My upgrade

[itswesty]

I currently have...

Socket A Athlon XP 3000
1 gig DDR 400
Geforce 5900 AGP
Seasonic 430w psu
Antec P180

I am thinking of a cheap as chips upgrade, just until christmas, when I will be able to spend a little more so was thinking of:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 S775
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/produ...oductID=464334

Asrock 775 DUAL-VSTA VIA PT880
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=434321

Would this be a better route than a 939 3800X2? I will be looking to upgrade to DDR2 and PCI-Express in the near future around vista time. Thanks

[FInalD]

AM2 or Conroe is better than going 939.

Conroe is better than going AM2.

Basicaly that CPU will be more than a small upgrade cost-wise it'll be small, but performance-wise it'll be big, along with the overclocking potential you can bag yourself a really good chip at the moment.

The motherboard seems a good idea, I personally don't like the idea of having a motherboard that supports both, but I'm unsure as to being able to get an AGP only one, and it also saves on money.

For the RAM I'd go for this stuff, Corsair is a good brand and this is good timing dual channel DDR2 RAM. For most things at the moment (certainly for Vista you'll need it) you'll be needing 2GB. If you don't want to spend £170 on some RAM then I'd say spend £160 and get this set. PC6400 is generaly considered the RAM you need for Conroe and AM2.

This'll cost you about £230 and so come xmas you can then get a PCI-e card and any other little bits you need then.

FinalD

[itswesty]

Just a thought...is my Seasonic 430w psu compatible with the

Asrock 775 DUAL-VSTA VIA PT880
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=434321

? Thanks, also if anyone has any other suggestions to my proposed upgrade, please just write something, even if you are not 100% sure.

[FInalD]

Depends on the exact model really, if there is 1x20pin power plug and 1x4 pin power plug coming from the PSU then yes it'll be fine. If you only have the 20pin plug you'll need a new PSU - this goes for all new motherboards as far as I know.

Hope that helps.

FinalD