Some upgrade help? CPU,MB

[fallensight]

1 - little bit of everything, games, music. Not much for video editing however.

2 - for the parts I'm replacing(CPU,MB,ram) $500ish

3 - USA

4 - no preferences

5 - I'm keeping the vid card (geforce 8800gts) Soundcard (X-Fi, unless the onboard is better), HDDs (a 500gb, 160bg and 140gb) PSU (750W antec)

6 - looked around a little.

7 - no OCing, just stock speeds for me.

8 - I plan on ordering in the next 24 hours.

for a little more info, due to some mb issues, I am needing to replace it, and as it is 3 years old, I just plan on a new CPU/MB/ram setup. I have no interest in the i7s. Too expensive.

On a related note, I have planned on just using XP, is there any real benefit for vista, or just wait and see about Windows 7?

 

[DSF]

Sounds like you're looking at an E8400 or E8500, Asus P5Q series or Gigabyte EP45 series motherboard and 4GB DDR2-800. All told that would be $400 or less.

 

[DaveSimmons]

^ second that. The intel retail HSF is fine and quiet for stock speed, at least on my E8400. I have Gigabyte's P43 chipset motherboard and am happy with it, but the P45 is only a little more expensive now.

 

[Blain]

If you've already got an XP 32-bit OS, don't worry about Vista.

$500 Combo with Cheese
* CPU - E8400 3GHz, 6MB L2, 45nm @ $165 (free shipping).
* CPU HS - Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro @ $25 (including estimated shipping).
* MB - Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R @ $115 (after rebate and estimated shipping).
* RAM - 4GB G.Skill PI Black, 1.8-1.9v, 4-4-4-12 @ $50 (free shipping).
To help clean up that HD mess you've got...
* HD - WD 1TB "Black", 32MB cache, 5 year warranty @ $120 (free shipping)

Grand Total = $475 :thumbsup::laugh:

 

[fallensight]

thanks for the advice. I went with a E8400 and the giga board. I will live with the HD mess, not worth the 120 to clean it up to me.