What should I upgrade next? (Specs Inside!)

[MechanicalNightmares]

I'm torn between doing the CPU/MOBO and the GPU, I feel like the CPU is fine, but what the hell do I know. Technically I could just throw another 260 in, but was debating moving to a high end ATI card.

C2D E8400 @ 3.6GHz
ASUS P5Q-PRO
4GB DDR-800 5-5-5-15
GTX 260(192) GC: 620 MHz - PC 1296Mhz - MC 1080MHz
Corsair TX 750W

Also, I game at 1680x1050

 

[Shadowssong]

Budget? What games do you play? Does your system feel limited on anything you play?

 

[engiNURD]

Wait until Fermi is released.

Does the GTX260 you have right now have any problems playing any of your games to your satisfaction? If not, then don't upgrade.

 

[lt_shiro]

Best thing to upgrade is your display and ssd at some point.

 

[MechanicalNightmares]

Budget? What games do you play? Does your system feel limited on anything you play?

I play almost any game you can think of on the PC, BFBC2 isn't where I would like it to be, I actually play everything set to lowest just so I can get that "smooth feel" which is hard to describe. The Just Cause 2 demo, I had to play mostly at medium.

 

[Yossarian22]

I'm torn between doing the CPU/MOBO and the GPU, I feel like the CPU is fine, but what the hell do I know. Technically I could just throw another 260 in, but was debating moving to a high end ATI card.

C2D E8400 @ 3.6GHz
ASUS P5Q-PRO
4GB DDR-800 5-5-5-15
GTX 260(192) GC: 620 MHz - PC 1296Mhz - MC 1080MHz
Corsair TX 750W

Also, I game at 1680x1050

Our builds are extremely similar.

What I'm doing is playing the waiting game. College has my full attention by the balls right now and until something can drop a 5850 down in price, I'm not budging anywhere.

If I really had the money to spend I'd probably go with two more 640GB drives and put them in a RAID array or get an SSD. Or get another 16x50 TN display (I have two, one is a freebie with bad caps on the inverter board) then go with the Eyefinity once 5850s come down, if they ever do.

It boils down to what games you want to play. I know BC2 would probably hammer the shit out of my system, assuming I had the $50 to get it.

 

[Shadowssong]

I play almost any game you can think of on the PC, BFBC2 isn't where I would like it to be, I actually play everything set to lowest just so I can get that "smooth feel" which is hard to describe. The Just Cause 2 demo, I had to play mostly at medium.

Wait to see if fermi forces ATI to reduce their prices (doubtful though) and then make your decision then. I don't think you are quite up for a full system upgrade yet, but you could upgrade your GPU. You could either SLI like you said or look into maybe a 5850 or even a 5870. Either way a GPU upgrade would carry over to a new system when you do decide to do a complete overhaul.

At 1680x1050 you would be fine with a 5850. It's really up to you how much you want to spend for the performance you want. You really dont need that much umph to play at 16x10 but I think you best bet would be to sell your 260 (it would go quick if you price it right) and put that money toward a 5850. Then in about a year or so when games are more multithreaded (we all hope) then you may look into upgrading into whatever multicore systems are popular then. Just my 2 cents.