upgrade time

[megah0]

The bonus fairy has arrived and I have some dosh to play with.

I currently run an AMD X2 5200 (2.6ghz) which lives in an Abit KN9 motherboard with 4GB of PC2 5300 RAM and an 8800GT.

My options are:

Upgrade to the X2 6400 (3.2ghz) and leave everything else.

Or

Upgrade the CPU and Motherboard to something a bit more up to date. Relatively limited budget (the fairy was not THAT generous) of around £200 tops

What should I go for?

Cheers

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

If you can wait the 45nm AMD Phenom II is coming out in January and so it far looks interesting!!

You could alternatively drop in a 65nm Athlon X2 7750 which is based on the Phenom if your motherboard is compatible:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=CP-234-AM

I assume it maybe cheaper at other retailers as OcUK can be a bit pricey at times!

It is faster than a 3.1ghz X2 6000+

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...-cpus-review/5

Have you tried overclocking your current CPU??

[megah0]

Thanks, the motherboard I have is AM2 not the slightly newer AM2+, those phenom CPUs would require a new motherboard as well.

I used to overclock but I really can't be bothered these days.

[tonpal]

If you can live with your system a for a few more months I would suggest hanging on. As Cat-the-Fifth said Phenom II (AM2+) is out in a few weeks in Feb the Phenom II (AM3) line-up is due out. Plus in a few months the pound may have recovered a bit. After all it can't get any worse ...... can it?