Best computer upgrade for under 200$ CPU/mobo/ram

[ws0007351]

I was thinking of upgrading my computer to be able to play Black Ops a bit smoother. I currently have an AMD 3200+(single core), and some crappy mother board, with 1 gig of slow ram.
I dont think i will be able to upgrade my Radeon 46xx if i want something decent for under 200$.

What would you guys recommend?

Also: 200$ CAD, and i think i need an mATX.

 

[Herr_Koos]

Would have to be a budget AMD build I think. I can't speak for the prices since I don't live in the 'States, but an Athlon II X3 plus maybe a 785 or 880 mobo plus 4GB of DDR3 should be gettable for $200.

 

[ghnader hsmithot]

If you have spare money..I definitely suggest the athlon x4.

 

[Herr_Koos]

Agreed, but that would probably push him over budget. Still, 4 cores are better than 3.

 

[jj463rd]

At the Canadian newegg probably either the OEM 3.0 Ghz Phenom II X3 740 BE or the 3.2 Ghz Athlon II X3 450 CPU (Both are very close in benchmarks and price).
One comes with a heatsink and fan, warranty the other is a little cheaper and slightly better although at a slower clock speed.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103699
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103886

About $80 CAD for the Phenom IIX3 + Free Shipping
About $91 CAD for the Athlon II X3 which doesn't have free shipping (It's $10)

As to a motherboard this is a good one although AM2+ it's cheaper and a good choice.
GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394

About $60 CAD + Free shipping

Here is another similar type slightly more expensive but comes (no kidding) with a router card,a infrared remote and detector.Meant for a HTPC it also works great for a desktop.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186180
About $85 plus $13 shipping = $98 CAD

Basically not putting you over the $200 price range I would say the
Phenom II X3 740 @ $80 and the GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H motherboard @$60 for a combined total of $140 CAD would leave you $60 for DDR2 RAM which you could choose either DDR2-1066 or DDR2-800
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007610%20600006125&IsNodeId=1&name=DDR3%201066%20(PC3%208500)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007610%20600006107&IsNodeId=1&name=DDR2%20800%20(PC2%206400)

You might be able to get 4 GB RAM.Check the motherboard manufacturers recommendations and qualified vendor testing list on the memory before ordering.
These motherboards are mATX.

By the way I own both motherboards (but am from the USA) and they work great.

 

[jj463rd]

Notice that what I put up there is on sale (won't be for very long).
I tried to give you the best bang per buck for a very low cost.
Myself I just ordered a OEM Phenom II X3 740 BE CPU to upgrade a CPU on my foxconn 785G motherboard like the one that I mentioned earlier.
It's the best price per performance CPU right now on passmarks list.
Most likely you would get the revised (latest) version of the motherboard
which is here.
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3447#ov
Click on the link to download the memory support list and you can download the lastest drivers or BIOS updates too.

 

[archer7282]

this combo, http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.556102

and this motherboard http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131626


would put you at 201$ canadien. while keeping you with an AM3 board and DD3 ram.

after that i would save my pennies and pick up a okay graphics card when you can.

 

[ws0007351]

At the Canadian newegg probably either the OEM 3.0 Ghz Phenom II X3 740 BE or the 3.2 Ghz Athlon II X3 450 CPU (Both are very close in benchmarks and price).
One comes with a heatsink and fan, warranty the other is a little cheaper and slightly better although at a slower clock speed.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103699
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103886

About $80 CAD for the Phenom IIX3 + Free Shipping
About $91 CAD for the Athlon II X3 which doesn't have free shipping (It's $10)

As to a motherboard this is a good one although AM2+ it's cheaper and a good choice.
GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394

About $60 CAD + Free shipping

Here is another similar type slightly more expensive but comes (no kidding) with a router card,a infrared remote and detector.Meant for a HTPC it also works great for a desktop.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186180
About $85 plus $13 shipping = $98 CAD

Basically not putting you over the $200 price range I would say the
Phenom II X3 740 @ $80 and the GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H motherboard @$60 for a combined total of $140 CAD would leave you $60 for DDR2 RAM which you could choose either DDR2-1066 or DDR2-800
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007610%20600006125&IsNodeId=1&name=DDR3%201066%20(PC3%208500)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007610%20600006107&IsNodeId=1&name=DDR2%20800%20(PC2%206400)

You might be able to get 4 GB RAM.Check the motherboard manufacturers recommendations and qualified vendor testing list on the memory before ordering.
These motherboards are mATX.

By the way I own both motherboards (but am from the USA) and they work great.

That X3 looks good, but it doesnt come with a heatsink...

 

[ws0007351]

Alright, this is what im thinking:

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394
Cooler: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103087
CPU: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103699
RAM: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148150

OR: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103886&Tpk=x3%20450
and I dont have to buy the cooler

What should i do?

 

[jj463rd]

That X3 looks good, but it doesnt come with a heatsink...

Yes,I chose it that way and mentioned it previously in my first post that it didn't come with a heat sink and fan where as the Athlon X3 came with a warranty and the heatsink/fan .
It's possible that the owner already has a couple of spare ones too and wasn't specifically asked for (just Motherboard/CPU/Memory).

Edit both of our posts are not linking anymore to the correct links (or some of them) so most likely those sales are over or have changed (even cheaper today) which don't work.

archer 7282 had a good choice although it's a dual core CPU it does well in benchmarks as compared to that triple core CPU that I mentioned.His also uses DDR3 memory so that is an advantage (could possibly be reused in a future system build).Also the CPU he chose came with a heatsink/fan/warranty. Disadvantage with the ASUS board the Gigabyte board that I mentioned seems to have a higher customer satisfaction rate,lots of reviews customers and it's more versatile (can use AM2,AM2+ and AM3 CPU's) although it has the disadvantage of using older DDR2 memory.

 

[archer7282]

honestly if it were me i would spring for a the phenom II x2 and the dd3 memory and a slightly better motherboard that had better reviews and could potentially unlock the x2 to 3 or 4 cores.

but you would probably be looking at 210 to make that happen.

something like this board at least for the unlocking potential http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138283

 

[jj463rd]

honestly if it were me i would spring for a the phenom II x2 and the dd3 memory and a slightly better motherboard that had better reviews and could potentially unlock the x2 to 3 or 4 cores.

but you would probably be looking at 210 to make that happen.

something like this board at least for the unlocking potential http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138283

That's a good choice with good reviews.What the OP could do is opt for just 1 -2GB stick of RAM initially to keep it under $200 Canadian dollars and purchase another stick later on.Here is why I selected the OEM Phenom X3 740 BE.
It has the best performance vs price of any CPU out there right now and also because it's now on sale.
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_value_available.html
also here is a list of the performance scores
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html
I did check anandtech's benchmarks but the 740 was not listed there (the slower 720 BE was listed though).

You are correct however if a user is able to unlock the 2 cores on the Phenom X2 555 essentially and it works (perhaps a 40% chance), essentially they would have something nearly the equivalent of the Phenom X4 955 BE CPU and it would slightly outperform the 740 if one was successful in unlocking the remaining core (would be about the equivalent of the Phenom X4 945) of that CPU.