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ASUS P5G41T-M LX PLUS - LGA 775

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_ ... M_LX/#CPUS

My buddies system has crapped out and he can't spend more than say $250 bucks. He has a single video card and I was suggestion that I purchase the above board and 8gbs of ram (ddr3-1600) for $50, the motherboard for $60, and a new power supply for $54 and a new case Corsair 300r at $85. The idea is that the Corsair 300r can be used in a build 2 years or so down the road if he feels the need to upgrade, and the ram 2 x 4gb DDR3 could also be used in a system upgrade instead of buying a 775 chipset that takes DDR2 which is actually much more expensive (64 bucks for 4gbs 1gbx4)

Leaving me right at $249 . We will got a slight bit over as we are going to be shipping the entire system back down to him.

The only issue is that his CPU isn't on the support list, its like they skipped over it E6600 at 2.4ghz. If it can be used then great, if not I was thinking of scrapping a Q6600 (that is on the support list) from a Dell that I've got sitting here doing nothing and just swapping them. Anyone have experience with the above system or know whether or not it will take the E6600?

It looks as if several recent BIOS updates (as recent as October 2011) have been added to "support new CPUs", but I don't see those BIOS versions in the CPU support list as starting support for listed CPUs.


Aren't we well past the time to stop sinking money into LGA-775? Is it worth $90 to go from LGA775 and the Core2Duo E6600 to LGA1155 and a Pentium G850?

$63 Open Box H67 motherboard w/ USB3
or $118 Z68 motherboard w/ USB3 and PCIe 3.0

$88 Intel Pentium G850 (2.9 GHz dual-core)

$42 2x4 GiB PC3-12800

$55 Cheap case and power supply
or $60 -10 code "EMCNGHG82" -10MIR Antec Three Hundred
and $60 -18 combo -20MIR Corsair CX500V2 or $70 -10½ code "ATMS15" -10MIR Antec EA-500D or $50 -10 code "RWPSU20" Cheap PSU

If it is just the motherboard why needing to buy all these new stuff? If you want an overhaul of the internals I would agree with JAE. If it is just to replace the motherboard then you can source it from multiple places and use the remaining budget for something else.

Well the Q6600 actually scores better than the G850, and I can give him one of the Q6600's that I've got sitting here doing nothing. He doesn't have all that much cash to spend, and while I agree with just going for a low end full upgrade, nothing in that price range that I see would bring him to the same performance level for the same cash. I also don't trust OpenBox motherboards, 100% against it. I warned a buddy and he bought one of the MSI 790FX boards and ended up spending more time than it was worth only to find out the openbox board was in fact screwed. The ram would allow him to still use it in a full system upgrade/purchase once he gets to that point, 1600 should be close enough to most anything he'd upgrade into with his budget even in 2 years.

A 50 dollar case with a PSU? Sorry but no thanks, there is a point where cheaping out will cost you more in the long run and there is a reason why I was shipped his entire computer, and its because he has zero troubleshooting skills. Id very much rather ask him to spend a few extra 100 and get a rocking system thats fully up to date, but I recently had another mutual friend tell me that this buddy is 12 months overdue on being forclosed on, something he obviously never told me. So instead of pushing him to get an entire new system or push him that extra bit, im trying to keep it cheap. The only reason I'm suggesting a case is that his current one is literally falling apart, its a Xion piece of crap, and replacing the 80mm fans in it that are dieing will cost more than its worth.

If I had an ultra cheap or a drop in socket 1155 CPU i'd put it in there in hopes of him being able to throw an i3 or i5 in it down the road. Sadly though, I don't have one, but I do have a pretty good little 775.

Here is a comparison of the two processors. I would give the G850 the win. What is your friend going to use the computer for?

I might suggest this 1155 mobo to accompany a G850. If you go with that you have G850 ($90) + mobo ($70) + RAM ($42) = $200. I would suggest using the combo deals that JAE has provided if you really think your friend needs a new PSU which will add ~$40 to your total, leaving you $60 for a new case. The Antec 300 case is on sale at newegg right now (through 3/29) for $40 after MIR. That is everything you were going to put in for $20 under your budget. And yes, down the road, when your friend has more money, they can get an i5-2500 for a really nice upgrade. LGA 775 is dead.

So are you saying the only thing salvageable in his crapped out system is the video card? And you need to buy everything new to build around the video card? Or it is more like what your subject said it is just to "replace" the motherboard, so RAM and other stuff are already there? Please clarify.

If he needs everything new, then you may just have to go for an OEM build with that budget (and may even need to look into refurb/off-lease systems).

I've usually regretted sinking money into a dead socket when I've done it, but in this case it's just $60, so go ahead.

$60 Asus P5G41T-M LX Plus micro-ATX G41 LGA775 motherboard
$0 existing Core2Quad LGA775 processor and HSF
$42 2x4 GiB PC3-12800 (DDR3-1600, CAS 9, 1.5 V)
$50 -10MIR Antec Three Hundred ATX case
$59½ -10MIR Antec EarthWatts EA-500D

Welch wrote:

this buddy is 12 months overdue on being forclosed on, something he obviously never told me.

Is the computer really his priority now?

Flying Fox wrote:

Welch wrote:

this buddy is 12 months overdue on being forclosed on, something he obviously never told me.

Is the computer really his priority now?

That was exactly my issue :|... But Im not supposed to know about it, yet i'm still attempting to make my suggestions accordingly.

@JaE, thats exactly my point, $60 bucks to revive his 775 socket is nothing, but at the same time he can reuse all of the newer parts we may buy now in any future build (The DDR3 Ram, the Case (if we get one) and the of course the PSU). My thoughts are if that $60 bucks gets him by for a year or two then great.

Yes he is going to be using it mainly for older games, the newest being Diablo 3, which it will handle perfectly fine with that 4830. I also know that he is using either a 17 or 19" 4:3 LCD, so there is no way that 1280x1024 at max is going to be an issue for the system ahaha.

He already made the mistake of buying a walmart Acer about a year 1/2 ago, which only has a 220w psu, is a SFF proprietary case of course and isn't capable of even taking a low profile video card. Not that I would feel comfortable telling him to stuff something like that in those death traps. I asked him what happened to this system before and he said that his friend said it was just totally blown, so his friend "Held" onto it for almost 2 years in his garage. I'd suggest to him to sell off the walmart rig to someone for a few hundred after getting this machine back and going.