Gamer Itching to Upgrade - But What?

P

Pulse.01

n00b
Joined
Jun 5, 2009
Messages
53
Hello All.

I am a gamer, mainly PC, and I am just itching to upgrade SOMETHING. The question is WHAT?! I was hoping some suggestions from some of you all might help me decide that much better. Currently I am running the rig you see below in my signature, with some logitech stuff like speakers, mouse, keyboard, and various storage drives, so these things are not my concern.

Should I invest in a 1366 MoBo, then get CPU, DDR3 and leave an upgrade path for the future? Or will this be rather obsolete, given with the future CPU's. Shortly after or on their release will they soon be on a new form factor anyhow rendering the MoBo all but obsolete?

I was considering a new video card for SLI, but I haven't really seen that i need that too terribly, plus I just bought the GTX 275 I am using less than 2 months ago. Plus I don't see the need for a Physx card, just not enough application at this time to convince me to buy one.

Considering a SSD quite seriously, the Intel X25-M 160GB seems like the best choice, but for $600 hard to justify, though possible, it's just this thing in the back of my head keeps saying how soon the technology will mature enough for that price to drop quite a bit.

So what else? I now there must be something worth a nice little investment right now, but I definitely need help discovering what that is. Please advise!
 
With your current rig you're gonna be a bit disappointed upgrading from what I've seen. A lot of people will tell you OMFG NOOB GET I7 920zzz!!

but like I said you've got a good chip I'd say ride it out til after christmas prices will go down quite a bit on everything and its sister. Most of the guys running the big rigs right now are pushing 30" 2600x1500 displays or going eyefinty with 3x24" displays. Id say if you look around the forum you can get a cheap. Q9950 to replace that E6750. DDR2 is expensive again don't waste anymore money on it.
 
It all depends on how much you want to spend.

You could go for the easy option and just upgrade to a quad 9xxx series for lga775 or if you want to be "future proof" to some extent the new I5 offers great price/performance. (though you would need DDR3, dual channel)

SSD is probably the biggest improvement i've seen for a while - i got a 64gb drive and it made a huge difference in system startup and general use (transferring files etc), also i can fit a few games on it and load times are great.
 
There's a $175 off the X25-M 160GB in the hotdeals sub.

An SSD or HD5800 series card would be a great upgrade. Upgrade the vidcard for better gaming performance; SSD for better overall performance. 2x Indilinx SSDs if the price of the X25-M 160GB is too steep.
 
I'd recommend a low-yield bond, those are almost guaranteed returns, certainly more than what you'd get out of any other upgrade.

If you don't have a reason to spend money, don't spend it. Then you'll have money to spend when you do find a reason.
 
Now, another question. Will the new 32nm CPU's be able to use the x58 architecture, or will it support them, but then a new line of MoBo's that are basically a huge step up in harnessing the power of the CPU's be more worth the time and investment?
 
Well intel said that for the 6 core cpus to work you just need to update the bios for X58 :)
 
its always been the case that when a new cpu comes out and its backwards compatible with the motherboards that are already out you wont get the same performance or overclock vs using a new motherboard that just came out designed for that cpu. 965 chipset vs p35 etc...

I personally have been looking at upgrading my current cpu (e6750) to either an i5 or i7. but I only use my pc for gaming and web browsing and when it comes to gaming the difference between my setup and an i5/i7 setup does not make the price of admission worth it (around $400). I have decided to wait until next year to see what AMD has to offer with there new processors. Recently I upgraded from a 4870 1GB to a 5870 1GB and all my games run max details at 1920x1080 at 50+fps. Generally speaking your video card is the one responsible for minimum frame rates.

If you must upgrade something I would look into a solid state drive. only thing stopping me right now is price and the size of the drives.
 
pandora's box said:
its always been the case that when a new cpu comes out and its backwards compatible with the motherboards that are already out you wont get the same performance or overclock vs using a new motherboard that just came out designed for that cpu. 965 chipset vs p35 etc...

I personally have been looking at upgrading my current cpu (e6750) to either an i5 or i7. but I only use my pc for gaming and web browsing and when it comes to gaming the difference between my setup and an i5/i7 setup does not make the price of admission worth it (around $400). I have decided to wait until next year to see what AMD has to offer with there new processors. Recently I upgraded from a 4870 1GB to a 5870 1GB and all my games run max details at 1920x1080 at 50+fps. Generally speaking your video card is the one responsible for minimum frame rates.

If you must upgrade something I would look into a solid state drive. only thing stopping me right now is price and the size of the drives.
Click to expand...

I feel like the SSD's are expensive to the point of being idiotic. an 80GB drive is what like $200? and it couldnt fit my steam folder. Yeah SSD's are pretty fast, but are they worlds faster than a standard disk? not really. I'd pay $100 for a 500GB SSD. Thats' twice the cost of a regular drive. Beyond that seems unreasonable to me.
 
@pandora's box: Yes that is what I am talking about, they always say the older boards will be compatible, and likely they are, but it's still running new tech on old tech, designed for something that hasn't really been released on theory, sure it'll work, but designing it around something that is actually there to use is a different story I should believe.

My video card is running stuff nicely so far, everything is no higher than 1920x1200. I know the Radeon's are nice but unless I could quick sell my card now, like I did my 8800 just last Wed., then I have no reason to get an SLI setup or new gen just yet.

The SSD is so tempting too. The Kingston version of the Intel drive@64GB is very tempting, even though it is quite slower than other SSD it is also quite less expensive, perhaps a nice "throwaway" entry drive?
 
SSD is super overpriced though. Its a good upgrade, but not a good value upgrade. I just think SSDs are so new, its best to wait a bit for prices to drop. Doesnt really help gaming much either....except for 'load' times. Woopdido........

I know some people feel like they "need" the very newest fastest technology and are willing to pay premiums for it, and thats fine, but that doesnt make them smart choices......in fact it makes them very stupid choices...

I got a 150gb velocriraptor for $100 off forums and thats more than enough for any hd speed imo.
 
Pulse.01 said:
Hello All.

I am a gamer, mainly PC, and I am just itching to upgrade SOMETHING.
Click to expand...
You're running a decent sized monitor. You're GPU is plenty for that but you may want to upgrade the budget dual core to a 9xxx series quad and OC it. (2-300$) Otherwise I wouldn't touch anything. I'd love a core i7 system myself but my system allows maxed settings on every game I have so I wouldn't gain anything by upgrading it. You seem to be in the similar situation.
 
Phenom II X4 955 BE 170 bucks for a quad core , you cant go wrong with that...and its fast too, not as fast as the i7 but it can hold its own pretty good. The price/performance ratio cant be beat.

Asus or Msi Mobo

4Gb's of Gskill Ripjaws

and a 5850 is what Im going to be upgrading to once income tax rolls around...possibly.
 
get a 80gb SSD they are more affordable around $200

get another 4gb of ram

get a Q9550

get a faster Video card
 
I bought an Intel SSD 80 gig gen 2 and it was the best upgrade I could have made. Seriously overall system speed is much improved.

Like the whole experience has improved. Pricey, but readily noticeable.

edit: Didn't notice it in your sig, but I also recommend Windows 7.

edit 2: I also had a 300 gig VRaptor prior to the SSD.
 
I just know I should go Intel on the SSD from what I have read, but also supposedly the 80GB SSD X25-M didn't get the same speed upgrade with the recent TRIM firmware upgrade or something along those lines? oO
 
bigdogchris said:
You're running a decent sized monitor. You're GPU is plenty for that but you may want to upgrade the budget dual core to a 9xxx series quad and OC it. (2-300$) Otherwise I wouldn't touch anything. I'd love a core i7 system myself but my system allows maxed settings on every game I have so I wouldn't gain anything by upgrading it. You seem to be in the similar situation.
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm not sure if the quad core would benefit all that many games right now, or I may be behind the times on this information a little bit? I'm getting the impression the CPU could be upgraded, but would really see little to no difference, and then only on few select instances. I have my 2.6 OC'd to 3.6 right now, and I believe it can go further as it is on water cooling and is rock solid. With the new RAM I got I seems oven more so. My core voltage is 1.43 at the moment, (vDroop is fluctuating core voltage between 1.42-1.44, according to CPU-Z>.<)
 
Am I the only one who looked at his current computer and doesn't think he needs to build anew? I know everyone here is always chomping at the bit to tell others how to spend their money....but he isn't going to notice a single difference in any of his games.
 
I'm here too bro, you can tell me this! lol

But yeah, I understand your point, to a point heh. It is looking like a new CPU is not necessary right now, and that would rule out MoBo and RAM as well. Video Card is possible, but better to wait until future to make that decision. It is looking like some Solid State Disk action is possible in the near future, however. Still wishing that enginurd would post the link to that $175 off of the Intel X25-M 160GB!
 
In a few games and in every day use you will see a big difference going to a Q9550 @ 3.4GHz and above. IMO that's all you need to really upgrade. At high resolutions and maximum settings the Core 2 Quad (12MB L2 variant), i7, and Phenom II are pretty much neck and neck, with the Phenom trailing behind the Intel CPUs in some games.

SSDs are cool but they're really expensive and only speed load times. I'd use one for a boot drive and grab a couple WD blacks for some RAID0 storage action...
 
Hmmm, I usually go for the WD Greens for storage. I can't think of a reason I would need super fast storage, even when I stream to my PS3 it only needs several MB of throughput at a time.For my storage of large amounts of files I use something that will be the most efficient as possible and last the longest. Now, RAID 0 for SSD is looking like it might be a nice alternative to my 300GB VelociRaptor.
 
I say get Q9550 and keep the rest.

You could also get intel G2 80 gb ssd or one of vertex 60 (or other indelix conroler ssd) for os and keep raptor as games drive.
 
For gaming, a faster drive will only speed up load times, as mentioned earlier. If you want to improve gaming performance, the best upgrade would be an HD5800 series card since you're running a 24" monitor. An SSD will improve overall performance, but only affect load times with games.

The 64GB Kingston is either a jmicron or old samsung, both of which are to be avoided. SSD prices jumped recently, so just want for prices to come back down. My 2x 30GB Vertex drives were $90AR each, and a month ago the 64GB UltraDrive ME was only $138 before going out of stock within the blink of an eye. Demand is high and supply is low, wait for a deal similar to the prices i've mentioned. BTW, if you checked out my link that danny posted, the last AT article linked there talks about the new 40GB intel based Kingston SSD, which was going for $85AR last week. Stick with Intel or Indilinx.

newegg promo codes: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1470282
my link, again: http://www.alphaq.org/enginurd/hdd/ocz_vertex.html
 
Yeah I read that AT article some time ago, I keep up with the AT SSD epic articles heh.

So wait, that drive160GB will be about $414 after promo code?

BAH, of course it is out of stock, when does that promo code cease to be able to be used do you know?
 
aeonrevolution said:
Am I the only one who looked at his current computer and doesn't think he needs to build anew? I know everyone here is always chomping at the bit to tell others how to spend their money....but he isn't going to notice a single difference in any of his games.
Click to expand...

I agree. Like the OP, I get the urge to upgrade all the time, but I've been successfully quashing the urge for the last 12 - 18 months. Instead of upgrading my main rig, which is plenty good for the games I play, I've updated peripherals here and there. I went from a 22" to a 24" monitor and like that upgrade, so if you have to do something, the monitor upgrade mentioned already would probably show you the largest improvement. I don't know about having to upgrade the video card as what you have is already better then what I have and the 260 is doing me just fine with a 24" LCD... ;)

Heh, nevermind. Finally took the time to read your system specs and see you already have a 24" monitor. Maybe a bigger monitor would be an option? It would probably cost about as much as a new mobo, CPU and RAM, but you would see a larger difference from your gaming with a larger screen then with a system upgrade IMO.
 
It looks like your machine covers all the bases and a bit beyond for an enthusiast so why not go another step further...
Get a 5870 (or clock a 5850) and work towards Triple Eyefinity if you have the space and think you wont mind the screen bezels.
Your CPU is fast enough to run nearly all games at decent fps so you can upgrade that later, get 2 more screens first :)

ps I use a GTX260 so no bias.
 
as few have said already, your rig is fine. don't spend money for an unnoticeable difference.
if you are dead set on making a purchase, buy a new mouse pad, keyboard tray, or some wacky USB gadget.
you'll have the pleasure of spending money, but the joy of a fat wallet.
 
with your current setup would probably upgrade:

1. Get a SSD
2. Get the q9550 and oc it 3.6
3. Get a 5870
 
A new video card always goes down well, theres always a good gameplay increase from a new card compared to spending on other components, you could go DX11 compliant with a 5870, the only problem is getting them right now.

I'd honestly probably save my cash over xmas and see what happens Q1 next year, Fermi cards out sometime then and prices should drop due to competition and TSMC supply back to normal.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top