Chapter 6 Project 6-1 & 6-2

Project 6-1

Using your home or lab computer, open the computer case and examine the processor and cooler assembly. Answer these question:

1. What motherboard is installed?

Biostar Viotech 3100+ is the motherboard

2. What processor is installed?

A Via C7-D 1.8 GHz embedded CPU is installed on this motherboard.

3. What socket is the processor using?

The processor is not socketed, but it is based on the low profile NanoBGA2 package that measures just 21mm x 21mm.

4. Describe the cooler assembly. Does it contain a heat sink and fan?

The cooler assembly is embedded as well. It only has a hest sink. No fan. However they motherboard does have a CPU fan header. (I found this odd because the motherboard doesn’t have a mount built in the heat sink for a fan.)

Project 6-2

Assume the processor in project 6-1 has gone bad. Do the following to find the best replacement for this processor:

*Note: Due to this system having a embedded CPU I picked my home system to answer the questions below.

The motherboard on my home system is a Gigabyte MA74GM-S2 w/h a AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 2.30 GHz CPU

1. Using the documentation for the motherboard, list the processors the board supports.

AM2+/AM2 is built for Phenom, Athlon X2, Athlon 64, and Semprons processors.

2. Find and print three web pages showing the details and prices of the highest-performing, moderately performing, and lowest-performing processors the board supports.

*Highest-performing: AMD Phenom X4 9600B Black Edition Quad-Core Processor - 2.3GHz, Socket AM2+, 2MB L2, 2MB L3 Cache, Unlocked, OEM for $79.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?CatId=3496

*Moderately-performing: The one I found for this was a AMD Athlon X2 7850 Black Edition Dual Core Processor - 2.80GHz, Socket AM2+, 2MB Cache, 2000MHz (4000 MT/s), OEM for $49.99

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?Recs=10&Nav=|c:4348|&Sort=4

*Lowest-performing: The lowest I found was the AMD Sempron LE-1250 Processor - 2.20GHz, 512KB Cache, 800MHz (1600 MT/s) FSB, Sparta, Single-Core, Retail, Socket AM2, Processor, OEM for $24.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?CatId=2326

3. Which processor would you recommend for this system? Explain your recommendation.

I would suggest the moderately-performing AMD Athlon X2 7850 Dual Core Processor - 2.80GHz. I suggested this one because the low end one is below the current level CPU, and I don’t think you should ever down grade a system. The high end one cost too much, a comparable CPU motherboard combo with similar performance to the current system is only $79.99. To be honest I would not bother replacing the CPU I would get the combo.

Now assume the core i7 920 processor that you saw installed in the chapter has gone bad. The motherboard in which it is installed is the Intel DX58SO desktop board. The owner of the motherboard has requested that you keep the replacement cost as low as possible. What processor would you recommend for the replacement? Print a Webpage showing the processor & its cost.

There wasn’t much to chose from the cheapest was a Intel BX80601930 Core i7 930 Processor - 2.80GHz, 8MB L3 Cache, 4.8GT/s QPI, Hyper Threading for $289.99. But before I would suggest this CPU I would do a usage interview to see if they really need this high-end of a CPU. If they do nothing but go to Facebook or some word docs, they could go ahead and replace with a MB & CPU bundle for much less then the CPU alone. Odds have it if the CPU went it because of something wrong with the motherboard, unless they were over clocking and in this case I’ll suggest they go water cooled.