M/board & Cpu Choice...

[VaNcE]

Hi All
I am looking to upgrade within the next couple of weeks and I am not sure which board and Cpu to buy.
I mainly play COD4 & 5 / FPS games and the like.
At the moment I have Asus M2N4 Sli Board, Amd 64 X2 Cpu, 2Gb Mem ( another 2Gb on the way) The Graphics card is a Leadtek 7600GT. I have a guy waiting to buy my present M/board & Cpu for 60 quid. My Budget, So the wife says lol, will be around the 250 quid mark.
I have looked at the various Asus Gamers boards (ROG), They seem to be aimed at the Overclocking enthusiasts. I have never delved into the Overclocking side of things. Any advice, ideas will be appreciated.
Thank you
Vance

[format]

If you upgrade just your mobo and processor you'll still be held back by your GFX card.

The RoG board will be overkill for you IMO.

Intel e7200 ~ £90

ATi HD 4830 ~ £100

That leaves £60 at least for a decent motherboard, which I'll leave for someone else to recommend, maybe something like the Abit Dark Raider, seems to be held in high esteem

Another option is to just buy the motherboard and processor now. If you do this I'd buy a crossfireX capable board, and the e7200 that I mentioned. Then buy your GFX card a few months down the line (ATi HD485) then add another card for crossfire later on

[staffsMike]

That leaves £60 at least for a decent motherboard, which I'll leave for someone else to recommend, maybe something like the Abit Dark Raider, seems to be held in high esteem

Like... the best. board. ever

Seriously though for £65 it's pretty nice. There are biostar boards (P45) for about £73 which isn't bad either.

Chip wise, go one step further down that totem pole and get the E5200 which is about £60. It's going to give essentially the same performance and still overclocks very well.

HD4830 is nice shopa round though, they are £90 ish in some places.

[Pob255]

While you'll lose possible crossfire, I'd also look at the 9800gt it's slightly cheaper and faster that the 4830.
while it's just a g92 chip (aka 8800gt) that chip is still a very good chip which can handle most games up to 1680x1050.

[Webby]

You can et a 4830 for £90 (if Microdirect have stock, which they do atm, comes to £94.67 delivered) or £95 from ebuyer delivered. Apart from the Palit 9800GT (which has perhaps the noisiest fan ever) the is not anything available for cheaper than £95 delivered.

[staffsMike]

The HIS HD4830 seems like a very nice package if thats the one on Microdirect.

[VaNcE]

Thanks for the advice guys.

So I am now looking at the following:
Abit IP35 Pro (£95.75 Inc VAT). Any thoughts on this board ? The reviews I have read seem pretty good.
Cpu ...E5200 or E7200 ???? I am undecided now Lol
I can use my present Video card for the time being and maybe after xmas get the HD4830.
I am not too bothered about crossfire atm, So I will just go for 1 decent card.
@ Pob255 : The 9800Gt you mentioned, is there a particular make/model ?
Cheers
Vance

[staffsMike]

I wouldn't bother with the PRO. It's a fantastic board but it isn't worth that. Look at the DFI P45.. something or other PLUS. Thats a few quid more and is a sweet board.

Or get the cheaper dark raider.

E5200 easy choice for me.

[VaNcE]

@ Staffsmike
Is this the one you refering to matey ?http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?W...source=froogle
It does look nice LOL
Cheers

Vance

[staffsMike]

Yeah look at it.. it's magnificent

But seriously it's one of the best boards out there for the money.. it would overclock old age pensioners if they had the right number of pins.

[Nailz]

That's the exact board I'm hoping to get from Scan to replace my little brothers q6600 rig that got destroyed in a house fire. It looks brilliant.

[VaNcE]

Hi Guys
Thanks for the various advice and recommendations. I think I have decided on the following:
LP DK P45-T2RS - DFI Lanparty DK P45-T2RS Plus
Intel E5200
GeForce 9800Gt
All this is Just a bit over my budget but what the hell ! money about a bit.
Thanks again guys.
Vance