jjb0070

Hey everyone, thought I'd get some advice on an upgrade path I'm thinking of taking. My sig rig has been basically untouched for the past couple years, with the exception of adding the 4850 this past Christmas. I'm getting tired with the Opty - too slow for my tastes in loading most programs, old slow ram, and that I just never got a great OC out of it (2.6 GHz was the best I could do without ridiculous temps in the high 50s and even low 60s C). So, I'm planning to upgrade, but my budget is very tight. I'm NOT thinking i7 now or anytime in the future, so please don't ask me to wait, because I'll be waiting for years. What I am thinking of doing is going with the e5200 and Gigabyte UD3P. This will let me upgrade to a Quad later on down the line when they get cheaper, and I'll be able to add a second 4850 to really extend the life of these parts. In the meanwhile, I want to get 2x2 gb DDR2 ram which should also be a nice improvement from my current build, not to mention going from 2.5GHz to close to 4GHz.

My questions are:
1) Is it worth it to spend a little extra for DDR2 1066 over 800? The prices don't seem to be all that different now. As for which particular RAM to get, well, I'm just not sure. There's a combo deal for this OCZ ram at 5-6-6-18 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227362) with the e5200 at newegg which saves me an additional 10 bucks, but I'm not sure if this one is fine or if I should just wait for the G. Skills that everybody else seems to have (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231166) to go on sale again. What do you guys suggest?

2) Again, my budget is as close to $200 as I can get. Here's what I'm thinking about for CPU/MOBO with considerations of my next upgrade being Quad and going with dual 4850s:

CPU: e5200 $70 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116072

Mobo: Gigabyte UDP3 $110 (after 20 MIR) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128358


Thoughts? I'd like to get an order in this week, having waited for Memorial Day sales (which appear underwhelming for what I'm looking for). Thanks for the input.

crashnburn_819

Getting a CPU, motherboard, and 4gb of 800mhz ram shouldn't be impossible with $200.
Consider getting some parts used.
The e5200 has pretty good value but a used e4300/e6300 can be had for less.
The UD3P is a great board but you're on a budget. Either get it used or get the UD3L. It doesn't have raid, crossfire or dual-lan but it is cheaper.

Darkknight512

I agree, for $200 that should get you a balenced system, and the E4300/E6300 should be able to get to 2.8 ghz to 3.2 ghz on stock cooling.

The OCZ memory should be fine as long as you don't overclock your ram too far.

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jjb0070

I'm focused on going with the UD3P for two reasons: A) I think that having crossfire will cheaply extend the life of this upgrade when I add a second 4850, and B) The asus P5Q Pro offers crossfire and is cheaper on newegg consistently, but from reading other posts on OCN it appears like it's a lousy overclocker for quads when compared to the UD3P.

EDIT: There's an open box UD3P on newegg for 94 bucks, which is a nice savings and no rebate headache. I dunno if it's the greatest idea in the world to get an OB Mobo, though, since there won't be any accessories included with it. OTOH, that's 41 bucks off the usual price.

linskingdom

Agreed with what crashnburn_819 said, may look for used parts to mee the budget $200Or P43-UD3L and $45-$50 for 2x2GB kit DDR2-800. Or Asus P5Q since you have a 12.5x multi E5200 chip.

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crashnburn_819

By all means get the UD3P then. Its a great board and CrossFire is a pretty good investment in the future.
You'll still need to stretch the rest of your budget towards the CPU and ram.
Used E4300/E6300 is really the way to go.
Cheap ram

jjb0070

Do you guys think I should get the open box UD3P?

crashnburn_819

Do you have extra cables and stuff lying around? When buying open-box, always assume its only the item with no extras.

jjb0070

Yeah, I've been accumulating that crap for well over a decade. I can't imagine that there's anything a mobo comes with (like SATA cables and such) which I don't already have. From the picture of the new one, the only thing I'd probably miss is the backplate for the I/O ports for the case.

mocha989

Get a E7200 or 300 and get some new memory that's pretty much all you need and a P45 motherboard.

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