The best performance for the least $$$

[Cheechwood]

I'm going to give a short description of my current set up with the hopes of you guys maybe helping me pick out a decent mobo, some ram, and a good chip that will work well with some of the other stuff I have.

Stuff to keep in mind:
-I game (halflife2, Left4Dead, Fallout3) as well as multitask (photoshop lightroom + Photoshop Cs4)
-I'd like to keep as much of my current equipment as possible
-I multitask ALOT
-The budget should go no higher then $500.00 usd but I'd like to stay around $300.00 if possible (very possible that it may not be logical to stay that low)

Thanks ahead of time and here we go.

PSU:
550w but can't remember exactly which brand. I know I dropped like $70.00 on it so it isn't a low quality psu. (I got the lecture on how important a good psu really is right before I bought it.)

Harddrives:
- Western Digital 74g 10000rpm
- Western Digital 640g

Display Devices:
- eVGA Nvidia GeForce 7800 GT

Memory:
OCZ Platinum 4GB (4 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel

Soundcard:
ASUS Xonar DX Audio Device

Current processor doesn't matter because I want to get a new one.

 

[saltynay]

$414 after rebates
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 Wolfdale 2.66GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops <-- step up to a E8400 (dual core) or a Q9300 (quad core) as you multitask but bear in mind the E8400 will be faster in current games
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory <-- step up to G-skill pi blacks if you wish for tighter timings so better overclockability
Newegg.com - ASUS EAH4850 TOP/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards<-- step up to a 4870 at $180

Switch and match what you want thats my standard $400 build gives you max price: performance

ps. It wasn't really necessary to start a new thread it kinda follows on from the last one but nvm

 

[Hussein19891]

Go with a E8400 paired with a 4870 for the best price/performance ratio. But since you would like to be able to handle games on your computer a little longer. Look into a cheap 4870 and stick with the E7300.

Newegg.com - 4870, $100 - $200