Upgrade advice/recommendations needed

[Khadaji]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
- Gaming - BF3, Metro2033, Oblivion, Skyrim, etc.
- I'm wondering if I should really invest into a MOBO to SLI my video (would it be worth it?)


2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
- ~$200 - 300

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
- USA

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.
- No preference, price vs performance

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
- 2 SATA2 HDDs
- eVGA GTX460 768MB
- Case (Mid tower)
- DVDRW
- PSU Good 850 (don't remember brand)

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
- No searchs, no threads I always trust the advice here

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
- Default

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with.
- 23" LCD 1680x1050

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
- As soon as quality advice comes across.

 

[fralexandr]

i wouldn't bother with SLIing the 460 768mb since you're gaming at 1680x1050. The 768mb card is memory limited when SLIing i think, plus there's the microstutter issue that you may or may not notice.

probably best to wait on getting a SSD i guess (due to the limited budget)
so basically your looking for CPU, mobo, RAM for 200-300?

2x4gb ddr3 shouldn't put you past $30-$40
so CPU, mobo for 160-270
you'll probably be looking for an quadcore intel core i.
have a microcenter near you? you could probably get a 2500k + mobo for ~$210-$250

don't have a microcenter?:
if you don't plan on overclocking you don't need a 2x00K part
the 2500 is generally $20 cheaper than the 2500k ($195)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115073
ncix.us has the 2500k for $200 not sure about shipping
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=579...l&promoid=1314

newegg has a few mobos for ~$60, though they're mostly micro atx, with a few ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...50%20-%20%2475

otherwise you'll probably need to look for a core i3 (the core i5 2310 is $180 so it's not much cheaper than the 2500) or an AMD Phenom II x4 or x6
i'd go the phenom route as your PSU is ridiculously high power anyway and the Phenom II x6 is pretty well priced.

 

[mfenn]

For $300 and no OC, here's what I would do:

i5 2500 $195 AP
ASRock H67M $80
PNY DDR3 1333 8GB $32
Total: $307 AP

If you absolutely cannot go over $300, get the i5 2300 instead.