Looking to upgrade

[thatbonokid]

Hello everyone that has helped me in the past on making my computer hardware decisions. As you all know, Christmas is coming and my grandma always asks me what I would like as a present for the holidays. Since I dont really need much, I figure why not upgrade my computer?

Im currently running an AMD phenemon x4 940 3.0 ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138105&cm_re=ta780g-_-13-138-105-_-Product ), 4 gigs of ddr2 6400 ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227199&cm_re=ocz-_-20-227-199-_-Product ), and a geforce GTX 260, on a not so good Biostar ta780g motherboard ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138105&cm_re=ta780g-_-13-138-105-_-Product ).

As you all know, the 940 is only a socket AM2, but still a fast chip. I feel replacing it would be too costly. So I'm looking to upgrade my motherboard and memory. I'm almost positive that the 940 won't fit on a mother board that can run DDR3, so I'm looking for the next best thing, unless someone can tell me otherwise.

What would you guys suggest that I order for a new motherboard and memory? Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.

 

[Dolk]

Well if your in the market to OC, the C3 Stepping of the 955 is an excellent choice. Its able to get up to 4.0ghz on air stable. Otherwise the 550 and the 720 are still a hot item.

But my suggestion to you is to grab a new AM3 board plus DDR3 and wait for Thuban to come out in Q1/Q2 of 010.

 

[thatbonokid]

So you're saying just get those items and sit on them for 2 or 3 months until i can get a new cpu to fit them when its released?

 

[Dolk]

Or just wait all together, but yeah.

 

[thatbonokid]

Well, if i get a motherboard and memory in around a month, Im going to have this motherboard memory and processor to get rid of and Im sure i could get a good 225 out of reselling it. I could just buy the cpu then to finish it.

 

[thatbonokid]

Thats actually a great idea seeing that i cant get much more of a performance upgrade from the current system I have. Do you have any info on the Thuban, price expectations etc? Im really excited about this. I've yet to hear about this 6 core processor.

 

[thatbonokid]

So if I were to buy a Motherboard and memory now for am3, what would you suggest?

 

[QuietIce]

The Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P has been a very solid performing board in the mid-range for the past year.

If you want to go high end the Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P is the next step up. Other high-end boards include the ASUS M4A79T, ASUS Crosshair III, and MSI 790FX-GD70.


RAM is very much a personal choice as there are many good sticks out there. 2x2Gb is still the norm and any DDR3-1600 CL 7 RAM is a good choice as is DDR3-1333 CL 6 RAM - the lower the power requirement (voltage) the better ...