Possible Upgrades

[Kirbstomp]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Would like to stay under $500, and only consider "bang for your buck" or "worth it" upgrades.
3) Where do you live?
Boulder, Colorado, yay Microcenter!
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
Looking at upgrading my video card specifically + anything else that's recommended.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
- Intel i7 920 OC'd to 4ghz
- Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P
- Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
- Corsair 850 HX
- Gigabyte 4890 1GB
- Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB (main drive)
- Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB (storage)
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
I use two 1920 x 1080 monitors, one as my main display and the other for browsing.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Now.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
Don't "need" any new features that I can think of.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, still have my Win7 Pro 64 bit.


Basically I am looking upgrading my video card plus anything else that would be worth upgrading at the moment. Meaning I don't want to replace something that will only offer a very minor performance boost. The only things I can think of besides the video card that "might" be worth upgrading would be switching to a SSD as my main drive or adding another 6 GB memory kit. However, in either case I have no idea what kind of performance boost I would see, if any. Would either change even make a difference for gaming? Also, as far as video cards go, the 6950 2GB model is looking quite appealing at the moment, but the one in the [H]otDeals forum is currently out of stock. What other cards should I consider? Any help or advice would be much appreciated!

 

[tiraides]

The 2GB 6950 is the best bang-per-buck option and it will give you the most noticeable performance boost in gaming. While an SSD is a nice option, it will only improve loading times, not frame rates. Plus, with new SSDs starting to arrive, it may be better to wait for a good deal in that area.

 

[Kirbstomp]

Any particular deals going on at the moment for the 6950 or brands I should be looking at? Also, correct me if I am wrong, but the reason the flash works is that they are all based on the same reference model?

 

[tiraides]

The 6950 has been selling for around $270 to $320 lately, but I haven't looked for any recent deals.

IIRC, you're correct, the 6950 and 6970 are based off the same reference model.

 

[Kirbstomp]

Yeah, waiting on the SSD until they're much cheaper or a few years until a new build sounds like a good idea. Should I worry about adding any more RAM at the moment, or is 6 GB fine?

 

[Dangman]

6GB of RAM will be fine.

I recommend this HD 6950:
$270 - MSI R6950-2PM2D2GD5 Radeon HD 6950 2GB PCI-E Video Card

 

[Kirbstomp]

Thanks! That one looks awesome, has a MIR bringing it to 244.99.

 

[bastage]

7.56 more expensive because of shipping, but I would definitly get the xfx since you get the double lifetime warranty with it. May not do the Bios Flash to unlock it since it appears non reference, but from what I understand there is a soft-mod for them as well.

Same rebate & 10 dollar promo card though.

 

[Kirbstomp]

I actually opted for the XFX, since I believe only the cooler is non-reference. Seemed worth the extra $8 in the shipping difference to me. According to this thread, XFX users have gone 94/95, with the one card in question unlocking but producing rendering errors.