Quick Upgrade Question

T

tbonepat11

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 2, 2001
Messages
412
AMD X2 3600+
ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe
4 gb(4x1gb) DDR2
PNY 8800gtx 320mb
74gb Raptor/750gb WD GP 5400-7200

Current system is listed above. I am looking to upgrade and focusing mainly on the motherboard/processor.

-The main purpose of the system to be used for gaming and multi-media.
-Price range $200-$400. Lower is better obviously but if a huge step up will cost me another $30, so be it
-Overclocking is not really a main concern at the moment. I have heat issues in my 3rd floor townhouse room and I run air cooling.

I was considering an E8500 coupled with http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128345 or something of the like.

I have not kept up with processors and mobos as much in the past 6 months so I might be out of the loop. Plus I have never gone Intel before so generally know a little less about their products as compared to AMDs.

I appreciate the help in advance and am open to any suggestions to either CPU/Mobo or any other aspect of the system.
 
The following Intel-based build would offer significant improvement in games compared to your current system.

$185 - HIS HD4850 ($10 mail-in rebate)
$120 - Intel E7200 (free shipping)
$87 - Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3L
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$392 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)
Click to expand...

If you have either DDR2 667 or DDR2 800 RAM, you could carry that over to your new build.

I included a new video card because it would offer the most improvement, performance-wise, with gaming. If you play games at a 1680x1050 or lower resolution, the HD4850 is arguably the best mid-range option available. The HIS HD4850 also comes with a dual-slot cooler that should minimize any heat issues you may encounter.

While I didn't go with what you were planning to buy, any Core 2 series processor would offer significant improvement over your X2 3600+. The E7200 performs just as well as the X2 6400+ at stock speeds, and the P43 version of the DS3L motherboard has nearly everything the P45 version has (except for the second Gigabit Ethernet port and support for only 8GB of RAM).
 
Thats a fair recommendation. I suppose if you truly wanted to keep it cheap just get the e7200 and the gigabyte mobo and you're out the door for just over $200. The 8800GTX you still have a fairly decent unless you're really cranking it on Crysis or something. These new parts should give you enough for FC2 and most of what's out this season.
The e7200 looks to OC into the mid 3Ghz range while the e8400/8500's are hitting 4Ghz+ not to mention the double sized cache. Given your words above and considering you did allow yourself up to $400 I might try to steer you into the e8400 considering its just $45 more.
Finally there are 4850's that can be had for around $140. They don't have the dual slot cooler.That's the difference in price between the HIS model referenced above and the e8400 vs e7200.

Kinda depends what direction you wanna go in now?
 
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