is 95w, and this one is 65w. so tell me what you think on the compatabillity, thats my only issue I have no idea about! thanks!

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tpochedly94
I strongly suggest that you contact HP to confirm you can fit anything other than what is on their approved CPU list.

If you are able to fit a CPU other than what is listed by HP see below;

You are correct a retail AM3 CPU will fit in a retail MB but a BIOS update may be necessary, stay as close to the CPU recommendations as possible, if you are going to upgrade make it worthwhile by spending a bit more http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819103871 and http://h20000.www2.h...eriesId=3942804

What version of Windows do you have installed, 32 or 64bit?

[phillpower2]

tpochedly94
I strongly suggest that you contact HP to confirm you can fit anything other than what is on their approved CPU list.

If you are able to fit a CPU other than what is listed by HP see below;

You are correct a retail AM3 CPU will fit in a retail MB but a BIOS update may be necessary, stay as close to the CPU recommendations as possible, if you are going to upgrade make it worthwhile by spending a bit more http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819103871 and http://h20000.www2.h...eriesId=3942804

What version of Windows do you have installed, 32 or 64bit?

[tpochedly94]

I have windows vista home premium on a 32-bit, would this effect how my computer handles a new processor? and I checked for a bios update on hp's website but I will definitely contact them about a processor thats not on their list first. Also every time I try to download their bios update, I get 2 errors, one tells me to use the disk cleanup tool and restart, which I did, then It tells me I don't need the update, so I'm going to contact hp and see if my bios version supports the am3 socket

Edited by tpochedly94, 21 January 2012 - 11:44 AM.

[phillpower2]

Courtesy of Microsoft;

To install a 64-bit version of Windows Vista, you need a processor that's capable of running a 64-bit version of Windows. The benefits of using a 64-bit operating system are most apparent when you have a large amount of random access memory (RAM) installed on your computer (typically 4 GB of RAM or more). In such cases, because a 64-bit operating system can handle large amounts of memory more efficiently than a 32-bit operating system, a 64-bit operating system can be more responsive when running several programs at the same time and switching between them frequently.

Contacting HP is a wise decision.

[tpochedly94]

definitely, ok thanks for the help!

[phillpower2]

You are welcome, good luck and let us know if HP are of any help.