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[e to the x Profile]

Well after a few incidents with my current system (dead RAM, dead PSU, dead harddrives, disk drives not working, and now random restarts, explorer crashes and the like) I have decided to upgrade my PC.

Now all I really plan on upgrading is the Processor, Motherboard and RAM. the 3 hard drives I have are sufficient, my 7800GT is still up to snuff with what i do graphically and my Antec PSU should still provide plenty of power to my components.

I have been doing a bit of reading through today and done some browsing on newegg to see what they have but to be honest I have been out of the game for a while now and I am not completely up to par with components.

My basic requirement here is an Intel Quad Core, a motherboard to match and RAM that won't be a PITA in terms of compatibilty.

I am looking to spend about $500 for the upgrade. I could stretch it to $600 if need be.

So far I've been looking at the Kentsfield Quads but have also been checking out the Yorkfield. I'm don't need to serious computing power of the York but I figure it might give me some added longevity.

motherboards I am kind of up in the air on. I currently have an Asus and am not happy with it. I was looking at some DFIs, specifically the LANPARTY DK P35-T2RS. Thoughts?

RAM I am lost on. Brands I would normally go after seem to be not up to snuff anymore.

Ok so what thoughts does everyone have?


TIA

-Steve

[augie]

I just built a Q6600 box with a P5Q Pro ASUS board and 2x1GB of PC2-8500 DDR2-1066 CL5 w/heat spreaders, got them at a great price ATT. The machine is working just fantastically but I don't OC either. I also have an Antec Earthwatts 500W Power Supply.

[kanaloa]

Though I used to build my own, this time I just got a new <a href="http://www.pronetworks.org/forum/about103671.html">Dell (see this thread)</a>. So far I really like it for the price of just around $650

Intel

[e to the x Profile]

I won't be doing a prebuilt system. I know they are cheap but I already have a majority of the components.

Anyone have any other opions?

[Grav!ty Profile]

I'd suggest you go for a 45 nm quad, a motherboard with an Intel X48 chipset that supports DDR3 RAM and of course then DDR3 RAM at least capable of 1600 MHz.

Here's a good ASUS motherboard example of what I mean: Rampage Extreme

[ar1stotle Profile ICQYIM]

Last I heard, DFI boards were still a little touchy. I'm usually fine with Asus, but I haven't had a problem with Gigabyte except for the integrated sound output jack kinda broke on my first system. I've also built a few with MSI boards, which seem to be fine as well.

[e to the x Profile]

I'd suggest you go for a 45 nm quad, a motherboard with an Intel X48 chipset that supports DDR3 RAM and of course then DDR3 RAM at least capable of 1600 MHz.

Here's a good ASUS motherboard example of what I mean: Rampage Extreme

wow...that would eat up over half my budget. looks like a sick board though.

[Grav!ty Profile]

I'd suggest you go for a 45 nm quad, a motherboard with an Intel X48 chipset that supports DDR3 RAM and of course then DDR3 RAM at least capable of 1600 MHz.

Here's a good ASUS motherboard example of what I mean: Rampage Extreme

wow...that would eat up over half my budget. looks like a sick board though.

I don't mean that specific board, but that you should look at it's specifications as an example of what to get. Mainly DDR3 RAM (2 X 1 GB). Your budget for 3 items (motherboard, CPU and RAM) is decent enough not to have to go for "legacy" stuff like a P35 chipset and DDR2 memory I think.

[e to the x Profile]

ah ok. got it.

[Grav!ty Profile]

Here's some more ideas

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Yorkfield 2.5GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 $259.99

OCZ Special Ops Urban Elite 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 $130.99

ASUS P5E3 WS PRO LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard $195.01