Recommendation: CPU upgrade

[mienhthornh]

Current hardware:

*ASUS A8N-SLI ATHLON 64 FX/ATHLON 64 SOCKET 939
*AMD 64 |3000+ ATHLON 64 939P
*2GB RAM DDR400
*RAIDMAX RX-630A ATX12V/ EPS12V 630W Power Supply
*Power Color X800GT 256MB PCI-e
*Western Digital 160GB Hard drive
*NEC 16X D/L DVD-R


I am interested in upgrading my CPU. My budget is $150. Any recommendations? Should I stay with AMD or migrate to Intel? Will I be able to find a Dual-core to match my budget?

NOTE: I am a huge fan of Call of Duty.

[LeftyAce]

What is your main motivation for this upgrade? What do you want the computer to do better? I'm guessing from your comment about Call of Duty that you're a gamer.

In general, for games, the video card is much more important than the processor, but in your case, socket 939 cpus are getting hard to find (AMD stopped making them months ago) while PCI Express video cards are going to be around for a while.

I'd stay with AMD; moving to an Intel Core2Duo would require a new processor, motherboard and ram, and possibly new CD drives (The newer mobos don't play well with IDE drives....you might end up needing SATA). At that point, it's a whole new PC.

I upgraded my 939 system a month ago, and put in a dual core Opteron. Here's newegg's stock: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...name=Dual-Core

I'd strongly recommend you replace that PSU......RAIDMAX is low quality, and if/when they die, they can kill other components. It won't make your computer any faster, but a better PSU is a very good investment. Here's our list of recommended PSUs: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195

Something around 500-520 watts would allow you to upgrade your video card in the near future. If you just want to power what you have now, 450 watts would be fine.

[Krazeee]

Check out this article at Tom's Hardware. It's geared towards people just like you (and I for that matter).

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/08/...nent_upgrades/

You actually have the same mobo and cpu as I do and I plan to take the advice of that article and upgrade to AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Toledo 2.2GHz Socket 939

I would also see if you can find an x1950xt video card to boost your gaming and definately swap that PSU. You don't need a ton of watts, but make sure the 12v rails put out at least 18 amps

Most people will recommend this one

CORSAIR 520W - $125

But here are a few little gems I just found. Inexpensive, but reputable brands.

ePOWER 550W - $55

COOLER MASTER 550W - $80...this also comes with a nifty readout attachment