$300 PC Upgrade

[ExodusC]

Hi guys. I know I've made similar threads in the past, but now I'm ready to buy. I've got about $300 that I want to go toward my PC. Specs are in my signature.

I'm thinking maybe a P45 motherboard, as I could sell my current P35 board for some cash or maybe just keep it for another PC in the future.

If I got a P45 board (probably the GA-P35-DS3R) I would be able to use onboard RAID (I'm pretty sure it'll fix my weird performance issues that I believe my RAID card is causing) and possibly go Crossfire.

How would HD 4850 Crossfire perform with a 1680x1050 monitor?

I've also thought about getting a new processor (probably a Q9550) since my Q6600 won't clock past 3.2GHz. I could sell the Q6600 for some cash back as well.

What would you guys suggest? I'm at a total loss...

Edit: Wow, looking at a comparison between P45 and X48 Crossfire... The P45 Crossfire does not seem worth it. Well, assuming I could get a cheap X48 board (about $150), would you guys recommend Crossfire?

[Nazu]

P45 mobos are not that good for Crossfire due to the 2x 8X speed pcie slots. X38/48 have two full speed 16x slots and they are the ones you want to look for if you're building a crossfire system. Another thing is that a crossfire for a display with that resolution isnt that usefull. Get a bigger display (24"+) and then you can start to think about Crossfire or better videocard. The cpu might be worth thinking about. You can prolly hit close to 4GHz with that cooling.

[ExodusC]

The cpu might be worth thinking about. You can prolly hit close to 4GHz with that cooling.

I might be able to find a Q9550 for around $250, I was thinking that might be the right idea.

If I could hit 4GHz on one of those... Whew, I would feel great about myself, since I've failed with my past 3 CPUs to get great overclocks...

• AMD Athlon X2 3800+: 2.4GHz from 2.0GHz (I guess that might be ok for an X2)
• AMD Athlon X2 4600+: 2.6GHz from 2.4GHz (Pretty crappy overclock in my opinion)
• Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 B3: 3.2GHz from 2.4GHz (Ok for a B3 I guess, but less than stellar)

So yeah, I think it would be great to have a CPU that can overclock well. My motherboard can do at least 400FSB which would be 3.4GHz on the Q9550's 8.5x multiplier. I'm pretty sure my board could do over 400FSB pretty easily.

Any other ideas guys?

[sf rich]

What do you do with your computer?

It's going to be hard to squeeze a fast quad core CPU and a mobo into $300 ...

If you do gaming and basic apps/web stuff, my recommendation would be to get the E8600. Overclocks really well, though I don't know the ins and outs of your motherboard at all.

If you really need a quad (heavy duty data processing, image processing, video, etc.) then the Q9550 would be a good use of your budget. I have OC'd mine to 3.4 GHz (on an Asus P5Q Deluxe P45 motherboard) with almost no effort - 100% on air with a TRUE just like you .

EDIT: Oops a couple more things to mention:

- merely upgrading your motherboard isn't going to do a lot for you for performance, other than allowing future growth.
- with your current monitor, more GPU power is a waste of money. It just won't do anything for you.
- maybe the best use of your $300 is a new monitor? If you could find a 24" used at that price it would be a huge upgrade. I went from 20" to 24" this summer and it's one of the best ups I've ever done.

[ExodusC]

What do you do with your computer?

It's going to be hard to squeeze a fast quad core CPU and a mobo into $300 ...

If you do gaming and basic apps/web stuff, my recommendation would be to get the E8600. Overclocks really well, though I don't know the ins and outs of your motherboard at all.

If you really need a quad (heavy duty data processing, image processing, video, etc.) then the Q9550 would be a good use of your budget. I have OC'd mine to 3.4 GHz (on an Asus P5Q Deluxe P45 motherboard) with almost no effort - 100% on air with a TRUE just like you .

EDIT: Oops a couple more things to mention:

- merely upgrading your motherboard isn't going to do a lot for you for performance, other than allowing future growth.
- with your current monitor, more GPU power is a waste of money. It just won't do anything for you.
- maybe the best use of your $300 is a new monitor? If you could find a 24" used at that price it would be a huge upgrade. I went from 20" to 24" this summer and it's one of the best ups I've ever done.

Oh, I guess I wasn't clear, if I got a Q9550, I would not worry about a new motherboard. It would either be a new motherboard (maybe another 4850) or a Q9550.

I've thought maybe a new monitor. My 1680x1050 monitor is nice, and I don't know if it would be well spent on a new one... It would be probably $300 for a 1920x1600 monitor, and then I would be wanting Crossfire or an HD 4870 1GB to get good performance...

I'm not sure what to do.