Replacing a E4400 CPU

[eipnvn]

Thanks for all your help, I really appreciate you taking your time to help me figure this out. My problem is that recently I've noticed some strange behavior that I'm thinking is probably related to the processor - some system crashes and freezing, esp. in games, I can't really afford to be without a computer, so I was planning on upgrading fairly soon. So the question (which I know really comes down to me) is whether I want to spend $150 on a processor that is older, or whether I should spend a little more and go with an i3/i5.

I guess I'm leaning toward the i3 / i5 idea. Any CPU / MB combos I should look at that are relatively cheap?

 

[Muffin Man]

youre going to need more than $150 if youre looking for that kind of upgrade.

an i3 alone costs $125
Newegg.com - Intel Core i3-530 Clarkdale 2.93GHz 4MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core Desktop Processor - Processors - Desktops
and this is the cheapest one.

then id say, maybe around $100+ for a decent mobo and then around $50-$100 for either 2 or 4gigs of ddr3.

if your system is crashing in games, could be that your gfx card is failing, or it might be overheating, or maybe your psu is not supplying enough power to run your system.

 

[patonb]

Check your RAM with memtest...