Upgrading mobo and cpu

[bigdrew70]

Wanting to upgrade my mobo and cpu. Budget is $150-200 max. Need a micro ATX mobo and cpu for casual gaming.
Have a Cosair 430w psu to power it all. Also need to fit RAM into that budget as well if possible.
Was looking at: Biostar N68S3+ AM3 mobo
AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana 3.2 GHz
G Skill Sniper 8GB DDR3 1333(PC3 10666)

Was wondering if these would work or if there are any better suggestions?
Thanks for any and all help!

 

[nekulturny]

What are you upgrading it from? I'd be looking at a Phenom II 965 since thats probably going to be the "final destination" for the AM3 sockets, (Bulldozer and upcoming Piledriver is not backward compatible with AM3, they are AM3+) although Phenom IIs are forward compatible with AM3+ so, I'd be looking for a board in that flavor.

Note: Athlon IIs are basically Phenom IIs without an L3 cache, for gaming, depending on the game this can make a difference anywhere from 5-20 percent in performance.

965- $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727



mobo-$60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131795

 

[bigdrew70]

i am upgrading from an old msi 7525 boston mobo and a dual core E2160 1.8GHz

 

[nekulturny]

I see.. yes, the Phenom II would be a very worthwhile upgrade. For gaming you might consider a video card upgrade as well at some point. 4GB of DD3 is enough RAM though for casual gaming as far as budget constraints are concerned. The mobo I recommended, supports 2 DIMMs, I'd get 1 4GB stick for now if you're trying to save money and add another later if you find its not cutting it. Up to you DDR3 is pretty cheap, an 8GB (2x4) kit would run you about 40-50 bucks.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820178333

Cheap but PNY is a decent, yet somewhat "unknown" brand.