Please help a noober

[Endo]

I would like to upgrade my mobo/cpu and memory, my budget is of $400 (if possible I know it is not much, if not enough tell me how much more I would have to squeeze out of the [strike]wife[/strike] wallet for a midrange gaming setup)

I am keeping most of the stuff i have now and would like if some of you experts would point me in the right direction.

here is what I currently have:

APEVIA X-Navigator ATXA8NW-BK/500 Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer
ENERMAX Noisetaker EG701AX-VE SFMA(24P) 600W EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply
ASUS A8N-SLI 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - want to replace
Rosewill 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Desktop Memory Model RW400/512 x2 - want to replace
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ ClawHammer 2.2GHz Socket 939 Single-Core Processor Model ADA3500ASBOX - want to replace
CNPS9500A LED Zalman CPU Cooler
2x EVGA gForce 9800 superclocked

Thank you for your help on this.


This is 90% gaming rig, it will be air cooled only.

 

[megamanx00]

Well I'm not to big on Sli really , but since you already have the two 9800s you need a good SLi board. I would say on a budget to get the following

ASRock K10N750SLI $114.99 + 8.97 shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157132

It may be a little difficult to use if your a newb though. You may also want to consider

MSI K9N2 SLI Platinum $144.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130161

As for the Memory

Mushkin 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 1066 $124.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146785

And for the CPU

Phenom 8750 BE $134
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103295

Ant that will give you $382.85 with the ASRock board and 403.98 if you go with the MSI board. Keep in mind that you will need to enter the BIOS in order to manually set the RAM settings in order to get it to run at it's recommended speed. You have to do with with just about all 1066 RAM, so if you aren't comfortable doing that then go with 4GB of DDR2 800 instead like this set for $67.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146692

That swap would let you switch your CPU to a 9750 with the ASRock board and still stay in budget .

 

[dirtmountain]

Here's an alternative Intel build

motherboard MSI P7N LGA 775 750i SLI $110 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130175
CPU - E8500 $190
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036
could replace the E8500 with the Q6600 for the same price
RAM - 2x2GB DDR2 800 1.8v $58 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146731

 

[Endo]

Thank you both for the great suggestions, I am not really a noob just a noob when it comes to the information you all are so in touch with (with CPU and motherboard and performance)

I have put my rig together from scratch but just can never grasp the benchmarks and OC'ing stuff.

Again thank you both for your suggestions.

I think I will be going with the Q6600 since i have seen it pop up quite often reading some of the threads here.

 

[brendin]

+1 to dirtmountians idea, and go with the Q6600 to future proof it (in a year most things are going to be muilttreaded)
keep in mind: go with what ever brand motherboard/ram u want they all fall around the same price for the same thing (i like gigabyte, also MSI has good features but ive never owned one myself)