Noob Needing Processor Help

Mavolan

New Member
Okay, so basically I wasted my money buying a desktop computer from Walmart. Stupid, I know. So I decided that I was going to buy some new hardware in order to increase my overall PC performance. I went to TigerDirect and purchased a 550-watt power supply to replace my current 250-watt power supply, an XFX GeForce 9600 GSO Fatal!ty Edition graphics card to replace the integrated graphics, and an AMD Athlon 64 X2 Black Edition 7750 2.7ghz to replace my AMD Athlon 64 single-core whatever. I started by installing the power power supply first, rebooted my PC, and everything came on just fine, however I never went past the login screen. Second, I removed my old processor and heatsink/fan, and replaced it with the new processor and new heatsink/fan. One thing I was iffy about was the fact that the power cord to the fan had four female slots at the end and the silver needles that potrude from the motherboard only had three, but the plastic piece connected to the fan cords had two bars sticking out to where it slid right into place with the motherboard plastic. So three were plugged in while the four just hung off the side. I figured all was well and that I'd give it a shot. So I powerd up my PC and everything came on including the processor fan, but no image on my monitor. After about ten seconds I manually shut down the power. I reconnected everything and tried again, after ten seconds I manually shut down the power once more. Then I tried to reset the CMOS by moving the little cap on the mobo down to the bottom two pins, and then back to the original placement. Tried for the third time for about ten seconds and still nothing showed up on screen. So I removed all the cords once more and removed the fan and heatsink. And to my horror the thermal grease made it tough to remove the heatsink from the processor and when I looked at the bottom of the heatsink and the top of the processor the thermal was hard and putty like, not greasy or slimy like lotion. I don't know if that's how the thermal grease was when I put it on because I never touched it. (the greased was pre-applied when I bought the processor) So now I'm scared that powering my PC on those couple of times could have ruined my processor and if that's so I'm going to be pissed and highly upset. I'm only 18 and I live on my own supporting myself and I can't afford to buy new hardware. Being able to purchase this stuff was a privelege. So now, I'm going to Best Buy tomorrow to buy some thermal grease so I don't have to wait for some etailer to ship it and I'm going to try and use my original fan with my new processor to see if that works, because I read that your motherboard can tell if the fan isn't plugged in right or something and that it won't come on? I have no idea, can someone give me some help?

By the way, I know this is my first post here and I hate it when people join a forum, ask a question, and then never come back. But that isn't me, I actually looked around through this place and it seems like somewhere I'd like to stay to keep myself informed and entertained. Thanks for your guys' help. I tried to add as much detail so you guys wouldn't have to ask me questions or order to get all the information.

Oh, and also my PC is a Compaq Presario SR5413WM. Here's a link to the motherboard. http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01237548&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=uk&lang=en&product=3696841#

Oh yeah, when I bought the PC I also bought a 2g stick of RAM and installed it way before anything else and it ran fine. Just wanted to let you know that the stick is still in the motherboard with a 1g stick.



UPDATE: I know that when I changed the pins on the motherboard that I reset the BIOS settings, which graphics are defaulted to PCI-E so I went ahead and installed my graphics card and replaced my original processor and fan. Finally, stuff popped up on my screen so now I'm going to see if I can get things back to normal, and try the new processor tomorrow when I get some thermal grease. Hopefully, all I will have to do is update my BIOS with the original processor intack, and then just swap it with the new one and everything should be fine, hopefully. I think it may have been due to the fan not being compatible with my mobo even though it came on? We'll see.
 
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Looking at the drivers page for your motherboard I see that BIOS version 5.11 (December 08) is the latest version available. Do you know what BIOS version is currently running on your motherboard? It's possible that your board shipped with an older BIOS version that does not recognize your new CPU. When you first start your computer the BIOS version is usually one of the first things that flash across the screen. You may need to re-install your old processor in order to flash the BIOS to the newer version then install your new processor. Did your new processor come with a tube of thermal paste? I don't think it's the fan. Reinstall your old processor and see what BIOS version is running. Carefully clean the thermal paste off the new processor and be extremely careful not to damage the pins when it's out of the socket. If your BIOS version is older than 5.11 then flash it with the newer version, put a very thin layer on new paste on your new processor, install it, and hope for the best.
 
before you try the update, be sure to clear cmos if you haven't already(take the button cell battery out for about a minute then put it back in) and if you do need the bios update, and it still doesn't work after that, your motherboard simply doesn't support it, which would mean either a new motherboard, or the old processor back in
 
Seeing it is old or lowend enough to have a Single core Athlon. I dont think that Compaq will update the bios to recognize a Phenom core 7750. Might be wrong but you should have made sure before ordering it.
 
My BIOS version is 5.14 which is the latest. I even updated it just in case. Anyways, I've done everything I can and still without luck. So therefore, StrangleHold and Irishwhistle, you guys are right. Except for the fact that I never said Phenom I said Athlon. Even though the motherboard specs mention that it is compatible with Athlon X2 processors, nothing's happening so I guess that's just a lie. Which sucks so I think what I'm going to do is purchase a new motherboard. Any suggestions?

Irishwhistle is your processor overclocked or is that the one that is originally 3.1ghz? That's the processor I wanted to buy but didn't have any money before TigerDirect sold out and ended their deal.
 
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My BIOS version is 5.14 which is the latest. I even updated it just in case. Anyways, I've done everything I can and still without luck. So therefore, StrangleHold and Irishwhistle, you guys are right. Except for the fact that I never said Phenom I said Athlon. Even though the motherboard specs mention that it is compatible with Athlon X2 processors, nothing's happening so I guess that's just a lie. Which sucks so I think what I'm going to do is purchase a new motherboard. Any suggestions?

Irishwhistle is your processor overclocked or is that the one that is originally 3.1ghz? That's the processor I wanted to buy but didn't have any money before TigerDirect sold out and ended their deal.

AM2 and AM2+ are different. Almost all Athlons are AM2 but yours is AM2+. You probably wont get it to work, but you could always hope real hard that theres a hacked bios that will make it work.
 
Except for the fact that I never said Phenom I said Athlon. Even though the motherboard specs mention that it is compatible with Athlon X2 processors, nothing's happening so I guess that's just a lie.

The Athlon X2 7750 has the Agena core, same as the Phenom. Its just a Phenom with 2 cores disabled renamed a Kuma core. Dont really know why they called them a Athlon instead of Phenom X2. Causes confusion, just like what happen to you.
 
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I'm new to this forum too Mavalon. I ran into the same problem you are having. I have a compaq presario sr5130nx with the same motherboard as your computer. I tried to upgrade from athlon 64 x2 3800+ to a athlon 64 x2 5400+black edition and got the same black screen you described. I contacted compaq and they stated that the fastest cpu compatible with that motherboard is a amd athlon 64 x2 4800+ which runs at 2.5 ghz. Hope this clears up your problem.
 
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