Bundle 200-ish

[kration]

I'm thinking about getting a cpu/mboard bundle at some point in Jan/Feb 2013. I'll also be sorting out the hard drives and getting an SSD main drive (about 256gb). The system will mainly be used for playing games - Guild Wars 2, Far Cry 3, MechWarrior On-Line.

I'm not bothered about overclocking or top-flight performance. I just want to maintain my decent gaming rig. The only requirement is 8Gb of memory (not 4Gb).

I'm aiming at £200 for the bundle, but there's a bit of flexibility. Can anyone make a suggestion based on what's currently available? I appreciate prices and specs will change, but I'd like some idea of what to aim for.

I've got some questions:

1 - Will there be a problem transferring Windows 7 across to a new mboard (licenses etc.)
2 - My CPU is old, but still seems pretty decent. Will I notice a real leap in performance, or is it worth waiting a bit longer?
3 - Do the OCUK bundles come ready assembled? (silly question, but I want to make sure )

This is my current set-up:

CPU - AMD Phenom II X4 955 - Deneb 45nm Technology
RAM - 8.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 669MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard - Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. GA-MA785GT-UD3H (Socket M2)
Graphics - Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7870 OC Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
PSU - 700W OCZ StealthXStream Power Supply
Case - Antec 300
Hard Drives -
298GB Western Digital WDC WD3200AAJS-65VWA0 ATA Device (SATA)
596GB Western Digital WDC WD6400AAKS-00A7B2 ATA Device (SATA)
Optical Drives - Optiarc DVD RW AD-7261S ATA Device
Monitor -X223W (1680x1050@60Hz)
Operating System - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1

 

[mickyflinn]

Best ask the question at the time you plan to uprgade , as technology changes very quickly.

 

[~>Dg<~]

if your mobo supports a 8350 cpu go with that

otherwise sell you mobo xpu ram and get a i3570k mobo plus ram

will be about 200 quid plus what you get from other components

955 is still capable cpu and will last for another couple of years yet

 

[kration]

if your mobo supports a 8350 cpu go with that

otherwise sell you mobo xpu ram and get a i3570k mobo plus ram

will be about 200 quid plus what you get from other components

955 is still capable cpu and will last for another couple of years yet

Thanks for the advice. That sort of sums up my dilemma - the 955 is pretty old, but is it really worth replacing?

Also, I'm comfortable building a computer, I just don't like doing the mobo/cpu/paste/cooler/bios stuff which is why a bundle appeals to me rather than changing the cpu on my existing mobo.