Upgrade Help

[NismoXT]

Currently have
Core2Duo E6300
Asrock 775Dual-VSTA
Corsair 1GB DDR2 XMS2-5400C4 TwinX (2x512MB)
6600GT 128mb
everything else is fine

Wanting to upgrade for £200-£250($409-$512), Ofcourse I can't upgrade it all, so I was thinking of leaving the Cpu & Gfx Card until a later date, and just upgrade Motherboard/Memory, but im completely stuck on what to go with

So the question is really,

Whats the best Motherboard/Memory combo for that sort of price range? (Play alot of games, but not hardcore. ie 19xx16xx resolutions 😗

Nismo

 

[tlmck]

Really all you need is another 1gb ram, and a newer vid card. The rest is still fine.

I assume you are upgrading to solve a problem? Slow gaming maybe? If so, what games?

 

[NismoXT]

Well basically my current motherboard's only pci-e slot is x4, and to make it worse, it has a limited GPU list. So I really need a decent motherboard which will take my E6300 from 1.86 to 2.50 atleast, then I can get a gfx card at a later date. I intend to play halo3 online maybe, but like I said no high res eye candy stuff

 

[tlmck]

I have the P35 version myself, but the P31 is just a poorer man's version of the same. If it had been available at the time, I would have bought the P31. The P35 is great though.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Description=ds3l&x=0&y=0

I would try just the MB first and see how that does. Then add 1gb ram, then upgrade the graphics if necessary.

 

[lunyone]

P35 is the way to go, if you can afford it. Most p35 mobo's here in the US start around $100 or so. The p31 is about $20 cheaper than that. That may be an option, but haven't researched them. I would get a p35 mobo, sell your vista board, buy 2 gig's matched DDR2 800mHz (needed for better OC'ing), sell your current DDR2, buy a 8600gts/x1950pro (assuming your PSU can handle it), and then sell your current 6600gt.
The p35, 2 gig's DDR2 800mHz, and a GPU upgrade would get you set for awhile. Of coarse, if you can wait for a few weeks, you might be able to get one of the newer GPU's released by nVidia or AMD in the $150-$200 price range. So if you can/want to sell your current parts and replace them with newer ones, you'd be able to upgrade almost everything and have a much nicer setup than what you have.
If you want to do an initial bump in performance, I'd just upgrade the GPU and sell the old one. Next I'd upgrade the RAM and sell the old ones, but this is up to you.

 

[systemlord]

Just buy more ram of the same that you have already and get a new mobo (Asus P5K Deluxe) then later grab a new G-card. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131182

 

[decripple]

I would suggest this mobo that's P31 and all solid capacitor: ~$83 shipped
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128062
1 more gig of Your same ram: ~$35 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145539
GPU: XFX 8800GTS 320MB (if your PSU is good enough) since it's the cheapest 8800GTS 320MB I could find
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814150171
IF your PSU isn't good enough I say wait until teh end of Oct/beginning of Nov to buy an 8800GT or a RV670 OR wait for the price drops they'll probably cause.

Total cost even if you can't use newegg.com should be within your given price range