Question 1

I bought this CPU for an ASUS A68HM-K FM2+ AMD A68H FCH Motherboard and it won't work. I have been told that it will work if I update the BIOS. The problem is It does nothing. I get no video. I can't even get into the BIOS settings to Flash it if I can't get the computer to boot to the BIOS. Anyone have any thoughts? I got a Video card for it and still no video.

Accepted Answer

Duh, of course you can't get into the bios. You need a supported cpu to flash the bios. You aren't going to get any video till you put a supported cpu in it.

Question 2

What motherboards is this CPU compatible with?  I purchased an Asrock FM2A88M and now I see this is not listed as a compatible processor. I checked a few other motherboards and this does not seem to be compatible with others.

Accepted Answer

Quite a few support it (check the CPU support page for a particular motherboard) but unless you have an old fm2 to bootstrap and update the BIOS version, you are taking a risk that you may end up with some old stock motherboard with old bios that won't post this somewhat newer chip. MSI has updated support to support this chip on their more recent popular boards like MSI A68 Grenade; some older boards they have abandoned.  Asus has kept all of their BIOS updates current and there should be support for most or all of their boards (I would recommend them CPU builds but not APU builds for two reasons: in my experience board did not like high frequency/bandwidth DDR3 and had issues with linux when combined with A-series APUs). Gigabyte does have support but I wouldn't recommend them. Asrock and Biostar may or may not; I have no experience with them other than that Asrock made some good AM3 boards.

Question 3

is this good for gaming?

Accepted Answer

It depends on which graphics card you plan to use.  I paired this with an R7 250, to play games like League of Legends, and other games at lower settings; the person I sold the build to was on a tight $350 budget, so he was very happy with it.  I actually paired it with a couple of higher graphics cards such as an R9 270X, and an R9 280, and an R9 380, but the FPS was reduced, due to bottle-necking.  I think you can probably go with an R7 370 or GTX 950ti, and you should be fine.

Question 4

Will this processor work with M4A79T Deluxe? I dont know how to check.

Accepted Answer

No, this won't work on that motherboard.  The ASUS M4A79T Deluxe is an AM3 chipset, while the x4 845 is an FM2+.

When getting your parts, check with pcpartpicker-com for compatibility.  It will check everything for you.

Question 5

Will this chip work with a graphics card that utilises PCI 2.0?

Accepted Answer

If it is PCI Express, then yes. Any standard graphics card from the past few years will be supported by this processor . I would recommend to check with your motherboard to assure it has an updated bios for the chip and see if it has support for Gen 2 graphics cards.

Question 6

How much does this processor weigh with the stock cooler?

Accepted Answer

You are kidding? Are you going to build a pc or eat it? It weighs the same as any other AMD processor as all the weight is basically the heat spreader. The stock heatsink is just a small piece of aluminum.

Question 7

Does anyone know what the northbridge is supposed to be on this? I'm only getting 1300 Mhz and I thought it should be well over 2000.

Accepted Answer

The north bridge frequency of this CPU seems to be set at 1300 Mhz. I'm guessing that it doesn't need as much bandwidth as some APUs because this CPU doesn't have integrated graphics and so does not need huge bandwidth across the north bridge to support integrated graphics.

Question 8

Does this cpu work with integrated MoBo Graphics? 'Requires Discrete GPU' really throws me off

Accepted Answer

This processor needs a graphics card. There are no FM2+ motherboards that I know of that have the graphics card on the motherboard; it's normally on the APU.

So in short, you really do need a discrete PCI Express graphics card to use this CPU.

Question 9

How tall is the cooler on this processor?

Accepted Answer

Hi,

The cooler is fairly standard AMD construction and is 6 cm high.

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