Upgrading to quad core

[jj555298]

I've got an e8400 @3.6ghz and I'm starting to play more games that utilize 4 cores. I don't want to buy a new CPU for a dead platform, so I'm thinking of buying a cheap AM3 mobo and Phenom II x3.2. That comes out to about $250, vs buying the Q9505 Yorkfield @2.83GHz which is $240. This way I can sell my e8400 and mobo for about $250, get myself a gtx 460, and possibly have a board that supports new AMD CPU's for a year or more to come. I don't want to wait for sandy bridge, this seems like the cheapest solution to get me by until intel's next socket. What would you guys do?

 

[MSS]

i would say 250$ +50$ and get :

ASUS M4N75TD - AM3 - GF750a - DDR3 - ASUS Core Unlocker - ATX Motherboard

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8 GHz 6x512 KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Processor - Retail HDT55TFBGRBOX

6 cores is a big improvement think about it

 

[Emperus]

May be you can just get a powerful video card now and keep running your current rig.. In the future when you decide on a full platform sweep, you can still keep your video card.. Games especially are more GPU dependent.. Having said that, the E8400 is still a powerful CPU for gaming and will not cause any bottlenecks..

 

[Nils]

I would consider the newer Core i7/i5 series from Intel. You should check these out as well. They have quad cores and some of them have hyperthreading technology which means you can run two threads simultaniously (not sure that's written correctly ) on one core and it actually makes it into a 8-core cpu.
They come however at higher prices but they are worth it as it is newer technology

Examples with newegg prices (all quad cores):

i7 930 2.8ghz: 289$ (hyperthreading)
i7 860 2.8ghz: 289$ (hyperthreading)
i5 760 2.8ghz: 209$ (no ht)

 

[Nils]

As he mentioned the Q9505 I thought he might also be considering an Intel platform.
You can also find cheap mobo's fitting the cpu's I mentioned.

 

[ares1214]

in my opinion, you have 2 options. keep it until you have more money, or sell it and buy am3. you can get an x4 635 or x3 440 and a good mobo for 170-200$ from newegg, then 100$ for the ram. you will NOT sell that for that much, id say no more than 200$ if you can find a really dumb person, maybe 125$ or 150$ for a reasonable person. so of course you will take a hit. on the other hand, u can keep using it (@ 3.6 GHz, thats should be more than fine) upgrade to a modern gpu, say a gtx 460, and be very happy for a long time. when sandy bridge or bulldozer is out, get one of them, or get an older am3 cpu, use it, then get bulldozer when its cheap.

 

[jj555298]

Yea, I wasn't thinking clearly assuming I can get $250 for my current hardware. Thanks for all the suggestions, It's probably best just to get a gtx 460 and bide my time.

 

[jj555298]

Best answer selected by jj555298.