[SOLVED] Can I switch CPUs without reinstalling Arch?

hasardeur · 2022-03-12 19:54:21

Hello,

I am using an Z87 Extreme4 mainboard and currently there is an i7 4770k CPU installed. I've come into possession of an i7 4790 and I am wondering if I can just exchange these two CPUs without breaking Arch.

Is this possible? Do I need to prepare Arch or the intel-ucode package?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you!

Last edited by hasardeur (2022-03-12 20:24:06)

afader · 2022-03-12 19:57:25

You should be able to swap them without an issue

graysky · 2022-03-12 20:08:48

Yeah, the kernel and firmware are on board so it doesn't care what is driving it. Only issue might be if you are changing video drivers.

mpan · 2022-03-12 20:15:26

Arch currently supports only a single architecture: x86_64. There are some talks about moving to x86_64-v2, which resolved to works on including x86_64-v3 as the second architecture, but currently this is not going anywhere in any noticeable pace. So, so far, Arch only supports x86_64. Which means that any processor supporting x86_64 will work equally well with the official binaries. That is: anything from the past 20 or so years.

Microcode is being updated dynamically updated while starting the system. It’s not persistent, so the relevant microcode must be present during boot. This package is not processor-specific and is needed for both of the mentioned processors. So you keep using the same package as you did before.

hasardeur · 2022-03-12 20:23:27

That was was very informative and much appreciated. I'll proceed then.

Thank you everybody!

Lone_Wolf · 2022-03-13 11:17:25

mpan wrote:

It’s not persistent, so the relevant microcode must be present during boot. This package is not processor-specific and is needed for both of the mentioned processors. So you keep using the same package as you did before.

For microcode leading the situation can be (and very often IS) processor specific.

Early loading microcode : needs the correct ucode package for your processor

Late loading microcode :
intel processors need intel-ucode
amd processors will get updated microcode from linux-firmware if amd-ucode isn't installed

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Microcode for more details

Last edited by Lone_Wolf (2022-03-13 11:17:49)

mpan · 2022-03-13 23:35:17

What I meant is that package intel-ucode handles all processors equally. That OP doesn’t need to switch to any other package while changing their CPU.

Lone_Wolf · 2022-03-14 11:27:54

understood, for OP usecase that is correct.

Arch Linux

#1 2022-03-12 19:54:21

[SOLVED] Can I switch CPUs without reinstalling Arch?

#2 2022-03-12 19:57:25

Re: [SOLVED] Can I switch CPUs without reinstalling Arch?

#3 2022-03-12 20:08:48

Re: [SOLVED] Can I switch CPUs without reinstalling Arch?

#4 2022-03-12 20:15:26

Re: [SOLVED] Can I switch CPUs without reinstalling Arch?

#5 2022-03-12 20:23:27

Re: [SOLVED] Can I switch CPUs without reinstalling Arch?

#6 2022-03-13 11:17:25

Re: [SOLVED] Can I switch CPUs without reinstalling Arch?

#7 2022-03-13 23:35:17

Re: [SOLVED] Can I switch CPUs without reinstalling Arch?

#8 2022-03-14 11:27:54

Re: [SOLVED] Can I switch CPUs without reinstalling Arch?

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