Best Value Upgrade for my System

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Darktangent

Darktangent

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Jun 5, 2008
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First off, thanks for the help! You guys have been invaluable to me in helping me learn more about assembling PCs and about PC components in general.

So I'm looking to upgrade my PC again since it's performance is still a bit underwhelming on high end games, namely Witcher 2. I'm looking to spend another $300-400 and am considering buying a new mobo and a second GTX 660. Here is my current setup:

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013
Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130679
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113286
CPU Heatsink/Fans: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099 and http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181040
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231455
GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125443
HDD: I believe it's a Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM 64MB cache

I've been told that the Mobo I'm using is terrible for overclocking as the parts that provide power to components are not heatsinked, so I'm probably going to get a better one. Besides, I don't think the slots for the GPU are both 16x...I'm not sure how big of an issue that is. I know someone told me that PCI express 3.0 isn't necessary since most GPU's won't even use up all the bandwidth of 2.0. I know Nvidia claims using SLI increases performance by a factor of 1.8x, but I've heard from other people that it's not as big of a performance increase as they claim.

If anyone has any suggestions for Motherboards, or a different suggestion to improve gaming performance, I'd appreciate it!
 
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Turb0Yoda

Turb0Yoda

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Jul 12, 2013
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Get a new motherboard and CPU. OR..
New GPU and power supply.

So, option one:
FX-8320 and the ASrock Fatal1ty K1ller mobo.
Total cost: 300 ish.

Not much game improvement, but more of a future thing.
Option two:
Now, you COULD add a 660 for SLI, but will need to factor in a PSU, and the fact that not many games are optimised for SLI.

r9280(x)/770 and a 650-750 watt psu from... SEASONIC, XFX, SILVERSTONE.
Major game improvement.

I will be posting prices shortly, sorry for the delay.
 
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woworwow

woworwow

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Jan 18, 2014
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Go with this if you choose his option 2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1YH1PC5455
 
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Turb0Yoda

Turb0Yoda

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Jul 12, 2013
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So I put this all in ONE PCPARTPICKER LIST. But if you take out one of the options, the prices will fall in your budget. You could go with the ASUS card, I put a cheaper one(10 bucks) from MSI. The difference being the brand. The price difference will not impact the game or stability. Both optaions are great, just 2 different brands.


PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yVsTpg
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yVsTpg/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($159.99 @ TigerDirect)
Motherboard: ASRock 990FX Killer ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($140.38 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($314.78 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.18 @ Newegg)
Total: $724.33
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-07-29 22:32 EDT-0400

For game boosting, option number two is the best. That said, Option one will boost LONGEVITY, but not so much in games.
 
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