upgarding pc mobo, cpu maybe

heyas peeps im finally looking for a new mobo and maybe a new cpu also.. im running a 8800gts 320 and my hp pc with that damn locked bios on the motherboard.. it has a 4200+duo core amd and im not sure if i should just buy a mobo cpu combo from tiger direct or use my current cpu on an even better mobo.. i definitly need a new mobo because this one as i stated has a modification from hp that doesnt allow any overclocking in the bios... really kills me.. the cpu seems to be decent but idk if its all i need.. im really into games peoples and want to run like light speed lol.. but also work for my money i got 300$ to blow on this stuff atm maybe and change if need be. is the 4200+amd duo ok to keep or should i buy a combo pack? im looking around but i just dont know that much about hardware and dont wanna make the wrong choice.. ill buy the striker extreme from tiger if its really even worth it. but would that be over kill for my 4200+ amd duo core cpu? you all know what runs games the best drop me a lil help if yas get the chance.. im making a purchase tomorrow errr today now lol in about 16hrs or so maybe ill wait a day or 2 till i get more info but im ready now to make the buy. if anyone knows a really good board not a cheapo save pennies board but a good board that can support anything i may want sli is a definite. maybe supports quad core not like i need it though.. so thats not a must.. and i run under vista home premuim atm also. i will be overclocking so this is also a must. and maybe one with a decent heatsink.. atm evga 8800gts 320 @ 660/920 cpu @2300 duo core amd 4200+. thanks for all the help people as always.. David Beyrent aka Deyrent.. and jeeze someone tell theses people how to write a proper topic please... not ""OMFG HELP ME HELP ME" it was hard navigating around the site with all those garbage topics everywhere. thanks everyone and good to be back. i think i may have found my wall. if i drop my cpu core i can get to 1066 even 100 matbe more on the memory.. if i stay at 3300 mhz i cant get it.. im trying to drop memory i guess till i get better cooling for my cpu to oc more.. if this is the problem idk yet but seems to stablize things when i bring down my memory or core.. one has to give.. well ill keep updating post as i do this.. thanks all.

Hmm, you have a point about the lack of good stickies for help around here. Especially the hardware and gamers help sections have been on the down low for more then a year or more. Something that needs to be worked at, not just by the means of creating a few more topics or cleaning up a bit but by pulling all the people with proper hardware knowledge into the same direction. With most of the peepz here disagreeing on what os to use or have the difference between hardware producers be decided by words like AMD/ATI/Nvidea/Intel sucks, blows, stinks or whatever instead of proper knowledge, or indepenant benchmarks and reviews I doubt this is going to come together though.

Anyway, here are my suggestions. At this point in time, after a long period of Amd ruling the scene, Intel is claiming the throne with their core2duo and quadcore lines. If you wanna take a new mobo/cpu upgrade and get the best performance I'd suggest those. However, taking this route is just one of many. Amd still has a few good processors and their upcoming native quadcore called Barcelona, Intel's Quad are to core2duo stuck together basicly, so there's a huge difference between the upcoming processor that's really native and Intels version so you might wanna wait for some Benches of the final product of Amd. Anyway, getting a amd processor, a gig more of ram and for example a X-fi soundcard will also improve the overall performance by a landslide. I could try and suggest some specific setups but since I don't know what country you are from the prices I might find for you might be alot higher/lower in your country. Good luck :thumbup:

Don't wait for a new Phenom CPU from AMD, because the mainstream product is a long way off. You couldn't go far wrong getting a c2d setup, but there is scope for you CPU if you consider this:

Your CPU is fine as it is, but get a nice Nvidia NForce chipset motherboard and a big cooler like a Thermaltake Typhoon series. If you can afford it make sure you have some nice 2GB low latency memory that has the headroom for a bit of overclocking, but I am no expert in RAM so someone else like Slaymate will be able to advise.

With these kind of products you should be able to overclock the CPU quite a lot and probably only for just over a couple of hundred bucks.

I would advise you to go with an Intel C2D cpu and mobo. But you'll also need some
DDR2 memory.
E4300 $114.50 + free s/h
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115013
Asus P5N-E SLI $129.99 + $6.41 s/h
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813131142
This is already $250.90 and you'll need memory
Mushkin 2x1GB PC26400 $86.99 + $4.99 s/h
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820146118
This all comes to $342.88

If you want to keep your cpu and just upgrade the mobo I would get the
Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe $149.99 + $6.94 s/h
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813131568
The only problem with keeping your cpu and just upgrading the mobo is
your cpu will probably be bottlenecking the video. My brother has a AMD
4800X2 with the Asus mobo, 2x1GB ram and a 8800GTX and it runs
Benchmarks like 3DMark 06 slower than my C2D cpu with a single
7950GX2. Hopes this helps. Also, you should shop at NewEgg :-)

thanks slay but i want to run sli someday and that board wont even fit 2 cards. i have 1 evga 8800gts 320 and its huge lol.. and i want to buy another one soon also. + that cpu is kinda on the weak side, only ocs to a 2.7ish ; ; i gotta see 3.0 +. I think ill just go with the evga 680i sli and an intel e6400 duo.. and yes i hope the site get back togetheer soon i miss easliy navigating lol.. thank you all for the ideas and info and just plain bein helpful.. take care

Both of the mobo's I listed will fit 2 cards in sli. And yes the E4300 is the cheapest C2D but I was trying
to keep you as close to $300 as I could. The EVGA 680i mobo is an excellant choice. That's what I'm
using :-)

woot than that what i will buy my brother has oone also.. same chip im buying too. yea i was just saying what i had read in reveiws on that mobo not fitting 2 8800gts cards in it.. idk myself.. thanks as always slay.

The cards are huge, make sure u have enough room for some airflow

So just what board are you going with? I'm confused now. I know for a
fact that the Asus mobo has the slots spaced at the std. length and I've
ran (2) 7800GTX's with Swiftech watercooling blocks installed in it. I've
also ran those same cards with Zalman heatsinks installed with no problems.
And the Zalmans make the 7800's just as tall or taller. There may not be a
lot of room but they fit. The EVGA mobo has more than enough room. It has
3 pci-e slots, one for a physics card. For SLI you need to use the 1st & 3rd slot.
I have 2-7950GX2's in it at the moment (quad sli), but I have (2) 8800GTX's
scheduled to arrive via FedEx on the 13th so I can tell you more then :-)

I placed the order for the intel 6400 conroe duo and the evga 680i sli.. they seem really nice.. im runnin that 8800gts 320 mb atm only one but ill probably just buy another someday. this came to a total of 410$ U.S. Monies for mobo and cpu. i cant wait to have a decent mobo finally.. and the chip to boot.