He also said that money was no object and he wanted this as her Christmas present so I only had about a week to put it together. As usual, I went online to newegg.com and purchased the necessary hardware which included this AMD Athlon 64 FX-57 processor. Although, I had to go to CompUSA (my favorite offline computer store) to get the case and other big stuff. This processor cost me about $1020.00 (including shipping). I combined this processor with the Asus A8N-SLI Premium motherboard. I did not get the newest AMD Athlon FX-60 processor because it is fairly new therefore I cannot find any reviews on it yet.  Please refer to the How to purchase a processor guide for full details on what questions to ask yourself before purchasing a processor.


INSTALLATION :
As always the installation for this AMD Athlon 64 FX-57 processor was no problem; if you install as many processors as me you will be able to install these with your eyes closed (well sort of). On the other hand, these AMD processors are very simple to install anyways. All you have to do is follow the instructions in the quick install guide which will comes in handy if you are doing this for the first time, even the second time, or if you just want to refresh your memory. If you follow the steps in the setup guide properly, you should not encounter any problems. This guide will also help you if you use the heatsink and fan that came in the box, otherwise you will need to follow the instruction that came with the other heatsink and fan.

I would not recommend overclocking your processor if you choose to use the stock heatsink and fan (they may not be rated to work with higher temperatures). After all, this processor is one of the very fastest one’s so you technically do not have to overclock it. I would highly recommend you use Arctic Silver thermal grease to install your heatsink because it transfers heat more efficiently to keep your processor running cooler at all times. You can purchase these from your local computer store or online for about five to eleven bucks a piece.

Overtime, your heatsink will accumulate dust and dirt so the best thing for you to do to prevent it is to clean the inside of your computer every two to three months or so. This onetime I did not clean mine for over six months and the processor started running hotter than usual, but after I cleaned the headsink and the inside of my computer thoroughly, it was back to normal again. You can use the Falcon Dust Off duster to blow all the dirt and dust off. It will cost you between four and nine dollars.

The first boot is always the trickiest one of all, so it is best to clear your CMOS/Bios settings to factory defaults. This is to make sure you start with a clean new system; doing so will reduce the chances of crashes and conflicts once you start installing stuff. Also, some new systems will not work properly if you do not reset the settings. Although, you may not have to do this if you are just replacing or upgrading your processor.

Next, you will need to install your favorite operating system or if you already have an operating system installed, just boot up. One thing to keep in mind when booting up for the first few times, is to keep a close eye on the processor and memory (RAM) temperatures; especially if you used a different heatsink and also overclocked the processor. I also suggest that you make sure the memory sticks you used are compatible and can overclock without problems.