Hi,So I'm completely new to serious component replacement/upgrading, and I was just wondering what it takes to get the "old' processer (i3) off of the motherboard, the replace it with the new one. I'm thinking about the 2500 for Christmas as a much needed boost in performance, but unsure wether or not to overclock it.Thanks,

Depends on your motherboard and the chipset. If it is a H67 or H61 you dont want to be wasting your money on a i5 2500k, but a 2500 would be just fine. If you had a P67 or Z68 based motherboard you should be able to put a 2500k in it and overclock a bit but with a lot of those OEM boards the power delivery and cooling isn't as good so you may not be able to OC as far as say on a P8Z68-V Pro, ASRock Extreme 4, Z68X-UD4 etc but you should be able to OC enough to see a gain in performance. It also does depend on your socket of motherboard you have got. You say you have an i3 which could be a 1156 or 1155 i3, do you know which one?

Hi,My computer properties says its an i3 530 @ 2.93 GHz. thats all I would know, because I don't know where to look

I don't think the 530 and the 2500K use the same socket so that would require a new motherboard.

Well I guess its not all bad, if you still decide to upgrade, you can have a nice branded overclocking board.

Hi,Hum, so if I want to get a 2500, I also need a new motherboard? How much do those go for, exactly? And what else would I need, if I just wanted the board and processor, and then just put everything back from the old to the new board?

Hi,Hum, so if I want to get a 2500, I also need a new motherboard? How much do those go for, exactly? And what else would I need, if I just wanted the board and processor, and then just put everything back from the old to the new board?

A Z68 socket 1155 will set you back anywhere from $100 to $400.You'll need the processor, the motherboard, decent DDR3 RAM, a new PSU, and a case that can fit it all because Dell uses a proprietary motherboard design. Upgrading a Dell/Gateway/etc PC is a dead end path, and often not an option at all.

Huh...Ok, thanks guys, almost made a really bad purchase for my computer...I do need some new power, though so I'll figure something out...Thanks for warning me,

Huh...Ok, thanks guys, almost made a really bad purchase for my computer...I do need some new power, though so I'll figure something out...Thanks for warning me,

Glad it's cleared up for you, Jackson. When you decide to upgrade (not sidegrade), do yourself a favor and look around here for options. I see a lot of people jumping the gun on inexpensive AMD systems, only to find out they can't best a 5 year old Core 2 Intel system. Right now the best option is, of course, an overclocked 2500k/2600k. In a few months it will be one of the socket 2011 Ivy Bridge systems! Of course stay away from brands like Dell and the like if you're wanting a system that can be upgraded later to the "latest and greatest."Hopefully we'll see you in here soon wanting to build your own system!

Bringing this topic back cause I found something,So I was snooping around Amazon, when I saw a little box on the left that had a list called "ideal gaming rig".After tweaking some of the options in the list (no need for an i7) and making sure the components were good pricing wise, I'm pretty sure that this might me my (hopeful) future FSX rig, as follows:i5-2500 3.3 GHz 6 MB Cache Socket LGA1155 Processor - 188.99Cooler Master Elite Mid Tower Case, RC-310-BWN1-GP (Blue) - 40.69OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modualr Hi-performance PSU- 89.99EVGA Geforce GTX 560 Ti Superclocked 1024MB GDDR5 PCI- 239.99Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1 TB 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s with 32MB cache-104.99Corsair XMS3 4GB 1333MHz PC3-10666 240-pin DDR3-22.99Biostar MB H61MH LGA1155 DDR3 SATA PCIE HDMI MATX-78.99total: about 766 USDAs I not financially fit to buy this right here, can someone help me cut down costs by recommending cheaper components?Thanks alot,

Bringing this topic back cause I found something,So I was snooping around Amazon, when I saw a little box on the left that had a list called "ideal gaming rig".After tweaking some of the options in the list (no need for an i7) and making sure the components were good pricing wise, I'm pretty sure that this might me my (hopeful) future FSX rig, as follows:i5-2500 3.3 GHz 6 MB Cache Socket LGA1155 Processor - 188.99Cooler Master Elite Mid Tower Case, RC-310-BWN1-GP (Blue) - 40.69OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modualr Hi-performance PSU- 89.99EVGA Geforce GTX 560 Ti Superclocked 1024MB GDDR5 PCI- 239.99Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1 TB 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s with 32MB cache-104.99Corsair XMS3 4GB 1333MHz PC3-10666 240-pin DDR3-22.99Biostar MB H61MH LGA1155 DDR3 SATA PCIE HDMI MATX-78.99total: about 766 USDAs I not financially fit to buy this right here, can someone help me cut down costs by recommending cheaper components?Thanks alot,

You don't need a 700W psu. Go for a cheaper 600 or 650 watt.Stay away from Seagate. I had a friend that had TWO seagate drives fail. Besides that, system looks good.

I would seriously consider building a system from scratch. It's easy, you will have a much better understanding of your computer, and you will have complete control over the components and costs that go into it. That system lacks the K processor - so no overclocking, the motherboard has the H61 chipset which also doesn't allow overclocking, Seagate is not a very trusted hard drive brand, and I would keep clear of OCZ PSUs. Budget prebuilt systems usually make too many compromises and proper prebuilt systems are usually way overpriced.Try to save about $1,200 and then build a brand new system in April, when Intel releases its Socket 1155 Ivy Bridge processors and Z77 motherboards are released.

Ok, after some changes the system looks like thisi5-2500k Processor - 219.00Cooler Master Elite Mid Tower Case, RC-310-BWN1-GP (Blue) - 40.69Diablotek DA Series 600W ATX PSU PSDA600- 29.99EVGA Geforce GTX 560 Ti Superclocked 1024MB GDDR5 PCI- 239.99Western Digital 1.5 TB Caviar Green SATA Intellipower 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive WD15EARS - 102.95Corsair XMS3 4GB 1333MHz PC3-10666 240-pin DDR3-22.99ASUS P8P67 PRO LGA 1155 SATA 6Gbps and USB 3.0 Supported Intel P67 DDR3 2400 ATX Motherboard --190.87total:846.48 USDReally don't think I need that video card, could be(and probably am) wrong, though,

Bringing this topic back cause I found something,i5-2500 Get the K series chip that one will not OCCooler Master Elite Mid Tower Case, Get a larger case than that for better coolingCorsair XMS3 4GB 1333MHz This Ram is too slowBiostar MB H61MH This Motherboard will not allow Overclocking you need a P67 or Z68

That WD green hard drive is a 5200 rpm low power model that's probably going to bottleneck your system. A decent affordable HDD is the Samsung Spinpoint F3 (HD103SJ). With that said, mechanical hard drives are waaaaay expensive right now due to flooding in Thailand. Perhaps try to get by on your current hard drive. Alternatively, you might pick up a 64GB Crucial M4 or Samsung 830 SSD to install windows and your programs on and then install FSX on your current mechanical drive until hard drives drop in price again.Don't cheap out on the PSU - check out the Corsair 650W. A PSU affects system stability and if it craps out, it can take your motherboard, processor, and/or GPU with it to the grave!You can get by with a GTX 460. Probably saves you $100 right there.You can get much faster memory for very little extra money.Replacing old cheap parts with new cheap parts is still going to yield a cheap computer. Try investing money where it really counts right now and then upgrading the remaining parts in the future. You will have a much better computer that will last through the period it takes you to make all the upgrades - and much more to show for the money you spent, too!