Cheap simple upgrade, mobo, cpu, and ram

[Ilikepiedoyou]

My girlfriend's desktop is very very slow. I would like to upgrade it for here but I don't want to spend much more than $150. Is it possible at this price range to find a mobo with onboard video/ sound/ LAN, a core2 chip, and 1 gig of ram for this price? Back when I built my machine, I saw lots of deals with a mobo/ cpu combo. Is that possible in this price range?

 

[Ilikepiedoyou]

bump

 

[Slugbait]

Newegg has three Intel dual core CPUs left, the cheapest is $76 shipped. They have a few mobos that should be compatible, but for less than $75 you're looking almost exclusively at mATX boards...the cheapest that has both onboard video and audio that I could find was a Gigabyte for $60 shipped. You're probably gonna have to go a little beyond your budget to get RAM.

But everybody up here is gonna tell you to forget about the dual core and go straight to Core2, which will be significantly beyond your budget.

I know next to nothing about which AMD procs are dual core, so I can't help there...but it might fit better with your budget.

 

[CDC Mail Guy]

Why don't you just get her more RAM, and try a format/OS reinstall on the hard drive?

 

[Ilikepiedoyou]

thats a good idea, I also meant to say core2 in the original post

 

[Slugbait]

Originally posted by: Ilikepiedoyou
thats a good idea, I also meant to say core2 in the original post

In that case, the E4300 is not just the cheapest, it supposedly overclocks like a mofo. You'll go slightly over budget with the RAM, but there's nothing left over for a board.

But I agree with CDC, if she has a very very slow machine that has a fast proc, just a clean wipe and OS install will bring her back up to speed. More RAM would help, depending on how much she already has.

 

[Ilikepiedoyou]

what would be the minimum if I did go with the e4300?

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: Ilikepiedoyou
what would be the minimum if I did go with the e4300?

1GB