Upgrading Pavilion p7-1010 do I need a new Motherboard?

[thenewguys]

HP Pavilion p7-1010        Product No.BV703AA  Windows 7 64-bit

Hey, I just got this computer for christmast but I really wanted to Convert it into a gaming computer.   I have been doing some research and there are 3 things I want to buy to do this.

Here are the Products:

Sapphire 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 Video Card

AMD FD8120FRGUBrOX FX-8120 Processor

Corsair Builder Series CX600 V2

I looked up the information for my motherboard and when I went to the p7-1010 Home page It said as a important not, that it only supports AM3 processors , and the processor I am looking for is AM3+.   I want to know if I absolutely need a new motherboard, and if so, which is the most price effective and if you have any other suggestions on equipment I should get,  my budget is about 500-600$.

[Big_Dave]

Hi,

The video card and PSU are excellent choices.  The AMD FX-8120 in not going to work in your motherboard.

I suspect that the 8120 is only about 10% faster than the top AMD chip that is compatible with your motherboard.

If your change the motherboard, the HP Recovery Disks will no longer work and you will need a new Windows license.

Try the new card and PSU and then see how things go.

[thenewguys]

Ok, In that case, does my currect Processor even need replacement? It says it is 3.1 ghz and thats pretty fast, but its 4 core and when I looked up information about processor speed it said that the speed was only relative to the brand and did not corelate with other brands.  So do you recommend a replacement?

[Big_Dave · Accepted solution]

Hi,

I am not recommending a CPU replacement at this time.  Go with the video card and PSU upgrades and then see if your applications are starving for CPU cycles.

This Passmark CPU benchmark does show your current processor.

You should be able to run the AMD 1045-1065T in your PC if needed.  A lot is going to depend on whether your applications can take advantage of more than four cores.

[thenewguys]

Thank you, I will get the CPU and the Graphics card and look farther into good am3 processors. Thanks for your help, you really did me a service.