GTS 250 - Please suggest a Motherboad and CPU to take full advantage

[bippukt]

Hello everyone, this is my first post

Well, I finally decided to take the plunge into the world of high-end gaming (for a low budget ) and went ahead to buy an XFX GTS 250 512 MB. I also needed a PSU and the choice was very limited. The only decent ones seemed to be CoolerMaster Extreme 500W and 600W. None of them is ideal, so I went conservative and opted for 600W - 450W is required for a GTS 250 system. My current system specs are:

-Intel 945GCL with P4 3.0 GHz (HT enabled)
-1GB DDR2 667MHz RAM
-XFX GTS 250 512 MB
-CoolerMaster Extreme Power 600W (RS-600W-PCAR)
-19" LCD with max resolution@1440X900
-2 SATA HDDs 80+120 GB
-No cooling solution and a pretty ordinary fan with a local fan

I have a few questions which will help me take full advantage of the GTS 250:

1. I can't do much about it now, but is my PSU good enough? It has two 12V rails each capable of 18A maximum.

2. As you can see, my CPU and RAM will not allow me to go anywhere near my graphics card's max power for the latest games. So, I need to upgrade them. I am looking to get a new motherboard, a quad core CPU and 4 GB DDR3 RAM. My budget is somewhere around $300 (It's Indian Rupees 15000, to be exact). Can you make some good suggestions for me?

3. Was getting a GTS 250 instead of HD 4870 a good decision? I saved around $40 and I am an Nvidia fan after all, not to mention the scarcity of ATI vendors here. Anyway, I only need 1440X900 resolution, so I should have no problems, right? (Please say yes )

Can't wait to run games at their full potential, so please guide me

 

[Bluescreendeath]

4870 > GTS250
4870 ~ GTX260

Pentium4 = bottleneck

You're better off with a 4650, 4670, 4830 max.
(or Nvidia's 9600GSO, 9600GT, 8800GT/9800GT 512mb)

 

[bippukt]

Well, I already have the GTS 250 (sorry for so much matter in my opening post), so there's nothing I can do about it. I would have gone for the 4870, but I couldn't find a vendor 🙁

Anyway, what I want to do now is to upgrade my CPU (and motherboard+RAM), so please help me in doing that

 

[Bluescreendeath]

What is your budget? New/used items?

 

[bippukt]

Around $300-350 for motherboard+CPU+RAM.

I could do with a lower speed RAM (Quad core probably won't need 1333MHz).

Please feel free to answer as flexibly as you can

 

[kelfen]

Combo deal
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.213790

AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Black Edition Processor Model HDZ940XCGIBOX - Retail
GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Combo Price: $239.98
Memory
very high quality
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226048
mushkin 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 996684 - OEM
$33.99
under 300

 

[bippukt]

That looks like a sweet deal, but unfortunately, I can't use it. I live in India and importing is not an option.

 

[kelfen]

so? what sites can you use? halp; i live in the us

 

[bippukt]

Well, I can't use an online store. So can you please suggest by taking into account the normal prices without any discounts etc.

I will have to go to a brick and mortar shop to do the shopping 🙁

Don't take the budget limit too seriously - slight tweaking is possible

 

[gkay09]

Cheaper options...

X3 720 - Rs 7550
Source - http://www.deltapage.com/

BIOSTAR 790GX Chipset TA 790GX 128 A2+ @ Rs :5769
Source -
http://www.techenclave.com/dealers-paradise/amd-phenom-ii-x2-550-rs-138212.html

RAM -
You can get 4GB kits for about Rs. 3000 for sure...

Hope this helps...

 

[AlphaOmegaX]

4850 > GTS 250.

I can't believe people are buying these 8800's.

 

[meewog]

the GTS in the name fools us...

 

[bippukt]

Well, I have heard this so many times now that I have decided to give up my GTS 250. Along with the PSU, it is now installed in my cousin's system - he needs it right now as he has 45 days free before he begins his job. He is happy to have it and I am happy to get rid of it

The biggest reason why I bought GTS 250 instead of HD 4870/4850 was that I just couldn't find the ATI cards. Their vendor network in India is really poor, it seems! Plus, I don't think I needed a 4870 because my display has a resolution of only 1440X900, for which a GTS 250 should be sufficient.

In the next month or so, I will set out to upgrade my whole system, including the cabinet, PSU, motherboard, processor, RAM and of course, the graphics card. Perhaps a 4890 will become affordable to me by then. My question may considered to be answered.

Thanks to those huys who took the time to help me out. Your suggestions will be needed again when I upgrade my PC