Hi all... I have been noticeing lately that my pc with a AMD xp 3000+ barton just does not perfom anywhere near my wifes Xp 3200+ barton.

I know they are different processors but, for example, if we are playing an online game with all the settings the same, she will zone and log MUCH quicker than I do. And as this is my gaming machine only, it has very little if anything running in the back ground. Also - I am running 1gig dual channel mem and hers is runing 1gig un matched set.

My av is up to date and I ran ad-aware too. =)

Just for giggles I tore the system down while I was installing a new drive and found that the cpu has little, burn like marks, on top of some of the cache block. Needless to say this scared me! (and nah, i dont overclock and my temp never goes above 52 cel)

Now if the cpu is shot, Im wanting to replace it with a AMD 64 cpu and motherboard. If I do this am I looking at a complete reinstall of windows or will the bios take care of itself?

Thanks

Hi,

I am assuming you have Win XP installed on your machine.

If you change your motherboard and CPU then there are a few device drivers that are going to be different from your old ones. Even though Win XP tries to install the new device drivers, I prefer to install a fresh OS when changing motherboard.

I'll second that. Best case scenario is a bunch of extra junk in your registry, unnecessary dll's on your hard drive. Worst case scenario is Windows will freak out and refuse to boot. Could be worse going from 32 bit cpu to 64 bit - not sure.

Would there be a possible way to fool Windows and repair the registry after the new mobo is installed? Keeping the other mobo and processor on hand until you find out of course.

Retrieve all valuable data before giving it a try too.

Then can I be first in line for the leftovers? :) Please? ;)

Thanks guys... as much as I hate it I reckon I will do the fresh install... ug....

here comes new SP2... reinstallation of all my games.. oh well =)

As for the leftovers, not sure what Im gonna do with em yet. But if I dump em you'll be first in line!

Im surprised no one commented on the small heat or scorch marks on the cache chips?!?!? Is this not that big a deal?

Thanks