HTPC upgrade idea
 

Current setup:
E5400 @ 3.4ghz
3gb DDR2 ram
80gb HD from many many yrs ago
MSI G31 motherboard
Radeon HD3450
Running Win7 32bit


What are the options out there? I am thinking AMD A4-3300 + FM1 board or Celeron G530 + cheap H61 board, but I read some forums saying they are very disappointing.

Or I need to jump one step up to i3-2100 to see some real difference?

Why thr need for a upgrade? What problems are you having?

mobo issue, capacitors won't hold charge. Either I RMA the mobo (will need to wait for 2 months) or simply take $200 to upgrade

If everything else is working fine, then just get a new mobo

And don't cheap out this time ;)

I would also just replace the mobo. You really shouldn't need higher specs than that for an HTPC.

other systems that I built for friends never encounter mobo problem (using the same mobo). I am the only lucky one.

This is in my shopping cart: Asrock G41MH/USB3 (USB3.0 port + DVI/HDMI, solid capacitors) $52

No optical o ut, will you be using HDMI?

I don't know how good it will play HD video, if not, I'll just put the old HD3450 with HDMI back.

HDMI <-> LCD TV, no optical.

almost upgraded to G620 + H61 board + 4GB DDR3 for free, fiance's dad needs a PC to replace his P4 laptop.*thumbs up*

now, how do I clone my Win7 without reinstall everything again?