Components advice

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makilla

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Jan 30, 2012
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18,510
Approximate Purchase Date: before Feb 11th

Budget Range: $320 or less
System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming (not crazy about being able to run everything at ultra max details, something that could run Battlefield 3 on mid-high details with good fps)

Parts Not Required: keyboard,mouse, HAF 912 case, powersupply rosewill 750w, Gygabyte windforce HD 6870, hard drive)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: directcanada.com, newegg.ca, nxic.com, tigerdirect.ca

Country: Canada

Parts Preferences: biggest bang for the buck

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: NO

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments:
Hi I am looking for advice on potential upgrade for my pc (mobo and proc/memory).
My current build is :
AMD Athlon II x2 4400+ 2.3ghz
MSI Micro ATX mb (don’t know the exact model of the top of my head but it only supports up to AM+2 socket and 2 slots for DDR 2 memory up to 4gb ram)
4gb Gskill DDR2 800mhz gaming memory

( I will attempt to sell these afterwards but I don’t see more than $50 in these…….)

Is there any viable and worthy solution where I could upgrade these 3 items for max $300 budget? Or should I just try to extend its life by buying an used Phenom x4?
I know the budget is tight but im still asking .

I am currently happy with my HD6870 and HAF 912 case/ power supply…..



Thank you.
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115077 $118
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271 $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220557&http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220557&Tpk=N82E16820220557 $25

Total $273

This gives you PCI-E 3.0 capability, xfire/sli (if you desire at some future point) and the ability to upgrade to Ivy Bridge. You won't be able to overclock the i3 much, maybe 150mhz, but you will be able to overclock the crap out of Ivy Bridge at a later date.

If you don't desire overclocking or xfire/sli, you could go with a H67 motherboard and you could go with a i5-2400 quad and still come in under budget.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115074 $189
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157233 $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220557&http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220557&Tpk=N82E16820220557 $25

Total $294

 
I second the i3. AMD is just not cost effective at this day and age. Sure it's cheaper, but it performs significantly worse per dollar than Intel.

Plus with your gaming, the GPU is moreso the limiting factor than the CPU. You could game well using an i3 + 560Ti.
 

makilla

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Jan 30, 2012
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18,510
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