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what to do with $350

Z

zippty2001

n00b
Joined
Mar 23, 2006
Messages
33
ok its upgrade time here are my specs

AMD Phenom ll X2 555 with all 4 cores unlocked
2x ATI 5850 in CF
16 gig ddr3
750 gb seagate hybrid drive
asrock 970 exstrem3 R2.0
750 psu cant remember brand but an OK one.
cooler Master HAF XB EVO

i have 350 to spend on upgrades i am open to all ideas
 
Find out the PSU model. Otherwise, no real point in doing the upgrade. No offense but there's unfortunately a lot of people out there who consider their objectively bad PSUs as "good"
 
PSU aside, you should look at upgrading to 27" 2560x1440 if you haven't already. It's a noticeable jump from 720/1080p in both productivity and gaming, even for the casual user.

And if you're already at 2560x1440 or better, have you considered upgrading your sound system? Display & Sound upgrades will be much more noticeable and satisfying than internal upgrades, at least in my experience.
 
Dangman said:
Find out the PSU model. Otherwise, no real point in doing the upgrade. No offense but there's unfortunately a lot of people out there who consider their objectively bad PSUs as "good"
Click to expand...
PSU is Rosewill CAPSTONE-750

Xinmosni said:
PSU aside, you should look at upgrading to 27" 2560x1440 if you haven't already. It's a noticeable jump from 720/1080p in both productivity and gaming, even for the casual user.

And if you're already at 2560x1440 or better, have you considered upgrading your sound system? Display & Sound upgrades will be much more noticeable and satisfying than internal upgrades, at least in my experience.
Click to expand...
Not at 2560x1440 yet as for sound i have a x-fi and my speakers are old polkaudio monitor 12.

thanks
 
If that RAM is rated at 1.5v or less then I would go with a quad core Intel setup. I am assuming since you have CF cards you're a gamer?
 
An Intel i5 with a motherboard that has the features/ports you need and call it a day. Next upgrade after that should be a single GPU setup. Then after that go with a real SSD to replace that hybrid.

This'll give you the best performance in gaming. In that order. Any newer GPU will be severely bottle-necked by your CPU. While it might give you an increased FPS over a CPU switch. It's arguable that in real world situations the CPU upgrade will give you better performance all around. IMHO a stable FPS is better than one with high-highs and low-lows.
 
It looks like your board supports the AMD 8350 chips, so if you have a microcenter around you could snag one for $109 and get 50 off a new mobo and sell that on ebay for a little better back. That should get you in the i5 ish performance range. With the other 250 you can look for a deal on a 290x like http://slickdeals.net/f/7448366-r9-...0x-4gbd5-ppdhe-4gb-254-99-ar-visa-checkout-fs

The 5850 cf is close to a 7970 or a 280x in terms of performance, so for games that do not cf well you should see a huge gain in fps, and ones that do cf maybe 20% from the gpu alone. If you want the 970 GTX is real close to the 290x but the lowest I have seen these is in the $320 range.

Just my 2c as you will be dropping the power requirements a bit and should get a healthy gain in performance without breaking the bank.
 
R9 290 for $200. FX-8350 for $140 (or lower depending on where you might find it). I don't know if your board is only AM3 or not. You'll need AM3+.
 
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