Upgrade Time: Prologue

Ah, that word that gets gadget blokes like me all giddy - 'upgrade'! It also spells 'doom' for one's wallet most of the time. :-D

I was lucky to get a free CPU from a co-worker. He made a mistake when inserting the CPU to his motherboard, and bent a couple of the pins. He was gracious enough and just gave it to me for free when I asked.

The pins that were bent weren't that bad, so back home and 30 minutes later with a mechanical pencil (metal tip) and an old plastic membership card - I got all the pins straightened out. And luckily I did not break one off...whew...

The CPU is an AMD 64x2 (Kuma) rated at 2.7 GHZ. And this is the fun part - it is the 'Black Edition'.

The 'Black Edition' is a series of AMD CPUs that are designed for the enthusiast and overclocker crowd. It has an unlocked multiplier, that allows for easy overclocking of the CPU (i.e., if it is 2.7ghz, can easily move it to say, 3.3ghz by just increasing the multiplier value in the motherboard's CMOS). And it doesn't come with a heatsink, since AMD is assuming you will overclock (more heat) and the stock heatsink and fan just won't cut it.

I never did use stock heatsinks ever anyways. Aftermarket FTW!

So I spec'd out my upgrade path, lined up the candidate hardware, and pulled the trigger on it last Sunday.

I'll post how the upgrade and assembly goes, including details/specs on the hardware used (and yes, with pics for sure).

Giddy-giddy indeed! :D Stay tuned!