which way to go?

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Bigbacon

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Coming in January sometime it will be time for me to upgrade my PC. for the first time ever in my computer building career I am at a loss of what to do. My current PC is

C2d 2.13 OC to 3.2
4gb ddr2 800
8800gtx
evga 680i mobo
x-fi

I've come up with few options and looking to spend no more than 1200 dollar

option 1: Core i7
Biostar TpowerX58
280gtx or SLI 260s (not sure which yet...)
i7 920
12gb ddr3 1333
Approx. $1200

option 2:
Keep the motherboard/ram I have.
Get a quad core cpu
either SLI 260s or possibly even 3way 260
if 3way then new PSU
PCIe X-fi (if 3 way option)
approx $630 to $1150

Really, my main dilemma is should I just keep board and CPU I have and beef up the video or overhaul the whole thing. I really do think the C2D (or even the Quad) will still be a very good performer over the next 12 months which is why I am slightly leaning towards the second option yet I only get to upgrade wven 18 months or so, so option 1 seems like a better deal because then I am set with the latest and greatest.

Really, this is the firsttime I have no idea what to do and it scares me.
 
#2 if you care about money leftover
#1 if you are immune to the recession

Your GPU selection is dictated by your games and your monitor which you did not provide. 3way is stupid unless you are rolling on a 30".
 
That's a foolish thought. Core 2 will still be a viable option over the next 12 months, at least, as the cheaper, more mainstream Core i7-based components won't arrive until somewhere around the second or third quarter of 2009. (And we still don't know exactly when....)

Unless you're gaming at a resolution of at least 1920x1200 (which you haven't told us) and you want high visual settings at said resolution, you have no need for SLI. Even at that particular resolution, a GTX 260 (with 216 shader processors) or a GTX 280 (or, dare I say it, a 1GB HD4870 -- or even the HD4870X2) may be enough for your needs.

Truthfully, a new, single video card (and possibly a new power supply that's capable of handling that video card) may be all that you need. Most of today's games are largely GPU-dependent, so a quad core may not be the answer to your "problems."
 
If all you do is game, simply upgrade the vidcard. The 8800GTX is pretty old already.
 
Which is inferior to the HD4870 512MB, GTX260, HD4870 1GB, GTX260 216sp, GTX280, and HD4870X2. 6 cards down.
 
Was just saying it still has life in it. Old doesn't necessarily = bad
 
Assuming that the OP is gaming at a 1920x1200 resolution -- to the OP: Are you? -- the 8800GTX isn't the best available card for the job.
 
I probably would just either not do anything with your current build and just wait it out and enjoy what you have now. I'll just run the games at lower res like 1680 x 1050 on a 24" lcd if you have that screen size. Or, just upgrade the video card to a BFG Geforce GTX 280 for $350. Good enough. Wouldn't bother upgrading the cpu to a Q6600 or Q9550, if you are not going to fully utilize the multi-core cpu.
 
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