New CPU

profdlp said:

Given your current specs, going above 2GB of RAM is likely to make as much or more of a difference to overall performance than anything else.

I used to have 1GB of RAM.
Imagine how that must of been like

linnemeyerhere said:

Fight the urge to do costly small upgrades and save and shop smart, if you bide your time and keep looking someone somewhere is blowing one of these chips out......keep in mind as mentioned AMD has been on the verge of introducing it's new bulldozer line of chips and as so as they hit the prices with fall on the quads and six core Phenom's. So young Skywalker save, read, shop and have fun....oh and do share your experiences! It's all good.......

Damn,
I didn't know that new chips were hitting the market.

I don't really intend to take this first build with a 8 core CPU because that would be plain out stupid.

I might end up selling this rig, then I would use that money to save up to get a REAL rig!

I would make sure cpu cooling is up to par ,add up to 8gigs of ram and call it a day .. Not sure how much more performance you are gonna get with a cpu upgrade ,, I would even consider putting in an SSD ,, that one upgrade will make you experience speed in such a way as to be convinced you have a complete new computer !

It's pretty weird.
I tried playing Grand Theft Auto on my PC and I would get really horrible fps.
My CPU would really heat up, even without an overclock.

I've seen people running GTA 4 on the Athlon II X2 250 without issues.
I doubt it's my HD5670 because I've also seen people run the game with the same graphics card..

Take cpu out , clean dust out of heat sink and fan , re-apply thermal paste and run game.. The heat issue is unique to the CPU not the game, , fix it ..

Well I put everything together not so long ago,
I made sure that I applied a lot of thermal paste. (I use Artic Cooling MX-2)

And this CPU is kinda older..
Well I just think it's the CPU itself giving me problems..

linnemeyerhere said:

I think your talking yourself into an interim CPU. I would find something to Craigslist or sell to a friend that will put you over the cost of a nice Quad core and then second phase will be to upgrade your memory moving to much faster matching modules and go for at least 8gb total or better yet two sticks of 4gb each and then do the other two later. Use the stock CPU cooler for now and maybe add a fan to the case.

Well,
I don't plan on sticking with this PC.
Because of the motherboard.
I doubt the AsRock would be a good overclocker in the long run. Or even lasting long..

I thought about saving and getting a tri core CPU and unlocking the 4th. Saves me money for RAM.