Budget Gaming Upgrade

[Meta|Gear]

Looking to upgrade my current system, i mainly use it for gaming and surfing the net no video editing or anything. I have come down to the choices below, ideally i was hoping to find a Q6600 since my motherboard would support it but i haven't had any luck with that. I'm on a tight budget so i have opted to stick with a ddr2 platform to save money, I also need to grab a case so cheaper the better.

I'm curious as to whether a quad is worth it? or should i just go for the 550 (hope for 4 core unlock) or even just stay with what i have and maybe get a better graphics card like a GTX260 or 4890?

X4 940BE & Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 $335
X2 550 & Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 - $218
Q8400 & Gigabyte EP45-UD3L - $318
GTX260/4870/4890 - $175/$155/$215

[martin_metal_88]

If you are playing on a 19 your Video card is perfect so keep it and go for quad, for a long time upgrade it will be nice. but condier these one. If to much 940 will do a great job:)

NCIX.com - Buy AMD Phenom II X4 945 Quad Core Processor AM3 3.0GHZ 8MB Cache 125W 45NM Retail Box - HDX945FBGIBOX In Canada.
NCIX.com - Buy Gigabyte MA790X-UD4P ATX AM3 AMD790X DDR2 CrossFireX 2PCI-E 2PCI SATA2 Sound GBLAN Motherboard - GA-MA790X-UD4P In Canada.

And get some G.skill or mushkin DDR3 will be awsome:).

Ask for more.

[DrPepper]

Your best bet, you are on a big budget so AMD is the way to go, as for you, no video editing or encoding so quad is probably not the way for you, but if you want to keep it future-proof, go ahead and get a quad. I am a little biased to nvidia but theeir stuff is pricey, find an ATI card. And the case, get a NZXT Beta or something sub-$100.

[Meta|Gear]

I think im leaning more to the 550 and hoping to unlock the 2 cores as for the case ive had my eyes on a CM HAF 922 for a while but i will probably just go with the 690 since its cheaper

[martin_metal_88]

IMO, for thing like PSU and case you are better to look for long range because these aprt can be keep for many years. CM 690 is a awsome one, I already own one and sell many of them. But get the one you prefer;) Also never forget that X4 940 is always faster then the unlocked one.

Ask for more

[Meta|Gear]

having a hard time deciding who to order from ncix or directcanada, i used price matching with ncix but its $10 more due to 2 days express shipping.

which one should i go for

[JD]

Go with DirectCanada. They ship out next business day unlike NCIX that typically takes 2-3 days before it even ships...

[Meta|Gear]

I still cant get myself to get the 940, if i grab a 720 i can get ddr3 and at least be able to upgrade to quad in the future.

G.Skill F3 DDR3-1333 2x2gb
Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P
Phenom II X3 720
$354.52

Phenom II X4 940
Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3
$319.69

[martin_metal_88]

Go with the 720 and DDR3 you will have a better rig for longtime and some really good performance for now. You will be able to change CPU in 1 or 2 years when the 720 will not fit the run anymore.

Ask for more.

[Meta|Gear]

probably getting annoying now but i also found this

Phenom II X4 810
G.Skill F3 DDR3-1333 2x2gb
Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P
$376.11