I've searched all over the web unsuccessfully for an answer to this question so I thought I would try here. The problem seems common but I've found no solution.

I recently purchased this motherboard (ASUS M2NC51-AR) used with hopes of building up a decent small form factor PC cheaply. Originally I guess it was in an HP slimline of some sort. I got it up and running using an old 1000 Hz AMD Sempron (tm) 3800+ w/256 kb cache. Now I want to upgrade the processor to something better, so I purchased an AMD Phenom x4 9100e. It is listed in the specs as compatible. However, after installing the processor when I turn on the PC nothing comes on the screen.

I have tried updating the BIOS. Previously it was v5.04, and now I am using v5.07. This required I first install Windows Vista which was a total pain. Currently I have two partitions, one with Vista and the other Ubuntu 10.04. I am wondering if there is another BIOS update (or other fix) to help the board identify the processor as compatible. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

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depends on the site you go to but i find different cpu specs on different sites ,this one says it has duel core /athlon 64 .
http://www.algogo.com/store/products/ASUS-M2NC51%252dAR-HP-HematiteXL%252dGL8E-MINI-ITX-MOTHERBOARD.html

this one says what you say ,
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00910076&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=3376325#N33

and many other links say only duel core as well,not quad core ,so not sure why but i would assume HP to be correct ,and it looks like bios 5.07 is latest .

the quad 9100e you bought is it new , or a used cpu

The CPU is new. I guess part of my question would be, is there another BIOS I can try out that is not suggested by HP? Perhaps something "open source." I am pretty ignorant on the BIOS other than to know it gets you to the boot menu.

The CPU is new. I guess part of my question would be, is there another BIOS I can try out that is not suggested by HP? Perhaps something "open source." I am pretty ignorant on the BIOS other than to know it gets you to the boot menu.

i know of none ,not sure where you would actually start looking for one ,and if you did use one and it was bad your board would/could be renders useless ,as the bios is the most important part of the motherboard

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