$300 To Spend ... I'm torn.

[PsychoPCFan]

I have run into some cash - $300. I am in a S478 (2.8c) / Abit IC7 Max 3 looking to move to S939/A64. Can I get the job done with single core or should I reconsider and move to dual core? Looking for the best CPU/Board combo.

I am going to be doing the following...

Mame
Visual Pinball/Future Pinball
Email/Browsing
Excel/Word
Blogging
Photo editing (nothing professional).
Transferring video from my Canon Elura 100 MiniDV Camera

 

[Adionik]

AM2 is not much more at this point. Rising DDR1 prices suck too. I'd reccomend Conroe, but 300 won't cut it for a CPU/Mobo.

ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe + X2 3800 = 300?

 

[PsychoPCFan]

Opps ... Forgot to mention. Ill be taking the mem out of my S478 - Cosair (TWINX1024-4000PRO, XMS4000,1024MB, 3-4-4-8, 2x184) ..

 

[si0dine]

I am going to be doing the following...

Mame
Visual Pinball/Future Pinball
Email/Browsing
Excel/Word
Blogging
Photo editing (nothing professional).
Transferring video from my Canon Elura 100 MiniDV Camera

If thats all you do then I wouldn't waste the money upgrading because you don't really need to for that stuff. Maybe get a new monitor or some nice audiophile quality headphones, or something else where they'll be a worthwhile improvement.

 

[SKy042]

if you're keeping your memory you could easily get a Dual core 939 and a nice SLI board like a epox 9NPA+ SLI or something for under your budget.

 

[si0dine]

ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe

if you're keeping your memory you could easily get a Dual core 939 and a nice SLI board like a epox 9NPA+ SLI or something for under your budget.

Why the hell does he need SLI if he plays games that will never need it?

 

[SKy042]

Why the hell does he need SLI if he plays games that will never need it?

In the case of the epox it's a small difference in price that allows for expandability.
In my case I bought an SLI board while only using 1 6600GT.
Then when I went shopping for Raid controllers PCI-E was still open to me so I got a 4xPCI-e Raid controller that sits in the other SLI PCI-e 16x slot.

It's just cheap insurance in case he wants some other peripherals. Or if he all the sudden decided he liked a certain game.

Also in the case of the Epox the SLI version gets a 4 phase power supply and the regulal 9NPA+Ultra gets a 3Phase.

 

[(cf)Eclipse]

In the case of the epox it's a small difference in price that allows for expandability.

i don't think pinball is that graphically intensive

i vote stick with what you have. maybe buy a fast hard drive.

 

[Mabrito]

Why the hell does he need SLI if he plays games that will never need it?

Yeah like the above poster said. You can still get a board that supports it, but never use it. My friend has a SLI board and a ATI card. Will never even use SLI on it but still has the possibility.

Plus s939 SLI boards are really cheap these days.