Budget Gaming Upgrade

[Jolteh]

It's payday Friday, so I'm gonna upgrade the core of my aging AMD 3200+ system. Here's what I'm thinking so far:

Intel E5200
2GB PC6400 (cheapish branded stuff, maybe corsair value)
Asus P5Q (or P5K?)

It's not going to break any benchmarking records, but I'm hoping it'll keep me gaming for a few months. I'm planning on dropping a similar amount next payday and maybe grabbing a 4850 and another couple of gigs of ram.

Does this seem like a reasonable upgrade? I'd like a most overclock on the E5200. Obviously the higher the better, but anything over 3Ghz would leave me satisfied.

Am I right in assuming it's worth dropping the extra money for the P5Q given that it's the base of my system? I'm thinking I could grab a better CPU early next year if I need a bit of a boost.

 

[flinco]

get the whole 4 gigs of ram in one (2x2 pack) as this puts less strain on the north bridge making the mobo more stable. the e5200 is a good chip when overclocked, some people get them to 4ghz, so buy a decent cooler + the asus p5Q (pro this week on offer is cheaper than the non pro version) and you should get a good overlcock there

 

[Jolteh]

Thanks mate, I think I'll grab a freezer 7 pro or something.

Would 2x2GB really make that much difference over 4x1GB?