Upgrade MOBO, CPU, and RAM or just GPU?

sammyssb

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Mar 1, 2013
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I sold a friend to my computer that consists of a ASUS LGA 775 motherboard (can't remember the model) a core 2 duo @ 1.8Ghz and a GeForce 9600GT and a 430W PSU. He wants to do some upgrades and for now is either going to do the MOBO, CPU, and RAM or just the GPU. The computer for him is mainly for gaming and he said the the GPU was working good for now. He was asking me about a core I3 but he has a price limit of about $200. i suggested getting an Athlon ii X4 @3.0 GHz with a AsRock 970DE3/U3S3 and new RAM which is in his budget. With the GPU i suggested either a 7950 or a 6670 (recommended the 7950.) Do you think that he should do the MOBO+CPU+RAM or just a gpu with the current set up.
 
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Deleted member 217926

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A 1.8Ghz Core2Duo will bottleneck just about any but the lowest end graphics cards. I would start with a new board, CPU and RAM.
 

sammyssb

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Mar 1, 2013
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Do you think that there is a whole lot of performance increase from the 640 to the 965?
 
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Deleted member 217926

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I agree with Swifty if you go AMD get a Phenom II 965. It's a strong choice at $99. If he can budget another $40 the FX 6300 would also be a good budget choice at $140. With either CPU get a Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo for ~$25 and you can get ~4Ghz out of the 965 and ~4.5Ghz out of the 6300.