Running an Intel DG45ID Board, best processor on a budget?

[Greg Baron]

Im currently running an Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 but want to upgrade, is it worth the money to make an upgrade on the processor or should i upgrade the board as well? My budget for the processor is $280. I feel like the board will hinder me in the future, if this is the case ill upgrade the board now and keep the current processor until i get enough money to swap out the processor.

EDIT: Budget is $280.

 

[blazorthon]

I wouldn't bother upgrading your board right now. Haswell, Intel's next architecture, is coming out this year with a new motherboard/CPU socket, so you might as well wait for it before upgrading your motherboard. You could upgrade your CPU to a core 2 quad and get a decent CPU performance boost there if you aren't content with what you have now.

 

[logainofhades]

If you have a Microcenter nearby, you could get an FX 6300, Asrock 970 extreme4, and 8gb of ddr3 1600 crucial ram for around $250, depending on tax rate in your area. Would be a much better upgrade than anything you could put into that board. Before shipping and promo code, you could get the same MB/cpu combo with kingston memory for roughly your budget price. You could save about $20 and get MSI 970A-G46. It is a pretty decent board as well. They are constantly out of stock @ the Microcenter I shop at. They will get a few in and they are gone in no time.

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

The Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E8600 or an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 or Intel Core 2 Quad Q9500 if you can find them would be the best that your board can support.