Just an update, my ADD3800IAA5CU came in the mail today. CPU's pins weren't perfectly straight but after a little fiddling (NOT forcing!), the chip dropped in the socket. Took this opportunity to go from 512MB to 2GB of RAM. First boot everything loaded up AOK, task manager only showed 1 of the 2 cores on the CPU but another reboot fixed that AOK. I've got a wee bit of a burn-in period on the Arctic Silver 5 I used on the heatsync (love this stuff... this little tube has done TONS of builds), but I'm satisfied with the temps so far. Here's a little screenshot of the CPU-Z:


Super thrilled with the upgrade. Less than $40 well spent. It's like having a whole new server. RDP sessions are quick, the Home Server Console is super snappy & responsive. Time to have this thing running a few more apps in the background

Thanks again everyone for this thread! Cheers!

I am looking to upgrade my ex470 but don't know what processor to get and hoe to find them, I have looked for the numbers on ebay and haven't had any luck. Can anyone help me find a processor that will work. I do want a duel core though.

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EX470 - Trying to upgrade RAM/Processor

BE 2300's are still the safest bet and available on ebay, but be sure to check out the last few pages of discussion dealing with some of the newer (more available?) alternatives.

Would this work?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-Athlon-X2-BE-2300-ADH2300IAA5DO-AM2-OEM-CPU-/130568295309?pt=CPUs&hash=item1e667a138d#ht_511wt_1036

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EX470 - Trying to upgrade RAM/Processor

Yes!

Sold. Can't wait to get it and try to get it up and running.

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EX470 - Trying to upgrade RAM/Processor

I've got an LE-1640 and a BE-2400 on the way. I'll let everyone know how they work. I didn't read the forum thoroughly before buying the BE-2400, and figured it would work. I'll let everyone know how it goes. If it doesn't work, it was only a $20 experiment. My machine is rarely under load, so it might work for me.

BE-2400 was the first cpu I tried and I could not get it stable. You may be able to keep it running by strapping a fan to the front of your MSS -- I was able to keep it running at idle loads that way.

You never know though, you just may get lucky!

Good Luck!

Has anyone attempted to use a AMD Athlon64x2 ADO42001AA5CU, reason for asking is because this is the only processor I can currently find. I may just go ahead and buy it for $35 cdn and give it a shot, but was wondering if anyone has tried it and can confirm if it works or not? Thanks alot & this site is awesome

Cheers,
CZ

this ADO model.. the model that work welll with EX47x are the ADD models that has 35w power and they dont heat up that much, but these are very hard to find

on ebay i see: http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-Athlon-64-3 ... 3370acba95

and http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-Sempron-64- ... 3369f5e21f

couple of them that are ADD models.. should work fine. and they have 30 days return that can help if processor does work as expected.

UPDATE: sorry didnt realize that this processor (that i posted link of) is single core.. no good if you plan to install WHS2011 later on.

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EX470 - AMD Athlon 64 X2 ADD4200IAA5DO (Dual Core) - 4GB RAM - 4.5TB storage - WHS 2011 OS

Thank you for this detailed post. Due to the price of hard drives, I am exploring upgrading the CPU of my EX470 to get some more life out of it. Since I am so late to the party, I've spent days looking at what's available. It was either nothing or overpriced. Your positive experience and the detailed part number really helped me find a good deal on eBay.

Since this is a dual core, can you link to the bios upgrade instructions that you followed for this upgrade?

Thanks.

Completed Flashing instructions. So far so good. Awaiting delivery of ADD3800IAA5CU purchased on eBay. Arctic Grease and Cleaning fluid on way as well. Looking forward to this upgrade!

ADD3800IAA5CU arrived as did the ArctiClean Products and Arctic Silver Paste. I performed the Bios Upgrade ahead of time using the instructions on this forum. CPU was under $30. Add in the Arctic products and I think the whole project came in under $50. I would suggest anyone trying this to get one of those Size 0 screwdrivers for those ridiculously small screws that are now almost destroyed. I put them back in, but never tightly.

I did the memory upgrade a couple of years ago, but still printed out guides to taking the MSS apart. Check either the "Homeserverhacks.com" site for their tear down guide or the Toms Hardware guide for Hacking the 470/475.

I've uploaded the "after" pictures.

I do notice a slight improvement in the console loading time. Nothing blinding. I'm not sure if I'm really going to notice this or not, we'll see.

With the appearance of new, more powerful, power supplies, I am curious if the more powerful dual core CPUs that were previously no-good with this server would be allowable if you also replaced the PS?? I'm probably not going to do that, but for those folks who can't find a CPU that fits their current system, I'm wondering if that might be an option?

Also, does anyone know if WHS2011 will work with the ADD3800IAA5CU ? It is dual core, but is it powerful enough? If so, that might be a good project...an upgrade in place WHS from version 1 to 2011?

Anyway, thanks to all those who have posted their results. I wouldn't have been able to do this without checking here first. It very much beats buying the wrong CPU.

I was able to notice an improvement in the responsiveness of the system/console but not nearly as big as an improvement as the memory upgrade.erail did this back in the day and it didn't change anything for him -- it's probably a hardware limitation of the motherboard.I think its been done (not sure though). You can always test it out on a spare system disk. WHS2011 doesn't have WHSv1's DE which means it won't manage your storage pool (incl. folder duplication etc).

Played with the Fan Add-In which although I've had loaded, never actually executed. Hit the "Optimized settings" and temperatures have remained in the 36-37 degree mark, which seems to be pretty good.

I guess the next big step would be a new install of WHS 2011. I have a 1 TB backup disk that would get everything except TV Recordings. Have to decide if it's worth it. Even though I've upgraded the CPU and Memory, the 470 wasn't designed for WHS 2011 and I'd have to buy one of the DE replacements to provide the added protection I have now on my critical data - or not.

But at least I have a dual core 64 bit chip in there!