What to upgrade next?

shadows5631

shadows5631

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Joined
Oct 8, 2009
Messages
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Here are my current specs:

Processor: AMD Phenom II x3 @3.4ghz
CPU Cooler: CM Hyper 212+
Memory: 4GB's OCZ Fatality DDR3 1333mhz
Hard Drive: 500GB WD
Video Card: EVGA GTX 275 SC
Monitor: 22in Viewsonic LED 1920x1080
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
Motherboard: MSI 760GM AM3
PSU: Ultra LSP 750watt


The max of the budget would be about $400.

I was thinking of going with a Core i5 and 1156 setup, but that might put me out of budget with a good quality EVGA motherboard. It's been sooo long since I've owned an Intel chip, so I want to see what all the hype is about.

The second option is upgrading(?) to a GTX 460, and maybe getting a nice Corsair PSU. If I do that, I can sell my 275 on Ebay while it's still worth something, instead of waiting another year or so.
 
Get a small 40-80 gig SSD to place your os and games on, use the 500gig for media, the SSDs are incredibly priced but will greatly improve load times and boot
 
That's a tough choice. How is the 275 holding up in games?
 
I've been thinking about an SSD for a while, but I'd like to wait and see if the prices will drop anytime soon.

The 275 is great. I wouldn't be surprised if the CPU was bottlenecking it a bit though. I get occasional lag on Oblivion (after I installed the 2GB re-textured mod). Crysis of course gets a little laggy in some spots on Very High. But, I would really like to see what DX11 is all about as well.
 
shadows5631 said:
I've been thinking about an SSD for a while, but I'd like to wait and see if the prices will drop anytime soon.

The 275 is great. I wouldn't be surprised if the CPU was bottlenecking it a bit though. I get occasional lag on Oblivion (after I installed the 2GB re-textured mod). Crysis of course gets a little laggy in some spots on Very High. But, I would really like to see what DX11 is all about as well.
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And you have a Phenom II chip, so going to an i5 wouldn't really net you too much more performance. Very very tough decision indeed.
 
If you are having trouble deciding what to update, you may want to add streamers and mabe a speed stripe down the center. Increases all clock speeds by 25%.



Edit: On a serious note, what kind of speakers you got? maybe upgrading to one of those nice glass speaker setups or get a boomin 5.1 setup.
 
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I would go with a 460 and an SSD. Your choice of SSD using the Sandforce controller, or an Intel.
 
Ph?bus said:
And you have a Phenom II chip, so going to an i5 wouldn't really net you too much more performance. Very very tough decision indeed.
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I don't know if you trust this benchmark or not, but here it is compared to mine stock.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/83?vs=109

I have these speakers,

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4815418&CatId=4959

90% of the time I have my headset on anyways, which is why I run my CPU fans maxed out all the time.

I'm just worried about buying an SSD, then several months later the prices dropping significantly. And the GTX 460 isn't very much of an upgrade besides DX11. The GTX 470 is also an option though. Again, I'm a little worried about bottlenecking.
 
shadows5631 said:
I don't know if you trust this benchmark or not, but here it is compared to mine stock.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/83?vs=109

I have these speakers,

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4815418&CatId=4959

90% of the time I have my headset on anyways, which is why I run my CPU fans maxed out all the time.

I'm just worried about buying an SSD, then several months later the prices dropping significantly. And the GTX 460 isn't very much of an upgrade besides DX11. The GTX 470 is also an option though. Again, I'm a little worried about bottlenecking.
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I meant in games.
If you could clock your Phenom II a little higher, I don't think the 470 would be bottlenecked too bad.
 
lol well the question is....what are you lacking? does your computer lag? sound crappy? are the fans to loud? does it run hot? I hardly see a reason to upgrade the psu. If your looking to blow money, build a small server to host a few games with.
 
Ph?bus said:
I meant in games.
If you could clock your Phenom II a little higher, I don't think the 470 would be bottlenecked too bad.
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True, but it seems like the poor thing just hits a brick wall at 3.4ghz with the max voltage AMD recommends to use. The temperatures at full load only go up to about 38c (the highest I've seen it).


The reason the PSU would need to be upgraded is because it only has 45amps on a single rail, which counts out any SLI options. The GTX 470 has the same 38amps needed as my 275, so if I got it I probably wouldn't get a PSU anytime soon because I know it would work.

But, if I got the GTX 460 and new a PSU, it would be possible to SLI it with another in a couple of months.
 
In my opinion, your not quiet ready for an upgrade. Your proc might be a little bit of a bottleneck, but if your looking for bang/buck, I might wait for the next announcements. An SSD is an option, that might make unit seem faster...

BTW, I like your build.
 
Getting 2x60GB SSDs would be your biggest performance boost. Putting those bad boys in RAID-0 as your OS drive would be amazing!
 
The GTX460 is a very good upgrade from your 275. I came from a 260 and am simply amazed. You get an extra 100 cuda cores, plus core clocks around 900 ish.

Prices have come down some on SSD's. Newegg had some deadly deals lately and right now for $250 you can get a Gskill Phoenix pro 120gig . I paid $250 for my 80 gig Intel drive which is down to $199 now. YES they will drop more but how long you wanna wait. The 460 overclocked is a better option than the 470. I wanted a 470 so bad since they came out, then the 460 was released.

Another plus side is when i go SLI on the 460's, i wont need to upgrade my PSU not to mention temps are awesome. Like way awesome. If you must have a 470, go with the Gigabyte SOC.

A friend of mine Vazkey who owns your same processor is currently rock solid stable at 3.7 ghz... You should be able to get there.
 
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most people can't tell the difference between a dedicated sound card and the integrated one. Im sure there are plenty of people that can but unless your an audiophile, you most likely wont.

As for SSD.....im waiting till they get dirt cheap, a while back they talked about a new way of manufacturing SSD's that would make them as cheap as regular hard drives are now, don't know how much farther off that is but it shouldn't be too long. Nothing unbearable.

As for GPU.....the ATI 6 series are already getting leaked, if the pattern is right, they should come out by the end of this year or sooner and something like the 6750 and 6770 are just as fast as the current 5870 or really close making the new 6850 and 6870 beastly??

But if was to upgrade right now in a GPU....i would definitely go for the GTX 460 and SLI them down the road. But yea, if you can hold out with your GTX 275 it wouldn't be bad to wait a bit longer.

As for CPU....it is pretty costly to upgrade the cpu/mobo/ram but Intel IMO is still the leader.....i do like the Phenom 6 core as a budget option though, i7 4 cores still outperforms it.
 
PewPewBangBang said:
most people can't tell the difference between a dedicated sound card and the integrated one. Im sure there are plenty of people that can but unless your an audiophile, you most likely wont.

As for SSD.....im waiting till they get dirt cheap, a while back they talked about a new way of manufacturing SSD's that would make them as cheap as regular hard drives are now, don't know how much farther off that is but it shouldn't be too long. Nothing unbearable.

As for GPU.....the ATI 6 series are already getting leaked, if the pattern is right, they should come out by the end of this year or sooner and something like the 6750 and 6770 are just as fast as the current 5870 or really close making the new 6850 and 6870 beastly??

But if was to upgrade right now in a GPU....i would definitely go for the GTX 460 and SLI them down the road. But yea, if you can hold out with your GTX 275 it wouldn't be bad to wait a bit longer.

As for CPU....it is pretty costly to upgrade the cpu/mobo/ram but Intel IMO is still the leader.....i do like the Phenom 6 core as a budget option though, i7 4 cores still outperforms it.
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Yup, having the next gen GPUs come out at the end of the year will saturate the market dropping prices for the 5xxx series. Not to mention black friday is around the corner. That is when I will partake in the SSD market.
 
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