This is my motherboard: GA-M68MT-S2 (rev. 3.1) it says its AM3+ ready Right now i have an AM3 socket AMD X6 1045T processor on it right now. I want to put an AMD FX-8350 AM3+ on it but since it is an older mobo that processor is not on the supported cpu list: http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=3967 but even so, the socket is AM3+ and the mobo supports that socket, so shouldnt any AM3+ socket work on the mobo? of course i will have to update the BIOS to AM3+ but will it work with the the FX-8350?
Nope. Just because a CPU physically fits the socket, that IN NO WAY means the chipset supports that CPU. It is the same with RAM. If the socket supports DDR3 memory, that does not mean you can install 8Gb sticks and automatically expect the chipset to support them. The chipset and memory controllers may only support up to 4Gb sticks. So kudos to you for checking the QVLs! Now follow that same course by heeding it! Only use a listed CPU. BTW, if looking to improve performance of your computer, you generally get the most bang for your money by ensuring you have gobs of RAM (I recommend 8Gb for the "sweetspot" with dual-channel motherboards) and then the best graphics solution budget allows. Lots of RAM lets the OS and CPU keep more needed data in fast RAM they swap out at bus speeds. And with todays computing being so graphics oriented, more capable graphics solutions can process graphics tasks much more quickly. And it takes very little CPU horsepower to hand off tasks to the GPU. The big downside to upgrading the graphics solution is that GPUs are often the most power hungry devices in our computers - even more than CPUs. So upgrading the graphics often requires upgrading the power supply first.
thanks for the reply! ive recently upgraded my ram from 2x 4gb (8gb) 1333mhz ram to 2x 8gb 1600mhz (16gb) (my pc's limit) what saddens me is that the only compatible cpu's that i would want to upgrade to are no longer sold... guess ill have to start overclocking (if i need to)
I am sure there are compatible CPUs for the GA-M68MT-S2 still available, but you might have to pay a little extra. I am not a fan of overclocking because too many do it without researching and educating themselves first to really knowing what they are doing. They don't learn the consequences and frequently don't factor in the added cooling and power requirements. Overclocking frequently affects stability. I would much rather have a stable computer than one that suddenly crashes unexpectedly due to stability or added heat issues.
