[Homebuilt] Advice on Upgrades

[Grossmond]

Hello all, A few years back I did my first PC build and while it has lasted me quite a while I am needing to do some upgrades to it. I've listed my specs below of what I currently have and am looking to buy a new Mobo, CPU, and if need be some Ram all while keeping the price tag under $200. Can anyone lend some kind suggestions? I will be upgrading to Windows 7 when I do this but that won't impact the $200 for parts.

Current Setup
MOBO: ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Windsor 3.2GHz Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor ADX6400CZBOX
RAM: OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260


Potential Upgrades
MOBO: ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX
Total Cost: $174.98

 

[o1die]

Good choices, unless you live near a microcenter. They might get you into an amd combo for less, such as this one: http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/1240665/.

 

[Grossmond]

I actually do live within driving distance to a Frys Electionics, so I might have to keep my eye out for any combo deals. Are there any AMD options better then this that if I saw a ~$200 combo I should keep an eye out for?

 

[o1die]

Here's newegg's email promos which expire at midnight: http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/Nov-0-2012/yearendrush30/index-landing.html?nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL113012&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL113012-_-EMC-113012-Index-_-E0-_-IT#IT. I would just check fry's main website around 6 am friday for their new ad.

 

[Grossmond]

Another random question on this, as I am sometimes bad on evaluating the difference between CPUs. In the newer line of CPUs what would the logical upgrade be from the AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition I have listed above?

 

[o1die]

I would go with Intel ivy bridge 3450 or 3570K with a B75 or z77 chipset board. The 965 is still one of the best amd cpus; you won't gain much by switching to trinity.

 

[Grossmond]

Thanks, was making sure I am not crazy. Was reading reviews on the AMD CPUs that were the next generation from the 965 but from what I could tell and what some reviews were looking like the gain was marginal for a much higher price tag.