Can I upgrade my CPU on a GA-71XE mb?

[glohworm]

Hi all,

I'm currently running an AMD Athlon 900mhz socket A cpu on a GA-71XE mb with 200 FSB, 512 mgs RAM. My question is can I upgrade the cpu to 2.0 G? Will this old mb handle it? At one time I was told that the 900mhz was the highest socket A cpu that AMD put out. I need more horsepower for DVD burning, etc.

Or should I just buy a motherboard combo package and be done with it. Thanks.

[tgxiii]

What's your budget? I would just buy a new mobo/cpu/memory if I had the money.

[Jeordiewhite]

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/MotherBoa...s_GA-7IXE.htm#
There is no way it could overclock to 2Ghz or even get a 2Ghz cpu to run fast enough, doesn't even support the athlon XP.
So if you feel you can afford it, you will have to buy a new mobo/cpu/ram to get anymore speed out of your computer, sadly it can't reach much higher even if you were to OC and evertyhing such as memory, bus, slot a would all be a bottle neck in this case.
Only way would be to upgrade unless you will have to hold out for extra money, 100mhz might be the max you can achieve with it and it will not be a huge boost assuming it does go up that high.
While you do appear to be above the minumum requirements for dvd burning and ripping, upgrading might be for the best, just make sure your psu can handle it tho. Over 320w should be ok.

[glohworm]

Thanks guys for your quick replies. I kinda figured I'd have to go for a combo package. I can handle up to $150, I guess. What would be the best package in your opinions? Can I find a newer mb that would allow me to swap my SDRAM as well as allowing me to upgrade to DDR later on? I appreciate the help so far.

[glohworm]

I was wrong when I stated my cpu was 'socket A', it is a slot A, and I think AMD stopped with the 900mhz that I have.

[tgxiii]

The ECS K7S5A Pro has slots for SDR and DDR, so you can use the memory that you currently have right now and later swap it for DDR. However, I wouldn't go with that. I would just save up the money and get an nForce2 mobo and a Barton CPU with PC3200 memory.