Pegatron M2N68-LA/HP Narra6-GL6: CPU Upgrade

[kermit]

My current computer has this motherboard (M2N68-LA (Narra6)) - it is in an HP Pavillion A4310f with an Athlon II X2 250 processor, and 4 Gb of RAM.

It seems to me (given the 95w max tdp) that my maximum upgrade would be either a Phenom II X2 560, or a Phenom II X4 925.

From the benchmarks, the X4 925 rarely does less well than the X2 560 (even though it is clocked 500 Mhz slower). Having said this, I doubt the benchmarks were done on a system like mine. I am not sure of the ram setup on my machine - whether it is dual, or single channel. (Edit: It would appear from the spec sheet, linked above, that it is indeed dual channel) It would appear to be limited to 4 Gb total, which is fine, but does it have the same bandwidth as other higher end systems? These are some of the things I am thinking of. I am willing to spend the extra 30 bucks on the X4, provided it is not bottlenecked on my system. If I thought that it would be, I would just opt for the X2 560. What do you all think?

[mobilepcrepair79]

Depends on what you do with your pc. I have the athlon II 250 overclocked to ~3.6ghz with a good cooler , never goes over 42c at full load and plays any game out there at max settings at acceptable framerates, except crysis which dips to 20 fps at times. So if you game I really don't think you need a new cpu, maybe just a cooler. Also with your motherboard upgrading to one of those cpu's you talked about would be a minimal gain. To take advantage of them you in my opinion would need an aftermarket board with a better chipset that supports faster ram. Just my opinion though.

[kermit]

Actually, I am not gonna be doing any gaming on it. It basically comes down to two uses - some dev work, meaning software builds that will be able to utilize a multi-core environment, and therefore, the quad would do things a little more quickly. The other use is my dictation software, Dragon Naturally Speaking (DNS). You can improve your experience with that by higher clock speeds, and larger internal cache. Given that DNS does not (at least not my version) make use of multi-threading, the higher the clock speed, the better. At any rate, I am somewhat ignorant regarding ram speed and such, so I will have to take your word for it.

[mutarasector]

[quote='HP Tormentor' pid='19738' dateline='1280325020']
Hi,

Just to update you:

I have discovered the reason that that CPU doesnt work on that mobo - its rated 125w, and the board only takes 95w max. HP helpfully never mentioned any TDP specs.

[/quot

I just recently got an HP p6607c system with a Pegatron M2N68-LA
(HP/Compaq OEM Narra6-GL6 mobo). I've read elsewhere that these mobos were designed to handle only 89W processors, although HP's own site says they can handle upgrades to a CPU with a TPD rating of >95W<.
according to:

[url=http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf

This would seem to indicate the top clocked Phenom usable on this board would currently be a Phenom-II X4 925(2.8GHz), or Ph2 X4 B97 model.


-Mutarasector

[HP Tormentor]

[quote='HP Tormentor' pid='19738' dateline='1280325020']
Hi,

Just to update you:

I have discovered the reason that that CPU doesnt work on that mobo - its rated 125w, and the board only takes 95w max. HP helpfully never mentioned any TDP specs.

[/quot

I just recently got an HP p6607c system with a Pegatron M2N68-LA
(HP/Compaq OEM Narra6-GL6 mobo). I've read elsewhere that these mobos were designed to handle only 89W processors, although HP's own site says they can handle upgrades to a CPU with a TPD rating of >95W<.
according to:

[url=http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf

This would seem to indicate the top clocked Phenom usable on this board would currently be a Phenom-II X4 925(2.8GHz), or Ph2 X4 B97 model.


-Mutarasector

I got a Phenom II x4 945 (3.00 Ghz) TDP 95w and it works fine. The TDP is the key and 95w is the highest that this specific board (PEGATRON (Asus) M2N68-LA Narra 6.01) can handle (according to an HP techie on their message boards, not a standard tech support person), off the shelf so to speak. I have no experience of tweaking anything in a software or expert sense, so I am not saying it cant be done, but if you just want to open the box and slot it in, switch it on and get on with it then thats the best CPU you can get to work on it. I tried a higher TDP (125w) and it didnt work at all. Wouldnt even boot up with it. The HP tech advice on the webpage was originally incorrect and never stated any TDP for this mobo with tech support assuring me 125w was fine. I had them change it and refund me for the erroneously purchased higher rated 125w CPU.

Along with maxing out the RAM to 8GB and a couple of 10,000rpm raptors this has made for a transformative experience of Windows 7. Boots up in under a minute and keeps up a similar performance all the time. I will never get involved with a motherboard I cant afford to max out in this way again.

[kornapig]

Greetings,

I'm new to this community and would like to thank you all in advance for any time and support provided.

I have an HP a4310f, CPU-Z identifies the motherboard as Narra6 Rev 6.01 from Pegatron (a division of ASUS I gather) and the BIOS as American Megatrends Inc Version 5.15. It came with an Athlon II x2 250. I've added several upgrades (SSD, 1000W psu, 560Ti, Blu-ray) and have wanted to upgrade my processor for some time, but felt that the 95w that the board requires, limited processor selection too severely to bother.

Then low and behold, my dreams were answered when AMD recently released the Phenom II x4 960T. A Black Edition processor, based on the Thurban core, and running within the 95W spec.

Unfortunately, the processor isn't recognized by the bios. It comes up as unrecognized AMD processor and the multiplier drops to 4x capping my speed at 800MHz.

Here's my wishlist in order:
1) To have the bios recognize the processor with out messing with the Windows7 activation.

2) To be able to adjust the multiplier in the bios to overclock with the new CoolerMaster Hyper212+ I bought along with the new chip.

3) To try and see if the cores 5-6 can be enabled.

Really just the first item and I'd be a very happy camper. Is this possible? What would you need from me to support the effort? I'm guessing a dump of the current bios, anything further?

Once again, many thanks for your time and support.

-D

[WryNail]

Hello, and thank you so much.
I have a problem with this mobo forgotten by Hp.
This mobo doesn't recognize the CPU in object...However the PC starts, but the CPU is blocked to 800Mhz.
I didn't manage to find a newer bios, so I'll post mine, earned with AFUWIN v.4.48.
Thank you so much to everyone!

Here's the ID of mine motherboard:
64-514-0000010-00101111-110409-ATHLON64$00039001_BIOS DATE: 11/04/09 15:26:57 VER: 5.14

[mikemike097]

good day!
does your bios support over clocking specifically changing the multiplier if so what happens if you raise the multiplier with cool n quit disabled if it still locks itself to 800 mhz then sad to say your mobo is a single power plane model (125w and up AMD cpus requires double power planes) and there is no currently workaround for it .


cheers !
-mikemike097

[redd1]

First of all - which is the exact revision of your board? Cos' there are about nine or more different M2N68-LA models.

Second - depending on it's revision, the board may not be able to run correctly with a processor having more than 95W TDP.

Third - please provide us with a link to your most current bios, the one you flashed.

I have this board and am looking to put this AMD Phenom II X4 960T Processor, Black Edition, 3.0 4 Socket AM3 - HD96ZTWFGRBOX processor in it, but reading the reviews it said I needed to check my bios to make sure that it supports this processor. How do I find out the exact revision of my board and how do I check my bios to see if it supports it?

[xkhaosx]

Hi guys, I see this post was created a couple of years ago, yet I need your help

I'm using the same exact motherboard and for a couple of days now, I've had troubles with my graphic card.. Double checked the the UPS was working properly, reinstalled the OS, checked the BIOS was using the PCI-E port as the main one, and even flashed the CMOS.. Yet, the system won't recognize my card: Sometimes I don't get any information about the card being connected (in disregard it actually is, I can even see the fan working), some other times it will recognize it but it also gives me a 12 error (Says something like it could'nt find enough system resources), so as my last resort I'll just update my BIOS, since it's working on the 5.17 version and as far as I understand the 5.20 is the newest version. It's probably not [censored] of an update, but my old bios firmware might be corrupted, so I want to give it a try.. Could you guys please explain me how to update my BIOS? I've been looking up and most of the sites and phorums direct me to download the ASUS Update Utility which refuses to install on my system stating there's no ASUS board nor BIOS (I understand Pegatron is part of ASUS anyway).. So any help to update the BIOS to the 5.20 version I just downloaded from this very same topic will be greatly apprecciated!

Thanks in advance guys.