SUMMARY: Q: w1100z CPU Upgrade from Opteron 150 to Athlon64-X2

Many thanks to (no particular order): Anthony, Rich, Paul

Basic Endpoint:  The motherboard is socket 940, so the Athlon64x2 isn't
suitable. ("Older" parts are socket 939, newer parts are AM2, which is
940pins but NOT compatible with older Socket940).  Physical issues aside,
there are also concerns that bios must (!) support dual-core CPUs, and it
wasn't exactly certain that such a Bios was available from Sun (or anywhere
else) for the system.

One link provided is quite clear about the CPU socket in this system:

http://www.cobaltnet.com/desktop/workstation/w1100z/arch-wp.pdf

In light of this, the only real CPU upgrade option would be a "more legit"
approach of obtaining real opteron socket940 parts (ie, not nearly as cheap
as Athlon64x2 cpus).  Given the current price these days for basic
workstations built around Athlon64x2, it seems likely that the Prof. who
wants an upgrade of his desktop is likely best off to resort to the
most-traditional upgrade path, ie,

--give your current machine to someone who needs it (new student, etc)
-get the new machine for yourself

Hope this info is of some use to others,

Tim Chipman


---original posting follows---

Hi all,

Small fun question (not covered in archives, nor google):

has anyone ever upgraded a w1100z "sun java workstation" (Intended for
Opteron 144/146/148/150 CPUs which are socket 939 single-core) to a "more
recent" CPU such as an AMD_Athlon-64"x2" socket939 (dual core) ? (Or barring
that, a dual-core Opteron socket 939 part .. ?)  (Clearly -- a cpu not
bought from Sun clearly, and not officially supported in this box clearly).

I believe it is more a feature of bios for the motherboard rather than a
physical issue which will be the constraint here.

I'll probably test this next week "for fun" as I've got a new Generic Athlon
X2 workstation arriving next week .. but I thought it might be nice to see
if anyone else has comments/thoughts about this.

Clearly it will void warranties, will not be supported by sun, etc.  That is
not a concern here.  I have someone with one of these workstations that is a
few years old, has a 1.8ghz CPU .. and would not be unhappy to have a
dual-core 2.2ghz cpu if it were available for "small cost" (the athlon64"x2"
2.2gig dual core is ~$200 canadian these days I believe)

Many thanks,

--Tim Chipman
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