Approx. $1000 to upgrade.

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bac240sx

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APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: ASAP

BUDGET RANGE: $1000 (ish)

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Mass Effect 2 & Dragon Age: Origins

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, Speakers

SYSTEM AS IT STAND NOW:
Case: Apex SK-378 ATX Black Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Rosewill BRONZE series RBR750-M 750W
Motherboard: EVGA nForce 750i SLI FTW
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550
GPU: (1) EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3
HDD: Western Digital WD5000AACS Caviar Green Hard Drive - 500GB
Monitor: Gateway FHD2400

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com

PARTS PREFERENCES: N/A

OVERCLOCKING: No

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200 native (but I usually play at 1920x1080 or lower).

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Basically, I want to be able to play Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins at they're highest settings. I want these games to look as good as they can with no lag or skipping. With my current build, I can only play Mass Effect 1 and Dragon Age: Origins on medium / low settings to achieve the fluidity I want.

I'm willing to upgrade any or all of the components necessary (within the budget of course). Any advice would greatly appreciated as I find the research a bit daunting, for instance: I have read about the potential performance benefits of SSDs. The smaller size does not concern me as this is my gaming-only machine and a 120GB SSD would be plenty of space. However, for every post / article claiming performance increases, there are equally as many that indicate no benefit during game play.

Thanks in advance!
 
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Exactly. Maybe look to OC the Quad Core (new HSF needed?) but at this point, judging by nothing other than a quick look at Tom's CPU Hierarchy chart, the Phenom II would be a lateral move and a whole new mobo/CPU would be just a marginal step up. You would be much better served just getting the most out of your current CPU, upgrading to a 58xx or 59xx from ATI (unless you really want to wait for Fermi), get some faster (or just more) RAM and there ya go.

You really don't have much...
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verst

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roversjoost

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Look here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-cpu,2545-7.html. According to this chart the C2Q Q9550 and the phenom II X4 955 are pretty similar so you are just wasting money with that upgrade verst suggested.

The only upgrade that is worthwhile for your needs is a new GPU. Get a 5850, 5870 or 5970 depending on how much you want to spend on it. You didnt list your RAM so if you are using 2 gb and are using any 64-bit OS, there might be a small benefit there upgrading to 4gb (no more, useless for gaming).

My advice would be to get a 5870 and put the rest of the money on the bank. Your CPU will last at least a year if not more before it will bottleneck any game out there.

As on SSD's: They will only help with loadtimes. Windows will load faster and games will load faster. No extra fps gained.

Please DO NOT listen to verst and buy a phenom II X4, not even a I7 920 is a worthwhile upgrade for your needs.

 
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saint19

saint19

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Mar 20, 2009
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Good comparation, but the 775 is a old socket and don't support DDR3. Even with the same performance as you say, the Q9550 is around $259.99 or $349.99 (the q9550s version) on newegg.com, the X4 955 is only at $159.99. Price/performance is better the X4 955.

You can see here the Q9550 vs X4 955.
 
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osu43130

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I agree with roover on this one. If you are just looking to upgrade you can get by with what you have and save the money. For 1K you will not see that much of a boost by jumping to a whole new computer.

Upgrade ram and at the minimum get a 5870.


If you wanted you gpu to last a very long time and not have to worry about xfire get the 5970 but prices are on the rise on EVERYTHING atm...
 
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roversjoost

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People, it is an upgrade. If he were buying a new PC, i would agree a phenom II X4 or maybe a core I5 750 would be the way to go. OP already has a pretty decent Quad Core so why buy a new one? Just get a new GPU and maybe ram and call it a day.
 
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osu43130

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Totally agree. in this case it would be a waste of money to go 955.
 
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Rehnquist-

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Exactly. Maybe look to OC the Quad Core (new HSF needed?) but at this point, judging by nothing other than a quick look at Tom's CPU Hierarchy chart, the Phenom II would be a lateral move and a whole new mobo/CPU would be just a marginal step up. You would be much better served just getting the most out of your current CPU, upgrading to a 58xx or 59xx from ATI (unless you really want to wait for Fermi), get some faster (or just more) RAM and there ya go.

You really don't have much reason to upgrade (other than the GPU) unless you wanted to completely overhaul your system, and even then it might be a wash.

EDIT: I would just spend enough on a GPU to where I was comfortable with the performance and save the rest to build a new computer in 2011, when the 6000 series is released, hexa-core processors are more the norm, and SSDs are (hopefully) cheaper.
 
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bac240sx

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Thanks guys! I really appreciate all the advice. I'll order the 5870 and ram and if that doesn't get me to where I want to be then I can always consider doing a major overhaul.
 
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