Ok...need some techie help....

Alright..I have been researching this one for a few days now...I cannot come up with a conclusive answer so I figured maybe someone here might know from first hand experience...or be a better researcher than I....

I recently came into a Gigabyte GA-880GA-UD3H Rev. 2.0 Mobo that came with an AMD Athlon II X2 260 @ 3200 MHz CPU...which kind of sucks...

I was wanting to possibly upgrade it to an FX Series Bulldozer CPU (8 core if possible)...now the motherboard says it supports AM3+ CPU's....I have upgraded the BIOS to the most recent available flash....but before I go drop a hunk of change on the chip...I wanted to know for sure if it was compatible...

Everywhere I search says things such as maybe..or possibly...but no set in stone answers...

Does anyone have a definite answer on this subject?

Supports AMD AM3 Phenom™ II/ Athlon™ II processors

CPU AM3 Socket:

Support for AMD AM3 Phenom™ II processor / AMD Athlon™ II processor

No I wouldn't bet that it would be able to use anything higher than a Phenom.

Yes...but discussions have stated that the only difference between AM3 and AM3+ is one pin on the cpu and that the FX might work....

I already know the FX-4130 6 core will work...but I think the the others will work just with vast speed decreases due to the inability of the chipset to handle 32 nm chips essentially creating one hell of a bottleneck...

Sure, that's like saying socket 1155 & 1156 just have 1 pin difference also so just snap one off and you'll have forwards compatibility?

If it truly has no 32nm support then it has no 32nm support. These aren't RAM speeds, 1600MHz won't downclock to 1333/1066. Either it has full compatibility, or none at all. It's not the speed it's going to be incompatible with, it's the architecture of the entire chip.

Don't trust people who say it SHOULD work, they're just speculating. People who say it shouldn't work are also just basing it off theoretical paper specs. If you truly want to know for sure there's no other way than to try it yourself or find someone else who has actually done it with that EXACT board - not just the same chipset/socket.

I understand your analogy but there is no snapping off of a pin because the AM3 boards with the black socket have the extra pinhole...

It really just comes down to chipset...900 series supports Bulldozer while 880 (mine) supposedly doesn't...the biggest issue is as stated...the nm difference..and voltage difference..

This mobo has the black socket...not the white one...meaning it has the extra pin hole...and some spec sheets state that the 880 chipset can support Bulldozer with BIOS update...just with no HT technology....

It's all very shady...and inconclusive

As stated here...at Gigabyte themselves...

http://www.gigabyte.com/microsite/274/mb-am3plus.html

My box says Version 2.0 but I have the black socket....I'm beginning to think my mobo was made at the end of production for the version 2.0 and was just boxed with an older box (which weirdly enough says supports AM3+) but says version 2.0 on the back...and it has the version 3.1 components...

I remember hearing something about the next generation APUs getting backwards compatibility with the AM3 sockets with a firmware upgrade

a quick search on wiki states "Some manufacturers have brought AM3+ support to some of their AM3 motherboards via a simple BIOS upgrade.^[11] Mechanical compatibility has been confirmed and it's possible for AM3+ CPUs to fit in AM3 boards, provided they can supply enough peak current."

and "Socket AM3+ support is expected for both of AMD's Piledriver (Vishera)"

although not all features of the processor may be supported due to limitations from your mobo.

Ok...so Piledriver yes...Bulldozer no?

Here you go: GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Socket AM3 - AMD 880G - GA-880GA-UD3H (rev. 2.0) <-- official CPU support

Also please note that AM3 sockets are and always will be physically compatible with AM3+ sockets. It comes down to software, BIOS, and power consumption compatibility next.

Example of power compatibility: your motherboard has a 4+1 phase design. Four phases to CPU core power, one phase for the memory controller which provides a total of 140W maximum. If you run a 125W (AMD 8-core) CPU and end up slightly overclocking it or if your VRMs aren't good quality/etc then you're likely to overload the MB and fry it.

Default voltage on AMD FX-8150: 1.250. The CPU requires 125W.
Current (A) = Power Consumption (Watts) / Voltage (v)
125W / 1.250 = 100 Amperes

Now on a 4+2 phase design this would be pushing it and you def wouldn't want to considering OCing if you didn't trust/don't know about your VRMs.
(Considering most 4+2 phase designs will provide 35A so 35A x 4 = 140A and you're already using 100A with your CPU. This doesn't leave room for powering much else at all.)

Can Mod close thread?

I bought a used 8 core Bulldozer and it does work. I think my theory of my mobo being made late in version 2.0's cycle is correct and it was just boxed with leftover boxes.

Thank you all for the help.