CPU compatiblity?

[ihaveaname]

Hi guys,

I recently bought an old HP OEM computer which has an E6300 CPU in it. I was wondering, would my E8600 work in it? I sort of don't want to take off the heatsink unless I know it's going to work, which is why I'm asking you guys (instead of just trying it).

Motherboard: HP 0A54h (Chipset Q965)

 

[Gamerjock]

Their both Socket 775 so the E8600 would work.

 

[captaincranky]

Their both Socket 775 so the E8600 would work.

Listen, simply because two CPUs are both socket LGA775 is nowhere near an indication that they will work in board "X". Capesh?

In this case, the E6300 is an early Conroe Core 65nm CPU, (the very first C2D line), and the E8600 is a Wolfdale core 45nm process.

If we were talking about a new motherboard, it would likely be backwards compatible with the E6300, (Conroe), but not the other way around, an old board with the new CPU.

There is also a newer CPU with the same part number, (E6300). But, that is a "Pentium Dual Core E6300", not a "Core 2 Duo". A board with this "E6300", would likely accommodate the E8600.

With OEM motherboards, there aren't usually BIOS updates available to jump up to newer CPUs, as there might be with a motherboard bought by itself.

HP's website may shed some light on the issue. So, it might be better to research the issue there first, instead of declaring this a done deal.

And BTW, "their" is a possessive pronoun. "They're" is the 3rd person indicative pronoun contracted with the 3rd person plural form of the verb, "to be".

 

[dividebyzero]

As captaincranky has already indicated, the LGA775 socket covers a multitude of chipsets...unfortunately for ihaveaname, and they of the singularly inappropriate sobriquet "Gamerjock", the Q965 does not as a general rule support 45nm CPU's. The earlier Conroe/Kentsfield (E6xxx/Q6xxx) based CPU's utilise a VRD 10.x voltage regulation circuit, while the later Wolfdale (2-core)/Yorkfield (quad) utilise VRD 11.0. Some forward thinking vendors offer future upgrade paths by over-engineering the voltage circuits of the motherboard for future support CPU (see Asus)....Hewlett-Packard is not a company that gets accused of forward thinking -as a general rule.

To be absolutely certain (as opposed to 99.99%) check HP's model specification for your computer. The page should look something like this (which also uses the same Q965 0A54h board).

 

[ihaveaname]

Okay thanks for the help guys, I might not risk it then.

 

[ihaveaname]

@Gamerjock: Don't feel too bad, we live and learn

 

[Cinders]

This isn't where you just throw in the towel! This is where you find out the exact model of the motherboard you have and look up its specs to see if the E8600 will work, but the E8600 has much different power requirements than the E6300 so it probably won't.