How should I upgrade my rig?

[PCgamer81]

Good news for me! I am getting $2,000 for Christmas! I just found out 10 minutes ago, and I'm so excited that I can't contain it!

I am going to upgrade my rig - no question about it!

How should I upgrade it, and in what ways?

Here is the complete list of what I have:

ASUS P8Z68-V Pro

i5 2500k @ 3.30GHz (overclocked to 4.30GHz)

CM Hyper 212 Air Cooler

Sapphire Radeon HD 6970 2GB

8GB DDR3 @ 1333MHz

Antec TP 650w PSU

Hitachi 1TB 7200RPM HDD

Cheap ReWritable DVD recorder/reader

Cooler Master Elite 430 case with 4 fans (3 of them added)

Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit OS

Razer Black Widow Mechanical Gaming Keyboard

Razer Death Adder Infrared Optical Gaming Mouse

ASUS 24'' 1920x1080 Monitor

That is pretty much it, for the most part.

Let me go ahead and add that I am NOT interested in a SSD - a waste of money for a few extra seconds of game loads (opinion).

Any input would be so greatly appreciated!

 

[sosofm]

You don't have what to upgrade now is a good PC. Wait for 7000 series video card from ATI and Ivy Bridge.

 

[PCgamer81]

You don't have what to upgrade now is a good PC. Wait for 7000 series video card from ATI and Ivy Bridge.

No thanks! Ima gonna bump my PSU up to about 900w and crossfire my 6970! Maybe...

Need some suggestions!

Also thinking about a 3D monitor.

 

[jay2tall]

I also say bag it until the new cards start to come out next year. Anything you upgrade will be last gen sometime next year. January 9th is when the 7000 series cards come out for AMD and Nvidia will be sometime later, maybe mid-year. Just wait.

Soo no SSD upgrade? That is the only thing I COULD suggest that wouldn't be a waste of money. It's much more than a few seconds. Especially for booting, launching apps, etc. Those few seconds add up fast.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147135

 

[jay2tall]

No thanks! Ima gonna bump my PSU up to about 900w and crossfire my 6970! Maybe...

That isn't a bad idea. However, if the new 7970 cards is vastly faster than a 6970 you might not like that choice. I'd at least wait until those cards come out to make a choice. Worst case is the 6970 is cheaper.


$2000.... get a CD or save it for life's unexpected turns.

 

[PCgamer81]

That isn't a bad idea. However, if the new 7970 cards is vastly faster than a 6970 you might not like that choice. I'd at least wait until those cards come out to make a choice. Worst case is the 6970 is cheaper.


$2000.... get a CD or save it for life's unexpected turns.

I know that is good advice. But the money is going to burn such a hole in my pocket, and I am already invested in the 6xxx series with 1 6970.

I will xfire, and maybe midway through 2012 I will sell my cards and grab a couple 7850s or something...

 

[PCgamer81]

Best answer selected by PcGamer81.

 

[PCgamer81]

Did it! Crossfired right now! Got me the Seasonic Platinum 1000w puppy installed. Added me another 6970 - now I am in crossfire. I also threw in another 8GB of DDR3 for the hell of it. Nows I gots a beast.

Will do a Crysis bench and put it on youtube later (my channel is linked under my name).

 

[jay2tall]

I am already invested in the 6xxx series with 1 6970.

That is a terrible investment. The depreciation on electronics is horrible. You should invest in gold or silver.

Just playing. I always chuckle when people say they invest in hardware. Enjoy your cards, I am sure they will FLY... That is a SUPER nice power supply.

 

[PCgamer81]

That is a terrible investment. The depreciation on electronics is horrible. You should invest in gold or silver.

Just playing. I always chuckle when people say they invest in hardware. Enjoy your cards, I am sure they will FLY... That is a SUPER nice power supply.

LOL - you had me there for a minute.

Thanks a lot, man. I want you to know how close I came to taking your advice. The deciding factor was the fact that DX12 cards are still a good ways away, and the fact that my money - a bonus, by the way (and the only one I've ever gotten) - was burning a series hole in my pocket. You see, I have never really had a great system - I have had a good system - but never a great system. I felt it was time.

Yeah, I didn't want to spend that much on a PSU. But I was assured that this PSU is one of the top units in gaming today - so I went for it.

I still had a over half my bonus left for family after everything.

I ran Crysis this morning and was getting around 80fps - at one point it even went above 100 (and this is totally maxed with full AA). That may not seem like a big deal, but that was a very surreal moment for me - the last 4 years, everytime I upgraded or got a new or mostly new system, the first thing I would do would be to eagerly run to Crysis to see what was what. I was let down time and time again - and today my new rig totally and completely owned it.

Check this out...here is a snippet I cut and saved this morning.

http://www.photoshop.com/users/samuelrosenbalm81/albums/aae61e001e0e46a39d3704200d52f4ce/view#08c85ddfe79e4b42a2579b1757b23ec8

One thing that kind of confuses me, is that it use to show up as 1.7GB of Vram - now it shows as 3.7GB of Vram. I would have thought it would be 3.4GB (1.7+1.7). Also, one of my crossfire strips went missing (from my first card several months ago). So all I had was this new bridge strip - and it seems to work just using one. My old GPU is referred to as the "master" in device manager. I thought that was kind of funny. All of this is totally new to me.

I brought the clock speed down on the one (which I had at 940/1440 - stock is 880/1375) to 900/1400 and that is where I have both at. I am still having a little trouble getting MSI afterburner to allow me to make changes to each card by itself - it lumps them both together, for some reason.

 

[jay2tall]

You see, I have never really had a great system - I have had a good system - but never a great system. I felt it was time.

Yeah, I didn't want to spend that much on a PSU. But I was assured that this PSU is one of the top units in gaming today - so I went for it.

I completely understand. I have slowly built myself up to getting decent systems. I would never have had a GTX580 if I didn't sort of fall into it. I bucked up and bought an ATI 5870 for $380. It was fine for 2-3 months while playing some, not so intensive games. However, then I started playing Bad Company 2 and some other things that really hit it hard. I was getting artifacts. I called ASUS and sent it in. They returned it saying nothing is wrong. Tested, same issue. Tested in another PC, same issue. Ran OCCT GPU test, snow after it hit 80C. Sent it back. They returned it again. I called and scolded them and said I don't want it back and replace it. They sent me a refurb. That was good... except the cooler fan was loud and would barely spin. Sent THAT back.. so I was waiting and waiting and called every 3-4 days. 2 weeks passed and they said they did not have a 5870 in stock and were sending me the next model up. So I get a 5970 in the mail. MERRY CHRISTMAS to me. Well ran with that for a month and had nothing but driver issues and head aches. I found out that the GTX580 was coming out so I posed the 5970 on eBay. Got $495 for it plus shipping. so with that and about$80 more after eBay/Paypal fees I bought a GTX580.... YAY!

Your system should do very well for quite a bit of time. A GOOD power supply is a good thing to have as it will see you through several builds.