General discussion

How to swap AMD CPUs - And discussing the potential risks

I have an Acer Aspire AX3400-E3202 desktop computer. It came with 3 GB of RAM and I recently upgraded it to have 7 GB of RAM.

I run a little Windows 7 gadget on my desktop and it tells me how much strain my programs are putting on the RAM and the CPU. Since the upgrade the RAM never goes over 50%, but some programs (like iTunes) push the CPUs pretty hard. Syncing 2 devices at once will cause the dial to fly up to 80%. So I was wondering, how difficult is it to change a CPU?

I have an AMD Athlon(tm) II X2 220 Processor (2.80 GHz) in here, and while searching through this list here:
I found out that my processor must use an AM2+ CPU socket.

Now supposedly AM3 CPU sockets are backwards compatible with AM2+ and AM2 sockets. I found a handful of quad-cores, and even a hex-core that all supposedly fit in an AM2+ socket. And I wish these things could be as simple as a quick plug and play, but I know computer hardware isn't that simple. The biggest concern I've heard of is "updating the BIOS", and I know precious little about that aside for the obvious. I've seen warnings that messing with the BIOS improperly can actually brick a desktop.

I like the idea of getting a quad-core (or maybe just a triple-core) processor to beef up my workstation a bit. But I'd like a more comprehensive layout of the risks involved. And maybe some useful guides on how I could make it work. I know that can probably supply me with the processor itself for around 100 dollar

Discussion is locked
Reply to: How to swap AMD CPUs - And discussing the potential risks
Reporting: How to swap AMD CPUs - And discussing the potential risks
- Collapse -
This is the site I found the specs on my socket
- Collapse -
I also found this article

CNET Forums