right now i have: 1.80 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64 64 kilobyte primary memory cache 512 kilobyte secondary memory cache That's all the info i have on my processor I'm looking to get a way better one I play a lot of games and do a lot of video/picture editing I've got about $400 for it too Can anyone help?
Since most games and editing packages don't take advantage of dual-core CPUs right now, an upgrade should retain your existing CPU and memory. I'd get more memory (if you have less than 1 Gb), a better video card, or a second hard drive, and save the rest. A new motherboard - look for a SATA-II (3Gb) hard drive interface, DDR support (so you can use your existing memory) and 16x PCIe will allow you to use a faster video card and hard drive, which will make more of a difference than anything else. Truth is, the CPU will be much less of an issue than the fact you're upgrading the graphics card bus (16xPCIe) uses and the hard drive interface (to SATA-II/3Gb). The EPoX EP-8NPA SLI has the perfect specs. Your CPU appears to be an Athlon 64 3000+, so it'll work with that motherboard. You can probably get the new mobo, video card, and two SATA-II hard drives for about $250. I'd get the latter 3 from tigerdirect and the mobo from chiefvalue. You CAN get an Intel 805 or 820 CPU and a GIGABYTE GA-8I945PL-G motherboard. You'll need DDR2 memory and you'll still need a pair of new SATA-IIs, video card, etc. You actually CAN build this system for well under $400, but that's with 512 Mb of memory, no RAID, etc. To do the job right (1 Gb of memory, two or more drives, etc.) will probably push it a bit past $400.
actually i just got a brand new video card (all in wonder 256MB AGP BUS), 2 gigs of ram, a 2nd hard drive (200 gb), and much more, the motherboard and processor is all thats left to do, and I'm too lazy to install a new motherboard and my processor is a +2800--i've had it for like 7 years now (give or take a few) and I'm also an AMD guy but I will look into the motherboard, thanks
