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Help with Upgrading Components please.

grantdavey91

grantdavey91

Member
Hi All.

Hoping for some help here. I know a bit about hardware for desktops but it's been around 10 years since I was 'up to date' in the computer components field.

I have a desktop low profile PC.

Model Acer Aspire AX3300

I'm looking to upgrade a few components.

I've already upgraded the DDR3 RAM from 3GB to 8GB (8GB is max the motherboard model supports)

I've also removed the stock 640GB WD 3.5" SATA HDD and replaced with SanDisk 500GB SSD and 2TB 3.5" HDD.

Now I am looking to upgrade both the graphics and the processor but struggling to find a definate match for the system.

I know all the specs (listed below for reference) of the current hardware and I have used sites that claim to help matching CPUs and Motherboards to each other but theres far too much information and is a bit of a mindf**k.

I want to upgrade the CPU to something that is at least Quad-Core and hoping to have a graphics cars with at least 1GB memory.

CURRENT SPECS:

CPU

AMD ATHLON II X2 215 @ 2.70Ghz
CORES : 2
THREADS : 2
CODE NAME : REGOR
SOCKET : AM3
TECHNOLOGY : 45nm
FAMILY : F
EXTENDED FAMILY : Y-10
MODEL : 6
EXTENDED MODEL : 6
STEPPING : 2
REVISION : DA - C2

GRAPHICS

NVIDIA GEFORCE 9200 ONBOARD
GPU : C77 / C78
DEVICE ID : 10DE - 084B
REVISION : A3
SUB-VENDOR : ACER INCORPORATED
DIRECT X SUPPORT : 10.0
DIRECT X SHADER MODEL : 4.0
OPENGL SUPPORT : 3.0
BUS INTERFACE : FPCI
ROPS : 4
SHADERS : 16 UNIFIED
MEMORY TYPE : SYSTEM
MEMORY : 256GB

MOTHERBOARD :

ACER WMCP78M (CPU1)
CHIPSET VENDOR : NVIDIA
CHIPSET MODEL : NFORCE 720A
CHIPSET REVISION : A2
SOUTHBRIDGE VENDOR : NVIDIA
SOUTHBRIDGE MODEL : NFORCE 720A MCP
SOUTHBRIDGE REVISION : A2
BIOS BRAND : AMI
BIOS VERSION : P01 - A3
BIOS DATE : 10/08/2009

Many thanks in advance for your help and replies!
 
Did you guys get any further on this?

I have the same motherboard and I would like to upgrade my Athlon II X2 215 to a Phenom X6.

Most datasheets that I see say that the board only accepts upto X4, though they are both AM3 chips and both 125W TDP. People have said that manufacturers often put say their low-end boards don't support top end hardware to make you upgrade the whole lot.

What do you think?
 
Think you could only upgrade to a Phenom 2 X4 cpu which is quad core. As for adding a GPU you're gonna need to upgrade the power supply too so the case is going to be a limiting factor. I do actually have an old PC that someone part ex'd with a nice Asus board and Phenon 2 X3 processor lying around. I still haven't got round to stripping it for parts.

If I was you I'd look to buying cheap secondhand parts to build a more modern rig as the one you have is more than a decade old. You can get 5/6th gen Intel Core i5's for £10-£30 on the Bay get a compatible mobo you can add the hard drives you already have get a cheap case and decent power supply then all you need to do is find a graphics card. Word of warning a lot of cards even old ones have had their prices pushed up due to the "cryptomining" trend/supply shortages. But just putting it out there for you...
 
Thanks for the reply.

I've actually just ordered myself a X4 955 off Amazon for £25, which has a 125W TDP that worries me for the motherboard - you don't know anything about mobo limits do you? (I'm transferring the rig into a case with a 500W supply; I'm only using it with a GTX 760).

I've also bought a 2GB stick of RAM to make it upto the 4GB motherboard maximum. I hadn't found anyone else willing to take the plunge or experiment to see if you can go over that, so I played it safe, even if it is debilitating.

I actually have a 6700K rig at my permanent home, so this is really just a super cheap setup to run my translation software quickly and do some light gaming (I think warzone will be a push for 4 old cores unfortunately).

All this being said, I've found a chap locally that is willing to sell me a complete 3570 + 8GB RAM setup for £60, so having only spent £30 on upgrading the ACER to its logical limit, I think I'm gonna take him up on this and have two cheap workstations, one for me and one for my dad.

Cheers,

Peter
 
pgrahamlaw said:
Thanks for the reply.

I've actually just ordered myself a X4 955 off Amazon for £25, which has a 125W TDP that worries me for the motherboard - you don't know anything about mobo limits do you? (I'm transferring the rig into a case with a 500W supply; I'm only using it with a GTX 760).

I've also bought a 2GB stick of RAM to make it upto the 4GB motherboard maximum. I hadn't found anyone else willing to take the plunge or experiment to see if you can go over that, so I played it safe, even if it is debilitating.

I actually have a 6700K rig at my permanent home, so this is really just a super cheap setup to run my translation software quickly and do some light gaming (I think warzone will be a push for 4 old cores unfortunately).

All this being said, I've found a chap locally that is willing to sell me a complete 3570 + 8GB RAM setup for £60, so having only spent £30 on upgrading the ACER to its logical limit, I think I'm gonna take him up on this and have two cheap workstations, one for me and one for my dad.

Cheers,

Peter
Click to expand...
What kind of translation?
 
¿ Plato o plomo ?

Language translation. I'm moving towards SDL Trados so it's not much more intensive than a big Excel file. However most of my work at the moment is on an online platform with some teething issues, including that it loads the whole translation in a progressive web app on Chrome. You can imagine the RAM usage.

I've also just taking you up on looking at recent i5s on eBay and right you are they're damn cheap. Hmm.
 
Nah the Spanish was just a cheap shot at your username. From Narcos, the Colombian Drug Cartel version of GoT.

Well Chrome is already an absolute sucker for RAM, so a few hundred text boxes, plenty of images and JavaScript calls from the database for machine translation makes a 3GB sweat balls.
 
pgrahamlaw said:
¿ Plato o plomo ?

Language translation. I'm moving towards SDL Trados so it's not much more intensive than a big Excel file. However most of my work at the moment is on an online platform with some teething issues, including that it loads the whole translation in a progressive web app on Chrome. You can imagine the RAM usage.

I've also just taking you up on looking at recent i5s on eBay and right you are they're damn cheap. Hmm.
Click to expand...
They are cheap - no-one wants Intel anymore everyone wants a Ryzen. You can get a 1st gen Ryzen 5 for around £50 and that'll blow any i5 up to 9th gen out the water! Before the recent scarecity of gpu's/price hikes due to that, I enjoyed buying up decent 2nd hand parts to build a rig every now and then - then flog on FB marketplace with a £200 markup (hope HM RC aren't looking haha)
 
That's scandalous! I'm gonna do it.

You've written in at an opportune moment cos I've just blown the motherboard on this X1301. I plugged my 500W and 2x6 pin 760 into the old hag and after two shots at trying to turn on I smelt burning and realised my mistake - probably the VRMs. I was busy thinking about the CPU being fine and completely didn't think if a 125W CPU was too much, then a 300 freakin watt GPU probably wouldn't do it much good either.

Anyway I've ordered an ASUS AM2+ motherboard to replace it (which supports 8GB RAM :) ), arriving on Tuesday, because my X4 is coming and I have neither the time nor the money to embark on an i5 rig. Might do that on my next paycheck though. Thanks for tip, I live in France normally so I won't tell the taxman ;).
 
pgrahamlaw said:
That's scandalous! I'm gonna do it.

You've written in at an opportune moment cos I've just blown the motherboard on this X1301. I plugged my 500W and 2x6 pin 760 into the old hag and after two shots at trying to turn on I smelt burning and realised my mistake - probably the VRMs. I was busy thinking about the CPU being fine and completely didn't think if a 125W CPU was too much, then a 300 freakin watt GPU probably wouldn't do it much good either.

Anyway I've ordered an ASUS AM2+ motherboard to replace it (which supports 8GB RAM :) ), arriving on Tuesday, because my X4 is coming and I have neither the time nor the money to embark on an i5 rig. Might do that on my next paycheck though. Thanks for tip, I live in France normally so I won't tell the taxman ;).
Click to expand...
Bonjour, bonjour, bonjour
images.jpeg.jpg
 
Yeah feeling pretty bitter rn since I hastened to get back from Corfu thinking they wouldn't change the vaccine regulations, then they go ahead and open them up the day I had originally booked a flight from France. Cheers granty
 
Same here matey, paid extra to stay in Brittany for 3 extra days then they changed rules 12 hours later
 
pgrahamlaw said:
What can you do ey, at least I didn't have to quarantine so I'm pretty happy about that.
Click to expand...
I had to quarantine but didn't.
I had to pay for a day 2 and day 8 test but I didn't do that neither.
I paid for a day 2 test.
They phoned me every day of the ten days and even said on day ten that they could see my day 8 test was negative.
Crock of crap the entire system.
T&T get paid £11 an hour working from home, most don't even speak English very well.
I went to work and pub almost every day of the ten
 
Fair, and I commend you. I was of your opinion until two people in my network in my small town had their doors knocked on, one of whom received a hefty fine, the other being an NHS worker and not needing to quarantine. Didn't want to risk it since.
 
Fair comment.
The only reason I didn't follow the rules was because I carried out the entire thing online via gov.uk website and it said I needed one test and no quarantine.
Then after it was all filled in and completed they changed rules shortly after.
Turned out to be political anyway and UK gov changed their minds after 500 Sudanese arrived every day on a Ryvita
 
Hi Guys,
I have a similar question, I need your help: do you think I can upgrade the following desktop PC to 8 GB RAM?
I'm not sure that my motherboard supports DDR3 SDRAM
Thank you in advance
-----------------------
System Information
Aspire X1301
Motherboard WMCP78M
CPU Type: AMD Athlon(tm) II X2 215 Processor
Measured CPU speed: 2700.1 MHz
Total Physical Memory: 4095MB
Slot 1: 2GB DDR2 SDRAM PC2-6400 Transcend
Slot 2: 2GB DDR2 SDRAM PC2-6400 Transcend
Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce 315
Disk drive: Model: ST1000DM 010-2EP102 SCSI Disk Device Serial: Z9AMZGJ3 (Disk: 0, HDD, Size: 931.51GB, Interface: ATA, Volumes: C)

​

 
lucatramo said:
Hi Guys,
I have a similar question, I need your help: do you think I can upgrade the following desktop PC to 8 GB RAM?
I'm not sure that my motherboard supports DDR3 SDRAM
Thank you in advance
-----------------------
System Information
Aspire X1301
Motherboard WMCP78M
CPU Type: AMD Athlon(tm) II X2 215 Processor
Measured CPU speed: 2700.1 MHz
Total Physical Memory: 4095MB
Slot 1: 2GB DDR2 SDRAM PC2-6400 Transcend
Slot 2: 2GB DDR2 SDRAM PC2-6400 Transcend
Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce 315
Disk drive: Model: ST1000DM 010-2EP102 SCSI Disk Device Serial: Z9AMZGJ3 (Disk: 0, HDD, Size: 931.51GB, Interface: ATA, Volumes: C)

​

Click to expand...
Press the 'scan my computer' button and you will see all upgrades available. RAM Memory Buying Guide | Crucial.com
 
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