Hey guys, I currently have a P5K-E ASUS mobo and an E8400 dual core O/C 3.6 ghz stock fan. With 4 gig (2x 2 gig sticks) ddr2 ram @ 800 FSB. I am looking for a viable upgrade and I am thinking on going to the AMD side for an upgrade. I want to have a nice performance increase then what I have. And I don't have a blank check to buy top of the line gear either, Or I get the new intel 17 6 core monster. Can anyone give some advice. I will entertain intel as well. The rest of my specs are in my signature. I'm sure CDR Steve-O will have some options for me hahahaha. Thanks gang.

its a tough call, ia m pretty much in the same boat as you..best i could come up with based on current performance, needs, and costs, was to look into upgrading your memory to some 1066 or higher, and overclocking...really, a quad isnt going to give ya that much of a boost for their price vs your current setup..amd im unsure of...

775 is dead. Any upgrade to that architecture would be a waste of money.

AM3/i5/i7

Base your build on those standards and you'll be futureproof for a few more years..

Oh and those E8400's will still fetch a pretty price used, would be a good way to invest in your new gear.

what kind of a budget do you have?

Not to mention you should always build to accomodate your needs.

For example, if you are a gamer than a 5800 series card was a good choice for you.

For light gaming and multimedia, a 5770 would be a good option.

What are you going to be doing mostly with your build, and what is your budget?

Well, around $700 or a bit more. I just bought a new HD 5850. And I will probably upgrading this month sometime. Probably the end of the month.

That would easily get you a new ASUS M4A89GTD-PRO, Some nice corsair DDR3 and a 965 and your choice of aftermarket cooling solutions. With money left over for an SSD -depending.

Good call,thats what i just upgraded to.almost went i5 but saved about $200,big improvement over my dual core 2.6 even at 3.2 oc and 8800gt sc.I can now play bf bc2 with no stutter,the dual core cpu couldn't do that.only reason i went with the gskill ripjaws instead of the corsair is the gskill was on the list of ram for that motherboard.

Well, I have been doing lots of looking and reading. It is down to AMD Phenom II X4 965 or either i7 920 or i7 930. Can't decide. still researching. Will my silencer 610 run these cpu's or will I have to upgrade that too?

The i7 920 and the 965 BE perform about the same in games, the 965 being more than a hundred dollars cheaper. Desktop performance however, is where the i7's shine.

And yes your psu will be more than enough to power the system.

^^Agreed