Want a new Mobo and CPU

[rossy87]

Hi guys a bit of advice needed if possible.

As you can see from my system specs my computer is not great.

I fancy upgrading my Mobo and CPU. I do not have mega money so i will not be able to afford the i7 and Mobo to go with it (for example).

I know it is small but my budget is a petty £200. (roughly)

Any help would be much appreciated as i am thrown by the amount of choices out there.

Cheers in advance guys.

Rossy87

 

[paulpicks21]

Hi Rossy,


You won't go far wrong with these 2 as long as your not going to go crazy overclocking.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.5GHz Socket 775 1333FSB 4MB.. | Ebuyer.com

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/174244



Total cost around £192 delivered.

I have a gigabyte motherboard and am pretty happy with it.

I also have the Q8300 and have done a little overclocking , its gone from 2.5 per core to 3.1ghz and is running just great.

Cheers

Paul.

 

[kurahk7]

You can get a AMD Athlon II x4 620/630/635 with a 785g motherboard for under $200
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!

 

[fishnbanjo]

Well the mobo you currently have is a Micro ATX form factor so it may be your case may only accept the same thing, this board is available at Newegg Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard It's not pricey and only accepts the following CPU's Core 2 Quad / Core 2 Extreme / Core 2 Duo the socket is an LGA 775 so you might be able to bundle the board with this CPU Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 Yorkfield 2.5GHz 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80580Q8300 at Newegg for around $220 USD

 

[paulpicks21]

I checked his case and it will accept ATX or MATX

Cheers

Paul.

Edit , funny you mention that motherboard fishnbanjo , thats the exact one I installed in my pc yesterday lol

 

[fishnbanjo]

I checked his case and it will accept ATX or MATX

Cheers

Paul.

Edit , funny you mention that motherboard fishnbanjo , thats the exact one I installed in my pc yesterday lol

I missed that his case model was listed and went with the logical of his current mobo and when seeing what 90% of the owners of his current mobo upgraded to, and their satisfaction with the choice, is how I got to that mobo, the cpu was chosen based on his price constraints. Cheers.............

 

[rossy87]

I like the two options paulpicks21 suggested.

They are within my price range which is good.

My only question would be is the CPU you put the link to says it is 2.5ghz. Mine is 2.8ghz. Wouldnt that be a downgrade to what i have already.

Oh and by the way i forgot to say i will probably not be overclocking it.

Rossy87

 

[paulpicks21]

The CPU is a Quad core mate so essentially it would be 10ghz

 

[rossy87]

Oh ok my bad.

You can tell i am a noob at this.

Any more ideas/combinations would be greatly appreciated.

Rossy87

 

[paulpicks21]

For the money , I recon thats pretty much the best combo you could get.

The cpu will be absolutely miles faster than what you have now and I am sure you will be happy.

Plus with the motherboard I suggested you have the option of adding plenty of extra memory in the future.

The main thing is getting a motherboard and cpu that are compatible with each other.

Hope all goes well with whatever you decide to get.

Keeps us posted on how it all goes.

Cheers

Paul.

Edited to add - I fitted a new motherboard to my pc last night , after installing it my copy of windows 7 needed validating again. This time I had to call a toll free number , and enter a few numbers then type in some numbers on my pc. After that it was all sorted.
Just so you know.

 

[rossy87]

Cheers mate.

I take it i wont know if the Mobo/CPU will be compatible until i actually try them together?

Also i will be changing my copy of windows 7 anyway as i have an OEM version so wont be able to use it on the new board.

Rossy87

 

[paulpicks21]

The ones I suggested are compatible.

The main thing to look out for if you are looking , is the socket type.

For example the Q8300 is a socket 775 type and the motherboard I suggested is also a socket 775.

So provided these match then you will be ok.

You also have to bear in mind your ram is DDR 2 so the motherboard must be a DDR 2 one , the newest motherboards are now DDR 3 which your current memory won't work in.


And regarding your windows 7, not 100% sure but you should be able to use it again if you give microsoft a ring and tell them you have just changed some parts in your pc?

 

[rossy87]

What about this Mobo guys,

ASUS P5Q SE2 iP45 Socket 775 8 Channel Audio ATX.. | Ebuyer.com

Which is better? This Asus board or the Gigabyte one earlier in the thread?

Cheers, Rossy87

Also my memory is DDR2 266mhz which wont ork in any of the new boards will it?

 

[paulpicks21]

Hello again mate , can I ask where you are getting the figure of 266 for your current memory from?

Reason I ask is I was having a look on ebuyer and I don't think you can actually get memory that slow in DDR2 form.

I see on ebuyer they list a DDR1 stick at 266 tho.

Are you sure your memory is infact DDR2?

If it turns out to be DDR1 then you will have to uprate your memory as well I recon otherwise you won't be able to get a decent newish motherboard and cpu.

Cheers

Paul.

Edit , I maybe totally wrong actually , but best checking.

 

[paulpicks21]

Just did a search for your current motherboard and it appears it is ddr2 so your current memory is ddr2.

The memory you have is proberly not going to be the best for your upgrades tho , so if you could stretch the funds a little further I would recommend getting some faster memory.

Something like this - Kingston 2gb Kit (2x1gb) Ddr2 800mhz/pc2-6400 Hyperx.. | Ebuyer.com would be fine.

That way they will work well with whatever board you go for.

 

[rossy87]

Thanks for the quick reply and all of your help on this subject.

I got the figures from CPU-Z.

I should be able to make my fund stretch slightly further so i will go for the memory aswell.

@ paulpicks21 what do you think of the Asus board i posted?

Rossy87

 

[paulpicks21]

The Asus one looks totally ok mate , will work with the Q8300 just fine.

 

[rossy87]

Cheers mate.

Just as i thought.

Will order a few things up when i get paid.

Thanks for all your help and i have given you +1 rep for your help too

Rossy87

 

[paulpicks21]

No problem mate , thanks for the rep

And let us know how you get on with it all when the time comes ok.

Cheers

Paul.

Oh and 1 thing , if you are getting the 266mhz memory speed from cpuid , I assume you are multiplying it by 2?

See my screen shot , I have 800mhz DDR2 and it shows as just over 400 as its slightly overclocked. It has 2 banks so its X 2 which comes in at 828mhz for mine.

Your memory would actually be 533mhz memory if thats the case , which incidentally is listed for sale on ebuyer.