Stick with AM3 for a bit longer or make the jump to a new socket?

[TheRooster]

Hello,i'm considering a CPU Upgrade,my Athlon X2 250 has held up for the last couple of years,but i'm itching for a new upgrade,but i'm not sure wheter to get a new CPU that can work with my AM3 Motherboard,or to get a whole new socket board+CPU,and if a new socket is in order,which one to get?

I'd be willing to spend 200-250 max for the new CPU (And board if needbe)

 

[nforce4max]

You might as well just buy a cheap quad and stay with AM3 for another year or so till the platform is truly dead then move on to something better.

 

[clutchc]

A lot depends on what your use is for the machine. Are you a gamer? Business use? Basic web-surfing? Home theater?
The AM3 platform is still a viable solution for most tasks. If you want to experience the fastest gaming with a large or multi monitor setup however, then I would suggest moving to a Sandy Bridge platform and fast graphics card(s).

 

[amd955be5670]

If you trust AMD's FX 2nd Gen to be good, then shift to AM3+, otherwise, it literally is a dead end, you could go a different path,
take a gen3 z68 motherboard, and then put an ivy bridge in it when you get the chance, or you could even take a z77 motherboard by waiting it out.

 

[clutchc]

Btw, remember that a new board will more than likely mean a new Win7 purchase as well. Unless you have a retail (vs. OEM) copy, the O.S. is tied to the motherboard it was installed on. New board usually means a new license.

 

[TheRooster]

I Got OEM W7 Home Premium 64-bit back in August,so i guess i'm more or less screwed in that department,probably not one of my brightest moves,dishing out 190 for the retail didn't look very appealing,and i didn't exactly have a fun time trying to get the OEM to install over my XP...

Guess i'll be looking for a new AM3 CPU..Got any suggestion's? Probably could use a new PSU and Case aswell...

Edit: I'm mostly into casual gaming/browsing,sometimes i convert video's aswell.

 

[ghnader hsmithot]

I would go for Sandy Bridge.Ivy bridge will be compatible with 1155 so you have a great upgrade in the form of ivy bridge.

 

[jaguarskx]

I Got OEM W7 Home Premium 64-bit back in August,so i guess i'm more or less screwed in that department,probably not one of my brightest moves,dishing out 190 for the retail didn't look very appealing,and i didn't exactly have a fun time trying to get the OEM to install over my XP...

Just call MS and tell them to release the key so that you can install Win 7 on a different computer.

 

[jaguarskx]

I would go for Sandy Bridge.Ivy bridge will be compatible with 1155 so you have a great upgrade in the form of ivy bridge.

With the release of Ivy Bridge so close (April), it doesn't really make sense to build around Sandy Bridge and then upgrade. Better to simply wait for IB CPUs to come out before upgrading.

 

[clutchc]

+1 ^
Jaquarskx is correct. I too have re-installed a OEM Win7 on a different board. It's usually a painless robo call to M$, and you need to answer a question or 2. Then type in some numbers and wait for verification. So, yes, try the existing OEM you have now before buying the new license. You'll probably be OK. Install the O/S and when you go to activate it, if the activation fails, you will be given the necessary instructions to make a license transfer. Sorry I made it sound so futile earlier...

 

[loneninja]

I've reinstalled Win XP and Win Vista with an OEM license multiple times before, it just requires calling Microsoft to give some numbers to a computer, tell it you've only got the license installed on one machine, and than input a set of numbers the computer gives you to activate. My point in saying this is I wouldn't let the OEM install of windows keep you from buying a new motherboard.

I would either pick up a cheap Athlon II/Phenom II quad core right now for an easy upgrade, or spend a bit more and switch to socket 1155 for a Sandy Bridge based I3/I5.

 

[esrever]

I'd say just get a quad core AM3 cpu and hold out, theres really no reason to get a new motherboard unless you are into the best of the best performance.

the phenom IIs and athlon IIs are still quite capable cpus.