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Looking for <$250 or so processor+mobo for gaming

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Blada

New Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2010
Alright my gaming computer had a m2n68-la board and a Phenom x4 64 processor and something went out so I figured I would just totally upgrade them. This is going to be my gaming computer (have a decent 250 gts geforce gpu) so I am looking to get the most bang for my buck. So any help will be greatly appreciated.
 
I have 6gs of ddr2 ram, but if it requires ddr3 then don't include it in the 250
 
Are you going to be OC'ing, and need a decent board to do so; or are you just building it and running it stock?
 
At $250 for both MoBo and CPU you are going to continue with AMD... If you wanted to go Intel, you'd be limited to LGA1156 socket and that one is on the way out, so no reason to go that way.

At the $250 mark you have a few options from Newegg:

Option 1:
* AMD Phenom II X4 965BE
* ASUS M4A78T-E ATX Motherboard
$254.99 - $15.00 MIR = $239.99
Combo Deal link: Here



Option 2:
* AMD Phemon II X4 955BE
* ASUS M4A78T-E ATX Motherboard
$234.98 - $15.00 MIR = $219.98
Combo Deal Link: Here


Option 3:
* AMD Phenom II X4 970BE
* ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO ATX Motherboard
$242.98
Combo Deal Link: Here

Any of those will require DDR3 memory so you would be looking at another $100 for some good dual channel DDR3 ram.
Something like this would go very well with any of the combos listed above....
 
here you go best bang for your buck you are going to get. Ram, motherboard, and CPU for

$244.98 total

Motherboard and CPU:
ASUS M4A78T-E Motherboard & AMD Athlon II X4 630 Quad Core Processor Bundle $174.99

Ram:
OCZ OCZ3G1333LV4GK Gold 4GB PC10666 DDR3 Dual Channel Memory $69.99
 
I, personally, would not recommend OCZ Gold. I have used and am still using OCZ Plats and they are fine sticks with not a sneeze below a 20% OC (often higher) but, in my experience and from what I've seen, Gold's are just not good. If I'm going that far down in the bucket I'd rather run Corsair Value-RAM ...
 
Just to take a different route than everyone else I'll go for the AM2+ choice, which will allow you to use your existing RAM. A BIOSTAR TA790GXE board with a Phenom II 955BE comes in at $233.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138152
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808

I'd also suggest you get a good heatsink for that chip if you don't already have one. The Hyper 212 Plus at ~$30 is an excellent budget choice as is the Sunbeam CCT 120mm at $40 - especially if you keep an eye out for the ($15 MIR) that they often have ...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835207004
 
I personally hate my OCZ Gold's (even if they're DDR2) They wont really OC worth a crap and can be unstable even at stock. The whole OCZ rebate thing is a joke as well. I had a $20 MIB with my kit and after sending the paper work and my UPC from the packaging to OCZ it took them 4 or 5 months to respond and they told me that they could not give me a rebate because I did not qualify. Customer service at OCZ didn't help either and I eventually did get them to give me the rebate. I got a OCZ credit for like $12 ($8 was taken out for shipping, handling, and tax). The kit was purchased new from NewEgg btw. Long story short, don't buy OCZ.
 
I got the one MIR I had with OCZ - and I haven't had any other issues, either. I've heard good things about their AMD Black as well as my fondness for the Plats. I still wouldn't buy OCZ Gold, though ...
 
Dolk likes his Amd blacks, but Amd is just funny about ram no matter what. Mushkins work fine for me as well as a set of D9 Team Xtreem. :shrug:
 
Agree with that. Use the DDR2 (although you may have to run only 4 Gig if you want dual channel). That is assuming that you have 3 2G sticks of ram. Or see if you can hook up another 2 Gig of the same ram.
 
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