AMD Upgrade or Intel ?

[RainbowRecon]

Hey there so i'm going overseas and going to get some parts for my computer
I currently need a Motherboard new CPU and new Ram as my current CPU is outdated same with its DDR2 memory, I need to upgrade because my GTX 460 is bottle necking with the CPU.

Here are the 2 upgrade suggestions.

1. AMD UPGRADE

ASUS M4A87TD DDR3 = 105 NZD
AMD ATHLON X3 450 3.2 GHz = 95NZD
GENERIC 4 GB ( 2GB X 2 ) DDR3 RAM = 39NZD

Total = 243 NZD

2. INTEL UPGRADE

ASUS P5P41T/USB3 = 119 NZD
INTEL PENTIUM DUEL CORE E6600 = 93 NZD
GENERIC 4 GB ( 2GB X 2 ) DDR3 RAM = 39NZD

Total = 251 NZD

Which of the builds would you recommend? And would you have some build ideas that would fit the price?

Cheers

 

[Emerald]

you could get a AMD Phenom II X2 555 or 565 Black Edition and unlock the other two core via the MOBO to make it a X4; however, there is no guaranty for that to work.

the other option is to get a AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition which can easily be over clocked, and you might be able to unlock the fourth core, too.

Due to the L3 Cache the Phenom have they might be faster.

 

[rvilkman]

At that price range, AMD is the way to go.

The MB you have listed is pretty decent. You obviously don't need SLI support as only the new 990(F)X boards have that.

If you can afford it, get a Phenom II x4 955 BE generally seems to have the best bang for buck atm. If you can't the x3 works great.

Memory I would spend a couple of extra bucks to get a kingston, corsair, gskill or mushkin 2x2GB kit. CAS9 1600MHz being the norm generally. But 1333MHz will do if you can't find a reasonble price on a 1600Mhz kit