BlackScarletLove

Hey, my processor is old and slow and it's time for an upgrade so I can run games & programs better. I'm looking for something *substantially faster* but not extreme high end. I'm looking to spend around... $250.

This is my rig here, could anyone recommend a CPU upgrade you feel would be reliable and fast for midrange price?

Thanks


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Windows XP SP3

AMD Radeon HD 6850 - 1024MB

MotherBoard:
ASUSTeK Computer INC. P5K SE Rev 1.xx
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 0401 07/19/2007
Realtek Onboard Audio

3328 Megabytes DDR2 RAM

Processor:
2.00 gigahertz Intel Pentium Dual
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache

dreamliner77

Looks like you'd want to do motherboard/cpu/ram. For a budget, you can probably put together a decent rig with a AMD 840, 4 gb of ram and a mid range matx board under $200.

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BlackScarletLove

Alright, well I'm looking for a significant performance upgrade, so if I have to spend more money -- upgrading my mobo and my ram too, I don't really so much mind. I wouldn't want to upgrade it all for so little value that the performance increase is barely noticeable, you know?

dreamliner77

Are sticking with Intel or would you go AMD?

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BlackScarletLove

I don't have enough understanding of the two to make an intelligent decision? What factors would you say would influence such a choice?

dreamliner77

Cost and performance.

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BlackScarletLove

...and?

charles29

Look your computers do need to upgrade, I like the AMD CPU.

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BlackScarletLove

Can you recommend any specific model, other than just a general recommendation and a brand?

chastity

OK one of the biggest things in deciding which brand of CPU to get is your budget. So how much do you want to spend?

Mind you outside of that I've seen a barebones kit at Tigerdirect that is without any rebates 560.00 USD which would get you up and running without too much trouble of hunting for parts that work with each other.

BlackScarletLove

Well, my original budget was around $200 for a new cpu, but if it seems that I'm going to have to upgrade my motherboard and RAM too, which I wasn't anticipating, I'm sure I could push that up to $300, but that's probably the most I'd want to spend. The problem is, I wouldn't want to upgrade my mobo and ram without enough funds to actually have a significant performance upgrade on my cpu. Could I make it all work with $200-$300?

chastity

I found on tigerdirect a motherboard, cpu and ram combo for $210.00 USD, however another thing to look into is your power supply going to be able to handle the new motherboard/cpu etc.

Just do your research on say tigerdirect and newegg plus what others may say here and any other tech site for whatever you decide to get

dreamliner77

I still stand by this CPU as the best bang for the buck.

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BlackScarletLove

My psu is an Antec, 530w, 36A.?

LordOfLA

That should be fine.

AMD will give you comparable performance to all but intel's 980x processors for a significant cost saving overall.

If you want the absolute fastest however intel core i7 is the way to go at a premium price.

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grajasekar

That PSU should be fine with any upgrade unless you throw in a more power hungry GPU.

The current motherboard limits you to a max upgrade of an E6800. However you could just get an AMD motherboard for cheap with a Phenom X6 1090T or 1100T. Both pretty good processors for the price they go at.

grajasekar

So ummm.. did you upgrade finally? What did you choose?

BlackScarletLove

something happened and i had to spend that money on more pressing matters... I've got all the info though, for when I do have the funds... although I bet everything mentioned here will be obsolete in 3 weeks...

LordOfLA

AMD are due to launch new processors in the next 2-3 months...

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dreamliner77

Didn't it get pushed back again?

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