I'm close to replacing my damaged motherboard, and saw one I like at Fry's Electronics: http://www.frys.com/product/7259643?...H:MAIN_RSLT_PG . Would someone help me figure out whether this fairly new board can use my five-year-old CPU? (I'm afraid it can't. )

According to my BIOS, my CPU is: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processort\ 4600+ revision F3. The motherboard I'm looking at claims to support Athlon II, but I guess my CPU can't be an Athlon II, because that came out in 2009 and I bought my CPU in 2008 (I think).

I haven't wanted to replace my CPU, because it's my only computer component that does not need replacement. But until today, I forgot that the speed of technological progress may not allow me to reuse a five-year-old CPU unless I buy an old model board. Damn technology.

Your CPU is an AM2 CPU and not compatible with this AM3+ board. The Athlon II CPUs are AM3, which is compatible with AM3+.

I have a small but growing collection of working CPUs for which I can't obtain a reasonably priced new motherboard. It's nearly always possible to find a used motherboard with the right socket type for your CPU on ebay, but there's no telling if it'll be functional when you get it or for how long it'll continue to work. The motherboard is the weak link in any PC, not the CPU.

I need a micro-ATX socket 939 motherboard to replace one that just died on me. There are a few new ones and plenty of used ones on ebay, but the sellers want way too much for them. In the end, I'm sure I'll just consign my perfectly good old Athlon 64 single core processor to my growing museum collection and buy a new motherboard and processor.


BTW, looks like newegg still has one AM2 motherboard in stock: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...irtualParent=1

I'm finding the same thing, but I thought I'd have to be crazy to risk a used motherboard.

Okay...I think I'm going to get the one we both saw at Newegg. I saw one other nice Asrock (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...irtualParent=1 ), but it's less clear whether that one will take an AM2. The eBay seller claims it does (and may or may not be correct), but Newegg lists only AM3+ support, and I don't feel like gambling.

Asrock N68C-GS FX does support AM2/AM2+ CPUs. Good idea to not trust newegg, but you could have checked the manufacturers page-

http://www.asrock.com/mb/NVIDIA/N68C...Specifications

I wouldnt touch it with a bargepole. I've got a Asrock N68 series board here, its super cheap and really nasty. One of the 'flexiest' boards I've ever held. The GeForce 7025 / nForce 630a chipset was never great to begin with, the video on the chipset is pretty bad as well (and IIRC its now in that grey area where its not offically supported by some of the current nVidia drivers), VT1705 sound is not great either....I could go on but you get the idea.

I probably wouldnt get the ASRock A785GM-LE either, in general the 785 chipset boards arent built as well or last as long as the 770/870/970 boards. Like the other asrock, they are also pretty cheap and flexy, but not quite as bad as the N68 boards.

Well, I feel rather stuck. Nothing's wrong with my CPU, so I don't want to waste money buying a new CPU just so my motherboard choices won't be constrained. (I should have realized that the local non-specialty electronics retailer I went to would never sell AM2-supporting boards anymore.) But if anyone sells AM2 boards that aren't cheap, I haven't found them yet. The one Asrock board was all Newegg had, and if I recall, Tigerdirect had nothing at all. I'm looking at Amazon. eBay is a last resort.