poor man's MB/CPU/RAM sweet spot ??

Computer Forum CPU, Motherboards and Memory
1

Greetings -

I have an old box at my desk that I’d like to upgrade.
By upgrade, I mean new CPU / MB / Memory.
Maybe a cost-effective sound card too.

Shouldn’t be too hard to get better performance –
replacing an Athlon XP 2700 (released Oct. 2002)
on a Gigabyte 7n400s motherboard w/ 512MB of RAM.

I’m upgrading because I’ve been dragged, kicking & screaming,
into digital photography and I find that the old box is just too slow
to render/manipulate photos.

The only other CPU/hardware intensive use is sound editing –
I have this singer-songwriter compulsion/sickness, and tend to record
every now & again – so cool & quiet components are key.

I’d welcome any recommendations under $300 for the CPU/MB/Memory combo –
and, as always, less is more.

Thanks.

  • Richard
2

This is a good deal, AMD Phenom quad core, It’s a good cheap setup with onboard graphics and it’s an excellent performer for the money well under $300. You will also have extra cash for a sound card if needed.

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3

if its speed your after i highly recommend intel over amd in the core2-duo 3ghz +, amd is cheaper for a reason

i would go for intel core2 duo E6850 1333 with 2x 2GB DDR2