Cheeky upgrade spec please

[[WU-TANG]GZA]

Hi ppl,

A friend on mine is wanting to upgrade from a single core set up to something better and has around £180 for CPU+ mobo.

I have advised him as his budget has increased since we started to go for:

AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition 3.1GHz 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 Retail Boxed Processor (roughly £70)

but as his budget increased as he was adamant on getting a Quad core but originally wanted a quad core for around £70-£80 (i.e. the athlon ones) I advised against it and then I said he would be looking at something like this:

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Socket AM3 3.2 GHz 8MB L3 Cache Retail Boxed Processor (roughly £130)

Firstly do you guys agree with my thoughts/advice?

And can you suggest a Mobo to use with these CPUs for the £50 quid he would have left if he went quad core. Or like me would u suggest getting the dual core and a nicer mobo and still saving some cash?

He mostly uses it for games HL2/Source engine is what he's aiming for.

Any help would be most appreciated.

Wu

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

If you are not overclocking the Phenom II X4 then one of the following motherboards which use DDR3 should do the job:
1.)MSI 770-C45
2.)ASROCK M3A770DE
3.)MSI 770-G45 770

 

[Big.Wayne]

• wanting to upgrade from a single core set up to something better
• has around £180 for CPU+ mobo
• adamant on getting a Quad core
• wanted a quad core for around £70-£80
• suggest a Mobo to use with these CPUs for the £50 quid
• uses it for games HL2/Source engine

 

[Cycrow]

what about ram thou ?

 

[[WU-TANG]GZA]

what about ram thou ?

Thanks to all for ur posts so far.

RAM - I'll deal with that myself. I'm yet to find out exactly what RAM he has.

 

[Cycrow]

if its single core, i would assume hes had it for quite awhile, the chances of it being DDR3 is very slim, so u might want to consider that before making a purchase.

especially when its going to be an extra £100 on top for the ram.