Help me Upgrade!

[diesiel]

Hey guys, heres my current rig:

Gigabyte EP45-UD3R
E4300 @ 2.7 Ghz (tuniq)
4 gigs of G.skill dual channel ram.
Corsair 520HX PSU
8800 GTS 320

Couple of issues;

1)My CPU is becoming quite dated and i simply need more multitasking/processing power.

How does the Q6600 look right now? I think the 2 extra cores will really help me with my work and i probably need a little more steam (3.0ghz+). How does it OC? Do i need a specific Stepping?

2). I have a STROOOONG suspicion that my PSU is crapping out on me. Firstly, my old mobo+ram mysteriously died. Now my USB ports are randomly shutting off (Which in turn shuts off my internet and i have to replug the adapter like 10 times for it to work again). I get random BSODS and restarts. all of this still happen on stock settings so its not the OCING. What kind of power supply should i look into getting? I was looking at the Antec Neo HE500?


I'm a cheap guy, so the best price/performance ratio is key for me. Please ask any questions that you need to. Thanks guys.

 

[Casper312]

Q6600 would be a decent choice, as for overclocking it, i have heard alot of mixed results with recent batches.

If you suspect your psu crapping out, why not try to get an rma going? Corsair psus are known to be very reliable, So getting a replacement would be a simple and money saving task, Hell that would give you enough money left over to even upgrade to Q9550 and be on your way.

 

[diesiel]

Im pretty sure i threw out all the stuff that it came with.

 

[Casper312]

Well atleast now you know now to save the boxes.

Like i said, the Q6600 is still a very good overclocker/performer. As for power supplys i had the BFG Ls-680 in mind but it seems price has gone up on it, i remember seeing for around 80-90 at the egg.

 

[diesiel]

Yeah it got lost when i moved, unfortunately.