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Upgrade Advice?

Castiel

Castiel

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Hey guys, I think it is time for a good upgrade for my PC.

I have about $300, and I want to upgrade my PC so I have better performance in gaming.
What do y'all think I should upgrade?
System Specs are in the side!
 
K

kysg

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Vid card, mobo, proc, RAM in that order.

but based on priority. Depends on what you need.
 
Castiel

Castiel

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kysg said:
Vid card, mobo, proc, RAM in that order.

but based on priority. Depends on what you need.
Click to expand...

Well See I found a GTX 260 for about 200$, but if I add to my system now, it will bottleneck like no other, and since I am not a OCer I wont OC my current CPU.
 
erocker

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K

kyle2020

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even with an overclock your cpu will bottlekneck that 260 like crazy.

Go for an E7200 or similar, then get a 260 later on, or even a 4870.
 
K

kysg

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Nah, I think a 4830 would be a good move for the vid card. thats 100 bucks right there. mobo wise be a p35 or p45. unless you stay amd then it would be 790gx wait on phenom II
 
M

mervin

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I personally think the cpu choice erocker recommended was fine. Though more is always better if you've got the money. Anything would be a vast upgrade from what he has. And actually, the 9600GT isn't a terrible video card. You're in a lot better shape than some of the guys who come to the Warhammer online forum who complain becaue they can't play the game with their 8600GTS coupled with their old pentium D processor :p

I've got no problem with DFI motherboards so for that price I'd say you can't go wrong. The only thing I have agaist DFI is that they overcomplicate their BIOS. It's great for the techie who wants to adjust everything, but it's hard to understand for the average user. Anyway... that's not a strike against DFI, it's just that sometimes simplicity is good so you don't get confused. Though if you don't overclock it wont' be a problem.

You have an excellent power supply so you can keep that component.

I'm not totally convinced you need to upgade your video card just yet. I think you're better off getting your other componets upgraged first. I'd even say you might want to consider a X38 motherboard instead of the one erocker recommended because at least then you'll be able to buy a second 9600GT and run two cards in SLI. I just don't think it's worth it to jump from the 9600GT to a 9800GT. Yeah, the 9800GT is a better card, but I'm not sure the performance increase justifies the cost of the newer card.
 
ShadowFold

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stefanels

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+1 for erocker setup
 
silkstone

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I'd keep the ram, Woun't make all that much RW performance difference - Although 1gb sticks of 1066 are only about $16 if you feel the need.
I'd go for a HD4830 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161260
Asus P5Q mobo + E7300 Combo deal http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/AddToCart.aspx?Submit=ADD&ItemList=Combo.147977
Would cost a little over $315 after rebate

only $15 over your budget of 300 and you get a p45 mobo - excellent if you want to overclock and a better cpu than the e5200

[edit] the p5k motherboard is also fairly cheap but the chipset isn't as good. You could go for this if you plan on using crossfire in the future
 
Last edited:
1Kurgan1

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Some good ideas thrown out here, but the one issue with rebates are. They are mail-in, so usually when someone says $300 only. They only got $300 now and can wait sometimes up to a few months to get that little bit of cash back.
 
silkstone

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ahh, it's only a $20 rebate. Rebates are fine anyway unless you're living paycheck to paycheck. i have to work 6 weeks in hand so waiting an extra month is no biggy.
Anyway, you always set yourself a limit of the amount you're gonna spend and it usually ends up at least 20% over, with me anyway.
 
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