So now, $300 I have to upgrade my system. On my shopping list...

Seasonic S12 Energy Plus SS-550HT for $100
Seasonic SS-500ES for $66
Transcend 1x2GB DDR2 800 for $39
G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2 1000 for $85
Biostar TForce TP45HP for $130
Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 for $130
ATI Radeon HD4850 for $150-200

Of course there are two power supplies and two sets of RAM on there--but that's more for decision. The thing is my E2140 is capped at 406 it seems, and I'm pretty sure that's the CPU itself and not the board. I'd like a 430+ E2140, but the problem is I don't want to spend much more on something that WILL be last-generation. Yeah Wolfdale would be nice and $130 is a nice price (compared to $180+ for E8x00 and $250+ for Q9x00), but I don't think it'll do enough. Even a 30% increase in performance will cost me $130. For the RAM, I have one stick of the Transcend stuff--not the best but it's cheap. If I grab another, I could likely run dual-channel. If no dual-channel, it's not like that mode has that much an advantage (1-2% max really). I'd rather with that take a chance. On the other hand, a DDR2 1000 kit would let me overclock the processor to 500 and keep synced, while still enjoying a warranty.

So much to decide... right now my cart looks like HD4850 + Transcend 2GB + Seasonic S12 E+ 550W. Would come to $314, before shipping and tax (). All things together, $343, which is still in acceptable range ($22.50 tax and only $7 shipping).

What are your current specs? oic wot u did der

What do you feel you need upgraded the most?

His current specs are in his signature.

Everything? I'm just having a hard time figuring out what I want to do most. The Seasonic power supply would last me through, at a bare minimum, a completely new build. Considering my plans for my next new build are dual-octacore Nehalems, that's pretty good.
I do know I need RAM--Vista64 runs much better on 4GB than it does on 2GB.
My graphics has some annoying issues since I play my games on settings that are too high--and I know it. FSX is a bit annoying, some textures in my opinion are not good enough but then there are others that are. I'd prefer to see what I want to see in highest quality and still have decent quality on everything else, but I still seem to run out of VRAM too fast. Only 256MB--when I bought it a few weeks after launch, there was one 512MB version on market that was too far marked up. Even so, $170 in December.
My motherboard has funky issues with booting up--and I am not the largest fan of it. That's the reason for the excellently-overclocking Biostar board. P45 + ICH10, as I don't need RAID and the TP45HP clocks about as well as the I45, while still costing $40 less.
My processor is still fine, but I was hoping for a bit of an increase in overclocking. I know with an E7200, the measly 3.25ghz I have it at will be peanuts, and no doubt 3.8GHz on air would be an easy slice of pie. With the Biostar board (a star overclocking Wolfdale and Yorkfield), I should be able to hit at least 450, more likely 480 which equates to just shy of 4.28ghz or 4.56ghz, even with my current RAM. I'd rather the processing power to tight timings, and loosening 20% for the extra 80mhz is still a fine deal.
With better RAM I could possibly overclock my E2140 a bit better, if my RAM in fact was holding it back. I'm not so sure about that, though with better RAM I could later use on some less-conventional overclocking, much like the Biostar board and everything else that's complete-replacements.

So yeah--I'm having FUNNNN making this decision... and my shopping list still includes HD4850 + 2GB RAM + Seasonic S12 E+.


Thanky.

4850 should take priority + RAM in my opinion. You've got value RAM don't you? So an extra stick of that won't harm it. Stop OC'ing that damn processor! PSU. Your current PSU is fine to be honest... 4850 power draw = 187w max. Not sure whats the power draw on your CPU? i mean you musta bumped the vcore quite high for that 100% OC

Other then that maybe chuck in that E7200 which looks very nice but knowing you... you'll probably OC the hell out of it causing problems with your power supply .

If you where to include the processor you'd be slightly over your max budget of $300.

p.s. can your board take wolfies?

Don't tell an overclocker to stop. I'm planning for my college years, work for a while and then every 6 months or so buy a load of hardware, a 200L dewar of liquid N₂, and then go for some records. I figure 5 high-FSB boards, 5 processors, a few kits of RAM, a few good power supplies, and a few graphics cards... then bench with N₂, selling off whatever isn't good enough or buying it through a local BestBuy and returning it! (I'm not that evil--probably sell to other enthusiasts after showing its capabilities) Other than that, I am not a gigantic fan of my PSU--so I'm really thinking that the 550W Seasonic will be plenty for future endeavors into Nehalem DP and possible CrossFireX...


What's the problem with overclocking? I had more problems at FSB375 than I did at FSB406, though I'm at my exact limit as it is. Plus... Nehalem... I don't see THAT compelling a reason to replace a Core 2 at 3.25GHz. I don't want to be stuck in the A64/AX2 rut as many were in June '06 and prior.


Using the cheap RAM+PSU+HD4850, I'd already be over by $50 or so. It doesn't bother me THAT much, but the sales tax is what is killing my budget!

Oh and my board is P35... and on the box says 45nm compatible. That, and BIOS 16 claims updated CPU uCode, which should mean E7000 and E8000 and even Q9000 series processors should all be compatible. There's no CPU support list, so I can't really confirm.