Gamer Upgrade

[scote7877]

I am going to be upgrading my machine soon (Asrock Dual-SATA2; 3700 Clawhammer; 2 Gb RAM). I usually stay lower-end and OC to get the best bang for the buck, so here is what I am currently thinking:

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35
Intel Pentium E2140 Allendale
4 Gb DDR2 800 (2x2Gb)

This comes to about $245. I'm considering spending a bit more (maybe $75 or so) to give the upgrade some extra kick, but I'm unsure which component to focus on. Should I upgrade the motherboard, CPU, or bump up to 8 Gb of RAM? Historically, I haven't paid too much attention to the motherboard, believing that beyond a certain point, you don't gain much; I will be OCing, so I'm not sure how much a better CPU will buy me; and, with current games, will I even notice the difference between 4 Gb and 8 Gb of RAM (I am running Vista...).

 

[DSF]

For gaming, 8GB of RAM isn't going to help much, and assuming you OC your CPU north of 2.6GHz or so, your CPU isn't going to bottleneck you either for the time being. Any extra money that you spend ought to be put toward the graphics card, especially if you plan to play graphically demanding games.

 

[MegaVovaN]

Like DSF said, no difference between 4gb and 8rb RAM.

What gfx card you have?

Spend money on a good gfx card (8800GT or 3850/70 series), then CPU with more cache (45xx).

 

[scote7877]

I have an ATI Radeon HD 3850 that I just got for xmas. I think my wife would be pretty pissed if I upgraded that so soon Would it be worth it to bump the CPU to a 45xx or do you think the E2140 will serve me just fine for at least a year or so?

 

[MegaVovaN]

E2140 will serve you fine

 

[scote7877]

Would I be better off with an E2140 with 4Gb of RAM or an E4500 with 2Gb of RAM?

 

[jdkick]

If you're going to overclock, the E2xxx should serve you just fine as you can get some good clocks out of them - 1MB vs 2MB L2 isn't going to be a huge difference. My E2200 is still running stock and seems to have plenty of head room for my needs... tho I may OC a bit at some point. I'm fine with 2GB too given the games I play and that I don't multi-task like crazy, tho I kind of regret not getting 4GB. If you can find a good deal on a 2x2GB kit tho, i'd say go for it.

Since you're interested in overclocking, you will probably may want to consider budgeting some extra $$$ towards an aftermarket cooler and fan(s), depending on the case you're using.

 

[accguy9009]

If you are going with the E2140 and the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L, this looks like a good place to get it.

http://www.clubit.com/product_...l.cfm?itemno=CA4830813

http://www.clubit.com/search.cfm?keyword=e2140&cat=all#

Save $10 when you check out with any LGA 775 motherboard with promo code: EBL2171938426

$164.73 shipped.

Same items shipped from Newegg are $170.82.




And if you are going to overclock or use a third party cooler, don't forget the Arctic Silver 5


http://www.clubit.com/search.c...RCTIC+SILVER+5&cat=all


Get Free Shipping on this Item when Checking Out with any Processor with Promo Code: WEB2290159703