Updating Computer, want some additional input.

[insane4cefed]

Hello this is my first post on this forum, just looking for some opinions on my upgrade plans and see what advice someone who has gone down this road a few more times then me can give me.

I want to build a computer that can play some of the games that will be comming out soon at pretty much max settings. Diablo 3, Starcraft 2... been wanting to get into a MMO.. the star treck one looks sweet ect ect. My monitor is lol.. a 52 inch Sony LCD.. so again max resolution too. Altho sometimes I carry my computer to my desk and use the 22inch lcd i got.. depends on mood.

Anyway here is my current computer setup.

Motherboard - Asus M4n72-e http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131367&Tpk=Asus%20M4n72-e

CPU - AMD Phenom 9500 Quad-Core 2.20GHz

Power supply - OCz 700W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341023&cm_re=OCz_700W-_-17-341-023-_-Product

GPU - Asus Geforce 9400GT
Ram - 3.00GB DDR2

--------------------
The parts I have in mind so far..

ram - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227422
mobo-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131359
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115214

im mainly confused if I am going to need a bigger powersupply to support my next graphics card & what card or cards that may be.

I have been looking at the ATI 5970 it seems like the ultimate card but I have the urge to buy something soon and none are avaible atm on newegg. Also its a bit pricey and I'm worried ill have issues getting such a new card. I was hoping someone would suggest what graphic card setup I could go with, below $600 and what powersupply ill need to upgrade to aswell.

 

[jyjjy]

That processor is LGA 1156 and the motherboard is LGA 1366 so you'll want to change one of them.
12 gigs of ram? Unless you are doing some kind of crazy video editing that is massive overkill and 6 gigs would be more than fine.
Your TV is 1080p I assume so really you don't need an HD5970. A single HD5850 for $310 or an HD5870(if you can find one) should be great for that resolution. You can always get another for crossfire later if necessary and have the equivalent of an HD5970. Your PSU should be fine BTW.
If you feel the need to spend a lot of money get something that will actually make your system faster like a solid state hard drive or something nice like a bluray burner rather than more ram that you could ever use or a $600 video card that is more powerful than you need.

 

[insane4cefed]

Dam I didnt catch that motherboard code thanks for pointing that out. I been using AMD am2+/Am3 stuff for several years so going Intel is new for me. So its a good thing I decided to post this before I went and bought stuff.

I will look for one of the 5800 model cards and see what I can come up with.

Also since I need to pick out a new mobo I wanted to ask you if i should stay AMD cpu since you are suggesting ATI line of gpu. And if that is the case, my current motherboard should be good keep aswell? I should just slap on a BE 965?

 

[jyjjy]

It doesn't matter what card you use with what CPU but I would probably just grab a nice Phenom II x4 like you are thinking. An i7 will be better but very far from $800-1000 better, especially if the most intensive thing you do is gaming. The new AMD chips tend to keep up pretty well with the i5/i7s in that area.
A 965 + HD5850 should do very well. The only thing to consider is that your current board and ram are DDR2 and a Phenom II can use DDR3. However looking it up the difference between using DDR2 and DDR3 with these chips seems negligible;
http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1782/amd_phenom_ii_ddr2_vs_ddr3_performance/index.html

 

[insane4cefed]

Well the I7-920 I linked is only 100 bux more then the 965 BE from AMD. I was thinking the lower end I7 because I read in several reveiws that the lower model one could easly be overclocked to match the 800-1000 dollar i7 models. But obviously if performance gains are not going to be dramatic between the lower end i7 and the 965 BE then I can just save myself some cash just gettin the 965 out of the box for 195 atm on newegg.

So it appears the only real upgrade im needing is the cpu & gpu.. possible mobo if there is much more performance to be had with i7 tho.. lol

Thanks for taking the time to reply to my thread

 

[jyjjy]

Yeah, by $800-1000 I was referring to the cost of building a whole new i7 system. If you do go i7 definitely get the low end one and OC. Otherwise you are just throwing away money really, and lots of it.