Computer Fried, Need some help for a New CPU, MoBo & RAM

[daveyg]

Hi Folks, I'm sure there are loads of similar threads, but I'm in a tight spot and need some help. My computer has totally died and I suspect Mobo/CPU as PSU is still powering Case Fans and GFX fan, but MoBo powered fans do not start and I get no beeps, post, etc and it makes no difference if i remove my GFx card. Rather than start trying to replace one or the other I 'm just going to get a new CPU/MoBo as a minimum and rebuild from there.

Having looked about I am totally confused with the latest Intel/AMD offerings, as my knowledge is rather out of date (I caught the early Core 2 Duo wave).

My Old System
E6600 C2Duo
P965 Gigabyte DS4 board
4x1Gb DDR2 533 ram (old & slow)
G8800 GTS 512
Intel 160gb SSD
OCZ MODXSTREAM PRO 500W SILENT S
plus HDD, DVD, DVD-RW.
20" 1680*1050 Monitor.

Whilst it wasn't up to date it was pretty good, and have no trouble playing 2009 games.

Needs
I game mostly, at 1680*1050, don't do very much movie editting or ripping, some photo editting, plus the usual surfing & office.

I don't want to step backwards from where I am and want to maintain 4gb RAM.

Budget
I don't really have a budget, becasue I don't understand what I am buying. I want something better than my Core 2 Duo. I guess I have between £200-£400 to spend, as that seems about right for a mid range system.

That said, if £20-£50 gets me a much better component I'm happy to stretch myself.

I wasn't planning on replacing my 8800 GTS (yet) and ideally I'd keep my 500W PSU as it is only a 8 months old. If I could get much better perfromance than my 8800 GTS for a modest outlay I'd be interested, but I'm not sure I can.

If I can keep my RAM, great, but I don't know how much I am limiting myself by doing so.

Questions / Comments
I don't see much difference between an i7 920 and a i5 750, but equally don't undertand the other 2 core i5s.

The AMD line up is very confusing, although I have been recomended a X4 955, as a good alternative to a i5.

I take on board what other threads have been saying about the intel sockets going out of date next year, but I am not likely to update my processor until both that and my Mobo are obsolete.

I can't afford to wait as I have no home PC at the moment.

Any recommendations, help, advice and combinations would be great.

Many Thanks,

Davey G

 

[daveyg]

Thanks for the help. Is the i3 man enough becasue it has been overclocked or becasue its simply quick enough for what I want to do? Overclocking is not something I have done before as I am a bit of an 'afraid to break it' whimp.

The i3 bundle OCUK sells - when you say pre-configured does that mean the bios has all been set for me? Also does it just sit at 4Ghz all the time or is it something I have to turn up and down so I don't always load it to 4GHz?

I don't want to be having to mess about. My wife uses the computer also and i just need it to 'work' for her and be man enough for me to game on.

Do you think there is any benefit looking into the AM2+ world, or is my RAM to old anyway?

Thanks,

Dave

(With a 4 line sig)

 

[daveyg]

Wow, thanks guys,wasn't expecting so much help and interest.

Just to add another slant.

If I didn't want to overclock (because it scares me) would an i3 still do the job?

Or do I need to then spend a lot more to get the same performance at the 4GHz i3?

Thanks,

Dave G