What would I go for?

It's just a thought in process at the moment as I am sort of getting out of computer games and such but my pc is just too slow now(see specs below).

If I do upgrade I will be keeping my videocard, powersupply, harddrive and cdrom drive as these are things that are somewhat up to date.

What can you recommend for a CPU, MB, RAM?

Thanks!

Budget? RAM is cheap at about $25 per GiB. CPU, can't go wrong with a Wolfdale. Motherboards are Intel processors are pretty spendy but I'd go with a P45 that supports Wolfdale out of the starting gate.

Budget is high, just list some parts so I can check them out. I've been out of the computer scene for so long now that I don't know half the names and stuff...what is Wolfdale? lol!

Michael C said:

"wolfdale" is the code name for the dual core consumer level penryn processor. (the newest iteration of intel's core 2)

Since you've got a "high" budget you should get a "yorkfield" quadcore they will be designated by the model numbers; Q9300, Q9450, Q9550, QX9650, QX9770

I understand, which of those do you recommend for the best performance/money/overclocking ratio?

Also, I usually have trouble trying to pick the right motherboard and ram so any help there would be great too. I only need 2gb atm, but want my motherboard to be able to handle up to atleast 4 because I know I'll upgrade sooner or later.

I do have a high budget but I don't want to spend more than I have to as I don't even play that many games to begin with.

If your budget is relatively high I'd recommend going with a Core 2 Quad Q9450, 4GB of DDR2-800 memory (2x2GB configuration), an Intel P45 chipset based motherboard, and a Radeon HD4870 as the basis of the system. With this type of configuration you are probably talking about a total system price of around $1200 or so including drives, a case, and a PSU. Willing to spend $2000? Upgrade to dual HD4870s (assuming you do a good amount of gaming) and a Intel X48 based motherboard. If your the overclocking type, I'd highly recommend doing a light overclock if you get a Core 2 Quad, as they should easily reach about 3.2 to 3.6Ghz without much trouble and the performance gain is pretty good and free.

Just to throw some ideas out there, here are some parts you may want to consider...

Core 2 Quad Q9450:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115042

Asus P5Q Pro (P45 based motherboard):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299

4GB (2x2GB) DDR2-800 memory is pretty cheap these days, pick one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145194
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227267

Or go with DDR2-1066 memory:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

Radeon HD4870 (if you don't game stick with your HD3850)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161236

If your keeping you case, PSU, videocard, drives, etc. then it looks like your are talking about spending under $600 for upgrading to a midrange Core 2 Quad, 4GB of ram, and a P45 motherboard.

Thanks Adam. I am definitley going to keep my videocard, harddrive, powersupply and cd drive. My HD3850 is not outdated yet so i see no reason to upgrade that, it's my CPU/RAM holding me back. My powersupply is 650w and supports quad core intels so that should be fine I believe. I would assume all I need is the cpu, ram, mobo and case now to complete the pc?

That's what it sounds like to me, unless of course you use your current case. Your PSU should be more then enough.

Holy s**t ram is cheap!!! I haven't been paying attention to anything. Which would you recommend, Corsair or..?

Adam, are you talking about getting 3.2 - 3.6 with the stock cooling fan for the Q9450? Also what do you think is a cheap but good case to hold all this stuff as I'm definetly getting a new case!!

Mine on a stock cooler was running temps around 45c at 3.2GHz and sits in the low 30s with a 92mm tower style cooler.

Michael C said:

Corsair is good, I like OCZ, the thing that really matters is the latentcy... lower latentcy modules use higher quality chips as a general rule.

Okay cool thanks, do you know if this ram is worth getting?

OCZ Reaper Hpc Edition PC2-9200

Michael C said:

Im running 4x 2GB OCZ Reaper HPC PC2-8500 and haven't had any problems with it I assume that the 9200 is just a slightly upgraded or higher clocked version of the same thing.

I have a question for you...

Will the ASUS P5Q Pro support the Reaper PC-9200 memory?

I have a question for you...

Will the ASUS P5Q Pro support the Reaper PC-9200 memory? I read about the mobo and it doesn't say anything about supporting 1150 which is what the 9200 is. Do you think the PC-6400 would be good enough to overclock to 3.4ghz, because that's all I'll need.

Also, I don't plan on using Vista. Can I install XP on this new system and still have my Quad core working with all cores functioning properly???

Yes, it should support DDR2-1150 ram, but you may have to change settings in your BIOS to get it to run at that speed. It may default to DDR2-800 speeds, but you should be able to up it in your BIOS no problem. I had to do this with my DDR2-1000 ram by the way. No big deal really if your use to messing with the FSB, dividers, etc. in your BIOS.

Yes, Windows XP supports Quad Cores.

And with dividers you can easily keep your ram at stock speeds (even if it's only DDR2-800 memory) and up your FSB. The P45 chipset based boards can handle really high FSB speeds, so you can easily hit 3.6Ghz with a Q9450 even with standard DDR2-800 ram. Just keep your ram at/near stock speeds and up your FSB. You'll have to mess with the different dividers and find one that gives you a good FSB speed and DRAM speed combination. You don't want your ram running to fast or under stock speeds. And you still want a good FSB speed thats gonna give you a nice overclock. You may have to up voltages a bit to get past 3Ghz, but not much. I upped mine to just 1.264v (default is around 1.25 or so) to get to 3.2Ghz.

Okay thanks man that helps a lot. I have another question, is the Q9450 really a huge improvement over the Q6600 for the price?

I can get a Q6600 for 199$
I can get a Q9459 for 349$

Is the performance worth it?

If your overclocking I'd say just go with the Q6600 to be honest. It runs a bit hotter since it is 65nm, not 45nm, but it overclocks just as well and is a much better deal. No, I do not think the extra $150 is worth it for the Q9450. The Q6600 is one amazing deal, for $199 your getting a CPU that is all but guaranteed to reach around 3.4 to 3.6Ghz with ease. My Xeon X3210 is very similar to a Q6600 (just has a 8x multiplier instead of a 9x) and I got it to 3.2Ghz without any trouble. I would recommend a aftermarket cooler with either one though. A good tower style cooler with heatpipes and a 120mm fan is usually your best bet. I'd recommend the Thermalright Ultra 120 series and the Tuniq Tower 120 because you can switch out the fans very easily on both. If you decide down the road you want a quieter low RPM fan, a UV reactive fan, or a LED fan you can do it.

Well so far I'm considering just getting the follow specs...I do have the money but since I won't be playing that many games, I am going lower than higher. This should all work fine right? Here is what I figured out, if someone could give some feedback that'd be great.

Intel Q6600 - 199$
ASUS P5Q Pro - 139$
OCZ Reaper Hpc Edition PC2-8500 DDR2 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-1066 - 129$

How does that sound if I add my HD3850 in there? I should be able to run games fine, and if not I can just overclock my cpu, which i'm going to do anyhow. I think the 4GB will help in the long run also? From reading what I read the Q9450 is not worth the extra 150-200$ over the Q6600 although it does have it's advantages. Feedback PLEASE!!!

That looks great to me, and for not much money either. Gaming performance will be better then your current setup, but not as much of an improvement as if you where to move to a new videocard. However, I do think sticking with the HD3850 and upgrading sometime next year or so is a good idea. And yes 4GB is the way to go especially if you plan on going to Vista x64 in the future. Just know that if your gonna run XP/Vista 32-bit your only going to be able to use about 3.25GB to 3.5GB (depending on the chipset and a few other factors) of ram maximum due to the 32-bit memory limitation.