My AMD Upgrade. What MOBO? CPU?

[ckop11]

I am Upgrading my system soon here either this month or closer to Christmas for some deals.



keep in mind
It is used mostly for Gaming. World of warcraft. so nothing to intense (but i would like to play it on high settings), and also web browsing,. I would also like it to last for some time. and not have to upgrade The MOBO for a while.


Here is my Upgrade plans as of now.

Newegg.com - AMD Athlon II X4 630 Propus 2.8GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor ADX630WFGIBOX

Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL

Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - Operating Systems

In case you missed it.. No Motherboard was posted.
I don't know a lot about motherboards. So here is where you guys come in.

MOBO
-- I would like it to be around $150.00.
-- Idk if i want to crossfire so lets just say 2 PCI-E 2.0
-- i want it to be able to last a while.

Questions.

- What mobo should i get? All suggestions within my criteria is appreciated

- How big is the difference between crossfire (16,16) compared to (8,8)?

- I also don't know what Nb to go with? the 7s or 8s? 7s are cheaper but 8s are

- Phenom II X2? or Athlon II X4? what would better benefit me?

Please read full post before responding. Thank you all in advanced.

 

[Muffin Man]

- Newegg.com - ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890GX HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

- not a huge difference at all, not even with the highest end cards out right now

- the board i listed comes with the 890gx nb, nice choice if you want it to last a while since it support sata and usb 3.0, crossfire, amd's latest 6-cores, among other things

- hm, i'd say the athlon ii quad, gives you about 85% + performance i'd say, when it comes to gaming compared to the phenom ii, but you'll have 2 extra cores at your disposal to use when it comes to multitasking.

also, i think for a few bucks more i'd take this set of ram
Newegg.com - Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 996782
same speed, better timings though

 

[ckop11]

How much of a difference would the Mushkin make? i would like to keep the build as inexpensive as i can make it. and i also believe i would need to get a sata DVD Drive.

So is the Ram really worth the extra few bucks? would i be able to modify the timings on the gskill?

 

[Trotter]

Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X3 740 Black Edition Heka 3.0GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor HDZ740WFK3DGI - Processors - Desktops
A tri-core, but a Phenom II and the board Muffin posted will unlock the fourth core for you.

Grab one of these are you should be good to go.
Newegg.com - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro 92mm Ceramic CPU Cooler

Yes, that comes out more than the Athlon II x4, but you will get a whole,lot more performance out of it.

Or, if you aren't a risk taker (as the fourth core is not guaranteed), get this Phenom II x4 and that cooler (same price as the Athlon IIx4).
Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ940XCJ4DGI - Processors - Desktops

Either way you will want the cooler as the stock HSF sounds like a jet engine.