Upgrading my current rig

[waynec121]

Hey guys,
Now a thread for myself. I have finally decided on what I want to do. I am going to be doing some upgrading to my current rig. Here are my current rig specs:
Antec p182
x3 720be 2.8ghz
4870 1 gb
gigabyte ga-ma790gp-ud4h
4 gb g.skill pi black 800
corsair 750tx
wd 640gb hdd
lg 22x drive

I think that is everything besides the sound card but that isnt that big of a deal to me.

So for the upgrades I am thinking of this:
case: Antec 1200
2nd gpu for CF: 4870 1GB
cpu: phenom II x4 955
cpu cooler: ZEROtherm BTF90 92mm Silent UFO

thats $635 w/ shipping
also i am selling my current case and hsf and cpu for $225 total so that takes little bit of a load off the price

i do have a few questions though:
Should I do a motherboard upgrade so i can utilize ddr3 ram?
And if so what do you recommend? Mainly though is it worth upgrading the mobo and ram?

Last question: Is it worth upgrading for the price or should I sell my current rig and build starting new?

 

[waynec121]

Been doing some thinking....
I do not need the x4 955 or the Antec 1200.

Instead I am thinking of getting these 2 things:
SilverStone FT-01 BW
Sapphire 4870 1gb

That comes to $400 with shipping. $365 after MIR.
After selling my p182 that is $75 more off.
If I can sell my monitor thats another $150 off.

So if I can sell everything then thats going to cost me $150 out of my pocket.

 

[gkay09]

^ Not a bad idea...
If you are mainly gaming, then the x3 720 would be good...and 2 4870 1GB is more than suffice for even running games @ 2560X1600 resolution...But most probably you will be getting a 1080p or 1920X1200 resolution, that xfire would play most of the games maxed out...

And if you are OK with overclocking, then try that as the X3 can easily reach 3.4 to 3.6GHz on a very good after market CPU cooler... - Preferably the Xig S1283...
And the o/c would improve the overall performance...

 

[waynec121]

yup i agree with everything you just said. i actually have it at 3.6ghz now with the dark knight but it does block my first two ram slots. not too big of a deal tho!
oh and my monitor is a 22" at 1680x1050 so that means even better maxing out of games!!

 

[gkay09]

^ Hmm...@ that resolution, that 4870 1GB would max out most of the games doesnt it?

 

[waynec121]

yea most games. i am still having trouble running crysis warhead, so i figure why not spend a little bit now. that way i will not have to upgrade for a long time especially if i can max crysis. and i will be ready for future games.

 

[gkay09]

^ Hmm...
Dont change you monitor anytime soon or again you would feel the need for upgrading you PC

 

[TheMan1214]

Been doing some thinking....
I do not need the x4 955 or the Antec 1200.

Instead I am thinking of getting these 2 things:
SilverStone FT-01 BW
Sapphire 4870 1gb

That comes to $400 with shipping. $365 after MIR.
After selling my p182 that is $75 more off.
If I can sell my monitor thats another $150 off.

So if I can sell everything then thats going to cost me $150 out of my pocket.

lol i was gonna point out the case earlier, it's more or less the same thing.

Also not sure if gkay addressed it but at this point ddr3 is still pretty expensive and i would consider
waiting until the prices drop a bit as it is not a required component, and i don' think the performance increase
would justify the upgrade in mobo

 

[gkay09]

^+1
I had totally overlooked his question on the RAM...
As you already have DDR2 and the AM3 supporting mobo, stick with it...and you can think of upgrading to DDR3 mobo and RAM when you change your CPU...There is no significant real world performance difference between DDR2 and DDR3 RAMs as far as AMD CPUs are concerned.

 

[waynec121]

thanks guys and yea no worries on changing the monitor anytime soon. 22" is the perfect size for me i'd have to say. also it fits on my desk perfectly, not to mention its one of the best gaming monitors: lg l227wtg

but yea thanks again for all the help. oh and the main reason im going silverstone ft01 over the antec 1200 is because i would do a window mod on the 1200 but after cost and materials it would cost the same if not more then the silverstone. also the silverstone has a $30 MIR making it only $200.

 

[waynec121]

I hate to keep doing this to myself but I really think I have decided on what to do for real this time.
I am extremely indecisive with what I buy and what I actually like. It is this impulse buying that always gets me. The one thing I have noticed though is that I barely even game anymore and if I do game its for an hour max. Also it usually is on my xbox 360 since I have xbox live and play with my friends. I am not sure if it is just because I am growing out of it or if I am just too busy now to actually put time into gaming but either way I rarely play on my pc and sometimes play on my xbox.

I am either at work, helping around the house, out with friends playing golf, bball, working out, or doing something mildly productive. So basically I have decided that my pc is now becoming a GIGANTIC paperweight on my desk haha. I was talking about upgrading it to make it even more powerful thinking it would get me back into gaming. Honestly though I am perfectly happy without even gaming. Oh and also when fall comes around I will be extremely busy with college anyway. So to sum things up I am thinking of trying to sell it again as a complete pc on ebay.

Also I am going to post my macbook. I got it quoted and I can still sell it for $850. The pc would sell for a buy it now price of $1000 or $1200 with my monitor. I also have a few other items to post as well and assuming everything sells it should add up to about $2300.

With that money I am thinking of getting a nice laptop for $800 and just put the rest in the bank. Here is the laptop I am looking at and it is new to the market: HP Dv2z
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&series_name=dv2z_series
Of course I would upgrade a few of the components and with my choices it would cost $800. It is an ultra-portable so it is the best of both worlds (netbook vs full size laptop).

Thats it. That laptop and the rest of the money in the bank.
Pretty big wall of text I know. And no worries I love coming on here and helping people on here in the forums so I will definitely continue to post. Anyways if anyone has any comments or input feel free to post. Cya guys later.

 

[waynec121]

quick update: i will be posting both the macbook and gaming rig on ebay on sunday so keep a heads up if you want it! : )

 

[waynec121]

do you guys think i am doing the right thing based on what i said in the gigantic post above? ^