Mobo/CPU/RAM upgrade suggestions

[Rico]

Hey guys,

So I bought my new 8800GT this March for my birthday, but my system is now being bottlenecked by my now aging CPu so I'm looking to upgrade.

My current system:

ASUS A8N5X
Geforce 8800GT 512MB
2GB DRR 2100 mix and match ram (sticks of 1 GB, 512, 2x256 MB)
AMD 64 +3800 (single core)
SB Audigy SE

My question is, what CPU/MOBO/RAM combination would you guys suggest, considering I only have about $240 to spend on the entire thing? I don't need top of the line stuff. Mid-range components would be ok with me, and I am not a big overclocker so overclock potential can be sacrificed a little if the value is good enough.

Any suggestions?

 

[The Brick]

Motherboard.
CPU.
RAM.

$239.97
(shipping excl)

Great motherboard that allows you huge overclocking and support for the newest cpus (and upcoming).

 

[DreamThrall]

I would spend at least another $30 and get at least 2MB cache on your processor.

E4600 is $127

I know you're on a budget, but it'll definitely be worth it imo.

 

[Sedako]

CPU: Intel E4600 ($127)
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L ($67)
RAM: 2GB Corsair XMS2 ($40)

Total comes to $234, and you'll have decent overclocking options with the mobo. Probably the best you can get for your budget.

 

[Asus]

Motherboard.
CPU.
RAM.

$239.97
(shipping excl)

Great motherboard that allows you huge overclocking and support for the newest cpus (and upcoming).

Basically that. Maybe cheaper board (if you are not OCing) and ram (still DDR2 800) and spend the money on a faster CPU.

 

[Rico]

What are your thoughts on this mobo?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059

 

[Asus]

It's been rated very well (1000+ votes too so you know lots of people have it) and has the P35 intel chipset so that's all good. I know it doesn't OC well. Newest bios does support quad core chips and the 45nm (Q9xxx) CPUs.

DDR2 ram that runs at 1.9v will probably be a safer bet than RAM that needs 2.2v to run. Then you don't have to go into the bios and set the voltage for it to run right.