Upgrade/Build Advice

Hello, your best bet will be an AM2+ build.

These support DDR2 yet have support for CPUs up to a Phenom II X4. A cheap first CPU will cost you around $70 for an Athlon II X2, which you could try to unlock to a X4.

This upgrade won't cost you much and will be a better option then getting a Q9XXX.

If you're looking for an Intel solution you're going to exceed your budget of $275 because it will cost a new motherboard/RAM/CPU.

You could get an AM2/AM2+/AM3 motherboard that will use your current RAM and get a nice AMD Quad core like the 955 or even an Athlon IIx4 for under your 275 budget.

So the question is, are you willing to test the waters with AMD?

Ermm... I recommend the same with the AM2+ solution, to that extent, I recommend going with a Phenom II X4 940, which is only 96$ and you'll see a performance increase going this route. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Then with a mobo, this one to be exact. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

It won't allow you to SLI but defiantly a great mobo, plus if you ever go the ATI upgrade it'll allow you to CF. But Personally I just like the chipset and MSI as a company imo.

Thank you to everyone for the great info!



Two questions:
How does the Phenom II X4 940 compare to the Q9550?
DDR2 800 vs DDR2 1066 - Big difference? Would it be worth it to replace my current 8gb of ram with 8gb of 1066? Also, I see that it supports up to 16gb of RAM, yet I can't find any 4gb sticks of 1066. Is this just because it's old news?

going from DDR2-800 to DDR2-1066 is a waste of money.

You might also consider saving up for a couple of months and seeing what happens to the market when Intel's new Sandy Bridge comes out. Even if you haven't saved enough to get a Sandy Bridge setup, it should drive down the costs of everything that is now current, at least a little.

You probably don't want to wait for AMD's new Bulldozer as well, but that's an option.

Judging by Intel's prices on Core2Quads I disagree coldsleep... Intel has a habit of being stubborn with pricing on old CPUs.

Perhaps. I'll admit that I don't follow older-gen prices closely. You would think that they would have to drop i3/i5/i7 prices at least a little, though I guess they could just price Sandy Bridge higher, instead.

At any rate, the OP's current system should be able to hold up for a couple more months, which might allow for a little more money to be saved.

Or, If you're an intel fan you can go to Tigerdirect for this bundle - MSI H55M-E33 Motherboard and Intel Core i3 550 Processor Bundle for $189 with rebate.
And to go with it from Newegg you can get this memory CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model CMV4GX3M2A1333C9 for $61
This will put you just under your budget by ~ $20. The good part about this option is that the motherboard is compatible all the way to the i7 1156 chips so you can upgrade it to the 17-875(K) later when the funds become available. The memory will also be upgradeable. I chose the 1333 to fit in your budget but for an additional $30 you can start with CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C7,(also from Newegg). Better latencies and higher clock speeds, (you will have to OC the i3 CPU to get the 1600MHz), but it's also already there when you upgrade the CPU to an i5 or i7! Plus there's the onboard video supported with the i3 looks pretty sweet to me and stays in your budget, (+$10 over it for the better memory).
So you get the mega-upgradeable CPU 1156 socket, onboard video, DDR3 dual channel upgrade @ 1333 or 1600MHz.

Honestly I'm with coldsleep. I'd save the money for Q2 2011 and then decide. Might have a bigger budget.

I know that waiting is probably kind of unappealing, but just doing a CPU upgrade or a switch to AM2+ CPU & mobo isn't likely to produce really meaningful differences in gaming (I'm assuming that's what this rig is).

Depending on the game and your monitor's resolution, it might make some difference, but unless the only game you're playing is GTA IV (which is pretty much completely CPU-limited), a CPU upgrade is unlikely to make more than a 5 fps difference or so.

The OP doesn't say hes only gaming and thus a Phenom II X4 would benefit him substantially if doing CPU intensive tasks.

Though if OP is only gaming I also think that it is best to wait.

Nope OP doesn't say anything at all about gaming. Only that he want's a solid machine that he can depend on and has the capabilities to upgrade as funds become available.

Actually it is mostly for gaming. I forgot that the new Sandy Bridge cpu's are coming out so I think i'll wait for those and then check the market again. I don't have any experience with AMD, but it seems for the money, you get more from AMD. I think that discussion if for a different thread though. Thanks to everyone for all the info and advice. I'll be back to pick your brains when SB comes out. Thanks!