Best Upgrade path for $300-350?

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jonjon0nline

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Dec 7, 2005
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Hi there,

I have been out of the loop for a bit and am in need of your suggestions. I am looking to upgrade my CPU, MoBo and possibly RAM (if needed, but CPU/MoBo are more important). My current system is in my sig. So far, from my research, I'm leaning towards a 550BE w/ possible unlock to X4 w/ one of the top Gigabyte boards. I am, however, aware that the i7 920 is available at Microcenter for $199 and that definitely entices me. I'm just not as informed on the Intel route as I am with AMD.

GPU isn't a big concern for me as I do very little gaming. My PSU atm is a Corsair 520 so if possible, I'd like to keep that.

So please, any recommendations and suggestions are greatly appreciated :) Thanks in advance.
 
I think AMD is your best route for your budget. While the i7 920 is relatively inexpensive, a good board plus triple channel ram will more than likely put you over $400.

I just ordered a 720BE, MSI 790FX-GD70, and 2GB of DDR3 15000(1866) for $313 shipped from zip zoom fly.
For another $50 I could've gotten the 945 (95w) but I wanted the unlocked multiplier just in case. That and I'm waiting on the low watt 965.

And depending on the setup you need, you can even dwindle that down by buying a cheaper motherboard. I was going to get the GB UD5P but decided against it mainly due to layout. The GD70 has 4 fullsize PCIe slots and 2 PCI slots, which I wanted for my sound card. That and the cooling solution looks to be much better. But that is yet to be determined, I'll post up some results when I get my stuff.
 
If not gaming, what is the most cpu demanding task you will be doing with this system?
Also, please answer any other unanswered questions from the sticky thread.

$350? MC has the i5 750 for $160, too. ;)

$160 - Core i5 750
$120 - GA-P55-UD3L
$80 - 4GB DDR3 1600 CL9
======
$360 + tax... was tax included in that $350? lol.

BTW, bring a printout of your newegg cart to MC and they may pricematch the egg. ;) Oh, and sell your old parts to help offset the cost of the upgrade. :D
 
Thanks for the suggestions so far. Of course, I can stray a bit above $350, if it's due to tax, but that's my set goal. I can afford more, but then that can be a slippery slope. I don't want my $350 to suddenly turn into $750.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc-- Light gaming- TF2, L4D, Photoshop/Lightroom, video encoding, HTPC, all around PC.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included? ~$350, can stray above for tax/shipping
3) Where do you live? Bay Area, CA (MC B&M is possible)
6) Will you be overclocking? Yes.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have? 24" 1920x1200
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? ASAP
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? Vista Ultimate and 7 on release day


I just want it to be somewhat future proof, and as zippy as possible, given the budget. I'll also be throwing in an SSD for OS and more HDD's for storage which is NOT part of budget. Thanks.
 
A Core i5-750 upgrade will run you around $400 after you figure in tax. Add in another $40 for a HS if you want to overclock. You can get by spending less than half that much by staying with AMD:

Phenom II X4 805 - $80
Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P - $110

You can reuse your RAM and HS. There's no reason to spend more on a 550BE if you're live near a Fry's as you can hop on that PII X4 805 deal. The deal expires on the 8th so you need to act quick if you decide to go that route.

The 805 should overclock to around 3.5-3.8Ghz and if you're lucky you may be able to unlock the full 6MB L3 cache as well.
 
^I may just pick one up on my way home from work today. I was looking at either the UD4P or UD5P Mobo's but re-using my RAM is sounding good. I don't know what Fry's return policy on proc's is, but if I can, I'd like to pick one up and see how it OC's :D

edit: enginurd-- I haven't looked into it yet as CPU/mobo is my current priority.
 
You could also go with this mobo as well.

Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-UD4H (Newegg Link)

If you wanted to make the switch today, that's one stop shopping for you. ;)



enginurd said:
The 805's are OEM, btw, so only 90-day warranty. It's a great deal if you can get one, but it is inferior to the Core i5 -- but again, at $80, way more bang for buck than an i5 750, lol.
Click to expand...

Sorry if it came off that way but I wasn't trying to imply the PII setup would match the i5-750. Just that it would come reasonably close at a much lower price point.
 
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Indeed... I agree, its a steal at that price. I'd pick one up if I had an AMD board layin around, lol. My friend actually called me on Saturday to tell me about the deal, lol, and he picked one up on the way home. He doesn't OC, though, so I can't get his opinion on that. :(
 
Ok, picked up the 805e. I'm not 100% on this CPU yet but I wanted to be sure to secure one in case I do decide to go with it. I bought 1 of only 2 left so I'm glad I did.
 
:D

I'm going to see what potential builds I can come up with for the i5. Even if I don't use this CPU, I may just upgrade my parent's PC for an early Christmas present, haha.
 
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