Core i series or older dual core series?

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rimogrom

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Apr 13, 2010
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I'm looking to upgrade my pc in the latter part of this year, and am on a fairly tight budget.
At the moment I have a pretty old setup:
3.o ghz pentium 4 (single core)
2gb ddr2 ram
some cheap motherboard
Nvidia Geforce 7950 GT 512mb

I'm looking to upgrade at least the cpu and motherboard, and basically want to know whether I should go for the new core i series, which would of course require completely new ram, or just get a top end dual core like the E8400. My main use for this pc is gaming, so best bang for buck is my top priority.
So, do i get say an i5 660, new ddr3 ram and a new motherboard, or do i get say an E8400, a really good motherboard and possibly save alot of money?
I'm not wanting something that can play the latest games on full graphics at anything bigger than 1600x1200, but I do want to get the most out of my geforce 7950GT while it can still handle relatively recent games (like modern warfare 2).

Any advice would be very welcome!
 
Solution
J
Stay away from socket 775, it's a dead end. Its successors socket 1156 for mainstream, 1366 for enthusiast are where to go now. For tighter budgets you will want to use AMD's socket AM3, by spending a little less on CPU/Mobo you can funnel the saved cash into a more powerful video card. Even a cheap AMD HD4670 (65$) will be faster than that 7950GT.
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Stay away from socket 775, it's a dead end. Its successors socket 1156 for mainstream, 1366 for enthusiast are where to go now. For tighter budgets you will want to use AMD's socket AM3, by spending a little less on CPU/Mobo you can funnel the saved cash into a more powerful video card. Even a cheap AMD HD4670 (65$) will be faster than that 7950GT.
 
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Solution
thanks for the prompt reply guys. I can see that the newer i series or PIIs are the way to go, but it's just frustrating to have to spend so much money on new DDR3 Ram. Is there any other cpu/mobo combo that is compatible with ddr2? Getting say 4gb ddr3 would cost like an extra $140 or something-too much for me!
 
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Have you checked to see if your current motherboard will support any of the dual cores? Even a Pentium D would be enough to max out your current video card.

Other than that I agree with the others suggesting an AM2+ setup for you. The amd 250 setup (255 maybe? I forget and am work) I picked up for my wifes pc is surprising nimble! It has me wanting to upgrade too and AMD pricing is hard to beat.
 
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Hmmm . . . so amd would be the way to go then-I know virtually nothing about amd-I'll have to do more research. How much impact do you think motherboards have on the overall handling of games? And which amd motherboards would you recommend if I was looking at getting say an Athlon II x3?
 
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ok thanks alot guys-I think I'll do that-but I know NOTHING about unlocking cores-so isn't a bit risky for me to try? Can much go wrong? Also, do 4 cores make much of a difference with most games, as opposed to 2?
 
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Done some more research-now my thinking is the following combo:
amd phenom II x4 955
asus m4a78lt-m-le
I reckon i could get these two parts for 220, which seems pretty reasonable . . . ?
Any recommendations for other ddr2 compatible motherboards? Most users seem to prefer asus to gigabyte.
 
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