Upgrade

[richjim]

Hey guys,

My dad has a really crappy refurbished HP and I want to give him some extra parts that I have from past upgrades (Power, GPU) He has RAM + HDDs

So I need new parts for my pc cuz I want to give him my mobo + cpu. He only uses his pc for basic stuff (word, internet). I also need an ugrade because, I rencently bought a GTX 260, and its enormous, it dosent fit in my case too well and takes up like half of my punny Mobo's space (I had to rig the HDD bay and Sata connectors). But I'm not looking into SLI, or crossfire.

I bought my computer a couple of years ago, custom built.

Processor: Intel Core2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz
Mobo: Biostar GF7050V-M7

These parts are unheard of now, I bought them because of the price but I am not too disappointed with the performace, but they are getting a bit old.

I am currently running dual boot Windows 7 ultimate (32) and XP (32). I use my PC for 3D rendering programs such as 3Ds Max 2010 & Maya 2010, also Image processing like Photoshop and video like Adobe Premier Pro. I also like to play PC games, my current card can handle any game I have @ 1680x1050, like Fallout 3, SFIV, Mass Effect 2 etc I dont do none of that Crysis stuff =P I also tend to multitask a lot.

My main question is, what would be the best upgrade of mobo + cpu at an affordable price? (my budget is about $300, 400 tops)

I was looking at those i5 and i7, and they seem awesome but i7 is a bit expensive. Also I dont know if I have to upgrade to DD3 ram for both i5 and i7? I have 4gb DDR2 atm and 4gb of dd3 is like >$100 which cuts down my budget =/

Maybe I could upgrade to one of those high end-ish Core 2 Quads?

Things I'm looking out for:
Intel brand (have bad AMD experiences), Quad core. Large mobo (Non-Micro) dont care about SLI. I need to buy ASAP or else my dad will spend his money on another crappy PC lol. It would be awesome if you can point me in the right direction where to buy =D

Thanks.

 

[tikrjee]

You will have to upgrade to DDR3 for either the i5 or i7, not to mention most socket AM3 motherboards (if going AMD).
That being said, your best bang for buck will be to go with the Core i5 750 and good mobo (recommend Gigabyte, they have a few models packing USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps for about $100). A good set of DDR3 will run you around $70-80 for 4GB, should be able to find a set of 2x2GB from G.Skill, Crucial, or Kingston around that price shipped.

All that will put you at almost $400 (your 'tops').
Check out the December edition of System Builder Marathon for details.

 

[richjim]

You will have to upgrade to DDR3 for either the i5 or i7, not to mention most socket AM3 motherboards (if going AMD).
That being said, your best bang for buck will be to go with the Core i5 750 and good mobo (recommend Gigabyte, they have a few models packing USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps for about $100). A good set of DDR3 will run you around $70-80 for 4GB, should be able to find a set of 2x2GB from G.Skill, Crucial, or Kingston around that price shipped.

All that will put you at almost $400 (your 'tops').
Check out the December edition of System Builder Marathon for details.

That's not bad, thanks =D

How much more do you think it will be for an I7, and will it be worth it for what I want to do?

 

[tikrjee]

stick with the i5 750. It's about $195, and for what you're doing, will exceed most of your expectations (especially with that GTX260). The extra (almost) $100 for an i7 just wouldn't be worth it (especially if you have a tight budget to work with).

 

[richjim]

Best answer selected by Richjim.

 

[tikrjee]

WOOTERS!