Help with upgrade please!

[GrossmeisterB]

Hey guys!!
I wanna upgrade my close to two year old setup!
I currently have:

Abit AB9 QuadGT
E6400 @ 8x444MHz (3550 MHz)
2x1GB OCZ + 2x1GB Mushkin memory
Leadtek 7900GT VGA-card

That thing isn't really "slow", but newer games will run only with some things turned off etc...

Now I was thinking of upgrading that rig, but I'm a bit unsure:

1.:Should I get a Quadcore, or will a Dualcore (with some decent o'cing) be better for me?? I use the rig for gaming, no video-editing or whatever...

2.: If Quad or Dualcore, what CPU to get?? I think the E8400 are nice overclockers??

3.: What mainboard/chipset to get?? I don't want to go with an Asus again, maybe I will try DFI again this time?? What board should I get? I don't need "fancy" WLAN or whatever onboard, I don't need a RAID controller or whatever, just a real good overclocker with lots of BIOS options etc.

4.: I need a new videocard, too...I think the ATI 4850 is the best "bang for the buck" at the moment, right?

5.: I think I want to switch from 4x1GB to 2x2GB, what memory should I get????

Thanks in advance for your help!!

[Leeghoofd]

Get an ATI 4850 and try ya current setup... For the ram I use 4gb of GSKill PC8000 ram (clocks nicely up to 1080mhz) , that will do no need to swap CPU or mobo...
If ya need more Mhz it might be nice to see if ya board can power the E8400's up to 4ghz...or even an E8500 might help with 425Mhz to get to 4ghz total...

[GrossmeisterB]

The thing is, I'm having problems with my rig, must be some of the memory and/or the board slowly dying, had to clock it back to stock settings to get it running again etc., now I wanna RMA that stuff, buy something new in the meantime, and once I get the stuff back I will sell it - that's it...

So I thought, that when I buy something new now, I better get something "good", that will last me >1 year...

[zsamz_]

you should run memtest on your ram
my e6400 runs 3.6 with 1.32v 24/7

[GrossmeisterB]

Memtest will crash when I have my Mushkins inserted - but it runs fine with the 2x OCZ in...so I bet it's the Mushkins...but then it won't overlock with the OCZ in there...damn it...better RAM that stuff...^^

[Nasgul]

I'd say a better video card, I'm running my E6600 @ 3.15ghz and with the 9800GTX @800/2400, no game is slow and all the eye candy stuff turned on.

Sometimes even when all the fancy stuff it's turned on? No difference at all, maybe because I'm not stuck with an LCD but 22" CRT. All games look nice and crispy.

So, get an 8800GT or 9800GTX, these cars can overclock sky-high w/o any extra cooling and no extra voltage, no need for BIOS flashing either............STRAIGHT out of the box sky-high. Mine does.

[GrossmeisterB]

I think the 4850's are the better "bang for the buck", but which mobo and which CPU to get??

E8400 or Q9300? Or anything else?? CPU will be under water, and I wanna overclock that thing to the max....

[tdenton1138]

+1 on the 4850's. I'm getting one when I figure out a new mobo/ram combo. I'd appreciate help on my search as well, but I'm air, not h2o.

[GrossmeisterB]

OK guys, today I placed my order:

Asus P5Q-E
E8400 boxed
Powercolor HD4850
2x2GB Corsair XMS2 Dominator

:-D