Want to upgrade but confused on which cpu i should go towards.

Hmmm, i would say Phenom II x4 955 would fit you perfectly.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103808

Only 0.2 GHz slower than the 965 (although that can be regain though minor overclocking) and it $20 cheaper. when comparing it against the 125W version of the 965. Now comparing it to the 140W version (the one you linked) then it's almost $25.

Only other cpu i would choose is the core i5 750. Although i doubt you'll notice a performance difference between Phenom ii x4 955 and core i5 750.

The other 2 (core i7 and phenom ii x6) is overkill for gaming, unless your playing AC2 or FSX that can use over 4 cores/threads.

Although if you want to save some money, i would just recommend getting DDR3 1333 MHz ram. from what i learn, majority of people cant tell the difference between them and unless you found a good deal on ddr3 1600 MHz, ddr3 1333 MHz is normally cheaper.

As for motherboards, is there any particular features you would like on it? USB 3.0, sata 6 gb/s, two(+) 2.0 PCI-e x16 slots, ect?

Really good input given about the chips thanks.

Mobo wise just looking for a one with good overclocking ability dont really care for the sata 6 or usb3 since i havent read anything yet that has shown them to be worth the money atm. but i just started researching last night. i was surprised to see such go towards the 955 chip i really liked what i was seeing with i5 750 but so many benchmarks really threw me off. its like a he said she said type of thing after a while.

here was the menory i was looking at also G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

Well, the main issues with benchmarks from all over the web is,

Different test setups between each review site, (the vary from very little difference to major differance)

Some people in review sites can be bias. (most sites & people are not like that but once in a while you find the one that is.)


What you have to do is look at the overall picture and compile the data together then just look at the averages for it. If the trend is going towards Amd phenom ii's cpus, then it will be the better cpu in performance and vis versa.

Overall a core i5 750 is probably the best gaming cpu atm, although that best maybe only a few frames above the next best which could be the Phenom II x4's.


Now keeping things low cost and still have good performance for you i say the 955 fits you very nicely.

As for ram, Thats a triple pack. so unless your going to be running single channel on AMD board or intel LGA 1156, i would recommend you get this.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231253



As for motherboards, Well, there whats haserath showed you. (although a little bit expensive on the MSI board ) or,

ASUS M4N98TD EVO 139.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131636

http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P [...] templete=2


ASUS M4A78T-E $124.99 ($114.99 after $10.00 Mail-In Rebate )

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131366

http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=cf8IZzbU4m6GHKnW


Or if you want a cheap board with very little features,

ASUS M4A77TD $84.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131603

http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P [...] templete=2


(yes i do have a preference for Asus when it comes for overclocking)


I would recommend the M4N98TD EVO due to the extra overclocking features (TurboV & Turbo Key), SLI , Express Gate (you checking the web quickly without going into windows), and it also has an easy to use core unlocking feature for AMD cpus (if you ever wanted a new cpu with disabled cores).

The unlocking feature "core unlocker" is has the possibility to turn an unused core in Phenom II x2's and 3's (with the possibilty of x4's in the future) and turn them into:

For X2's: turn it into an x3 or x4

For x3's turn them into x4

(future) x4's turn them into x5's or x6's

Now it doesn't guarantee you get a phenom ii x2 into a x4 but there always a chance.


If you need more options on MB's, just let us know.


Hope this helps so far.