Best Processor to upgrade to - for gaming

Intel's Core 2 series are the best CPUs for gaming. As for quad vs duals, currently very few games can take advantage of quads, but Flight Sim-X actually does, so if thats up your alley then a quad core might be the better choice. Most people would recommend a Q6600, particularly if you are into overclocking. There is also the choice of AMD's Phenom quads, which whilst not quite as fast as the Q6600, is a bit cheaper, but they're not the best choice for overclockers.

You can build a decent quad core platform for £250, but the GPU is often more important for gaming, you may want to look at upgrading that also if your current GPU is fairly old.

Yes, 250 is too low. Good mobo and processor will cost you that. The GPU is really important today, expect 150 or so for it. You might need a new PSU and ram also too keep up with the new GPU/CPU.

Thanks guys - I take it by GPU you mean the graphics card? I recently bought GeForce 8500GT (512mb) which is probably what started this all off, it's upstaged my CPU!

So if I buy a quad 6600... can I just plug into the motherboard in place of my current Athlon processor? I seem to remember years ago certain motherboards could take certain processors, you had to check beforehand?

oh ok... well i don't need to go top of the range so i guess AMD Phenom quad would be ok.

SO... can i just buy a new AMD Phenom quad processor and stick it in where the current one is?

Indeed. You should make sure your motherboard is compatible with the cpu before doing anything.

There are so many mobos to choose from, without knowing your exact needs its difficult to make a recommendation. Do you just want a no frills board that will run a quad, or do you need all the fancy features like extra SATA ports, Firewire ports, dual Gigabit LAN and all that jazz?

Sorry, I can't help in regards to online sites since you're from the UK.

Newegg is US only. If the guy speaks in pounds, chances are he's from the UK.

Places I use in the UK for components are -
scan.co.uk, ebuyer.co.uk, microdirect isn't bad either.
Overclockers UK is highly regarded although I've never used them...

thanks again everyone, i've got some thinking to do now - appreciate all your help, hope I can return it some day when i get better at all this!! ;o)

Yeah. It's good that you have a PCI-E card at least, but it's not a particularly strong one for games. You'll probably want to upgrade it as well, in fact it should take priority over a CPU upgrade at this stage. Relatively speaking, it's an even weaker link than your CPU for the latest games.

817
Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2160, S775, 1.8 GHz
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
MSI P35 NEO2-FR, iP35, S 775,
256MB ATI HD3850
2GB (2x1GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400
500w Seasonic S12II-500 PSU, 12Cm fan

that is a full package for £320

You might want to have a look here :- http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/ and if you are prepared to haggle the deals get better.

i'd go with the quad core since the more recent games are designed for it..

what video card do u have suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun??!!

Then we educate you on reading the whole thread..

He's got 250 pounds available after purchasing the 8500GT. I don't think he's aiming for a complete rebuild and suffice to say, he's better off getting his mobo/cpu and ram replaced and at a later stage upgrade his gcard.

A complete refresh won't hurt, especially in your case. If you can hold out for some time, save some cash, sell your old pc and buy a new rig you've lost nothing except time - and in the interim you have two platforms to play off.

Get an S939 x2 or opti and a 3850 or similiar. You will have a playable system that will kill even a quad with a 8500GTfor gaming. So plan on a major rebuild or just upgrade to dual core and a halfway decent GPU solution.

thanks guys i'm a bit new to this when it comes to looking at motherboards etc

What do you mean by 939, is that the processor or mobo? (Have pasted in my current system specs below)

I just installed a new 400w PSU the other day as the one that came with the pc was only 300. It is a Jeantech, part number JNP-400P.

Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.070227-2254)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Compaq Presario 061
System Model: PX631AA-ABU SR1440UK GB520
BIOS: Phoenix - Award BIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3400+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.2GHz
Memory: 1022MB RAM
Page File: 263MB used, 2196MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode
---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 8500 GT
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0421&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_A1
Display Memory: 512.0 MB
Current Mode: 1680 x 1050 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: LG L204WS
Monitor Max Res: 1680,1050

939 is the type of soctet. The best CPU available to you is http://www.ebuyer.com/product/125398 this one. Tom might still list this on the CPU charts, if you want to do a comparison to your current CPU. The good news is that it only costs £30 and with a bit of overclocking your PC might just be able to extend it's shelf life another 8-12 months.

You really ought to start thinking about a complete overhaul, new case, motherboard, cpu, ram, hard drives, the lot. £600 can get you a lot of PC these days.

A lot of the suggestion previous mentioned however require to buy a new motherboard as well as a new CPU. This might lead to you spending more money then you anticapted, for example newer motherboards only have sockets for DDR2 ram, I have a feeling your ram is DDR1, also most motherboards these days only have 1 IDE channel which is used for optical drives new hard drives use the SATA connection instead of IDE, your Hard drive is IDE (SATA and IDE are types of cables, SATA is narrow and IDE is wide and flat or if it's been rounded fat and round).

Sorry I've just edited my last post, may want to re-read it.

The Socket 939 relates to how many pins on the processor and how many sockets on the processor socket..

Due to AMD dropping a great Socket that will go down in processor history, nothing from AMD has been much better since..

But alas as AMD dropped this architecture like a stone, it is no longer supported....

What ever you decide to do, you have some options...

Upgrade the processor you all ready have..... Problem is the board is quite old now and only evailable on ebay..

Buy a new motherboard, RAM, Processor and sell the old on ebay....

Now both Intel and AMD do budget processors.....

If monies tight i would go for a AM2+ motherboard, get 2 gb of ram - get a decent motherboard - something by Asus or Gigabyte....... look as the motherboard as your motorway structure if you like, then the processor, go for a 6400 Black edition...



All this will fit your budget... You may need a new Power Supply as I dont know what rating you have...

When the Phenom becomes more stable and faster, then upgrade to one of these later on.

The 6400 will play all the latest stuff and in some respects faster than the current Phenoms....

Hope this is of help,,,

Im a Uk'er btw so I know the pound value not Euros

The weekest component by far is the video card......

Get a 8800GT 512 or even the new 9600GT when you can, you wont regret it and dump the Xbox 360... I got one of those and you cant beat keyboard and mouse combos.... those joypads are just so annoying..... I leave them to my son to play Starwars Lego on... ( best game in my opinion )