Nub needs processor help

[[TC]»Elmo«]

(2012-08-20 12:24)Aus Wrote:  Just looked up the Q9500 and the Q6600 and from what I see, they look good. (quad core ) I still don't understand what difference the GHz makes.

All other things being equal, more GHz = faster (linearly). However, in the real world it's not that simple, because there are so many CPU variations and differences other than just GHz. GHz can only really be compared with CPUs of the same type.

The Q9500 is a more modern design than the Q6600, so is probably more efficient (more performance per GHz). The fastest socket LGA 775 CPU is probably the QX9775, although that uses a lot of power (up to 150W). The Q9650 is probably a better bet at only 95W. What exactly you get will probably depend more on price though, as new LGA 775 cpus are hard to come by.

(2012-08-20 12:24)Aus Wrote:  But how do i check what sockets/etc my motherboard has so i can use it for quick reference for when i want to add ram/change cpu, etc.

Download CPU-Z go to the mainboard tab and post the model here.

(2012-08-20 12:24)Aus Wrote:  I stil don't really know how to change the CPU and what thermal paste does ( ) so a good tutorial video or something would be helpful. All the videos on youtube were filmed by a calculator so I couldn't really see anything.

How to do it depends on the CPU socket and specific thermal paste.

Thermal compound (typically in the form of a paste) provides a highly thermally-conductive layer between the CPU and the heatsink, which gets all the heat away from the CPU. The better the heatsink + thermal compound, the cooler the CPU runs at. Without any thermal compound at all, there will be a very poor contact between the CPU and heatsink, and the CPU will overheat.

You don't *need* to use seperate thermal paste if the new CPU comes with a heatsink, as they usually come with a thermal compound pre-applied. Good thermal paste (ie Arctic Silver 5) will work better though, provided you're reasonably confident in how you apply it. There are good instructions for applying AS5 on most CPUs on their website http://www.arcticsilver.com/instructions.htm