Upgrading...Need Advice for Mobo!

Going from DDR2 to DDR3 doesn't make all that much of a difference really. I did it in my system before, and noticed absolutely no change in performance. Went from a Gigabyte MA770-UD3 to a newer Gigabyte board, and 1066mhz RAM to 1600mhz stuff. Also, 8gb of RAM won't help you much if youre just gaming. I'd sell the 5770 and get a 6870. also, toss in a nice CPU cooler and overclock your 955 a little bit!

What kinda CPU cooler would you recommend?

And would a 6870 out perform two 5770's?

I'm not even certain I can fit two 5770's now that I think about it, the card itself is huge, and there's no space between the two slots.

I'll probably just sell the 5770 and get a 6870.

A 6870 should just outperform two 5770s anyway, plus you should be ok with our current power supply that way. As for CPU coolers, I'd get a Coolermaster Hyper 212+, or a Scythe Mugen. There are plenty of other good ones out there as well, like the Zalman CNPS (Quiet, Flex, Extreme), those Corsair liquid cooling ones, and a few others that will perform quite well, but those first two are really good for the price.

Alright, I'll look into the Coolermaster Hyper 212+

Now, I would have to detact my old CPU Cooler and get more thermal w/e to apply the new one, correct?

Just making sure I know wtf I'm doing. Lol.

Motherboard Issue

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131381&cm_re=ASUS_M4A78-_-13-131-381-_-Product

It seems my motherboard does not have a PCI 2.1 Slot, will the PCIE 2.1 x16 fit into any of the slots below? If so, I'm pissed and I'm going to buy a new MOBO

(Which one? I have no clue how to decide what motherboard to upgrade to...what compability variables do I need to take into account?

"PCI Express 2.0 x16 2 x PCI Express 2.0 x16
(1x PCIe x16, 1x PCIe x4 or x1)
PCI Express x1 1
PCI Slots 3 "

Should I upgrade my motherboard for a PCI Express 2.1 x16 slot?

As the title says, should I do this? It would also allow me to expand my RAM in the future (When I have more money to throw at my computer than I do now)



Computer Case Issue

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042
That's my case, I'll measure the distances for the new card + old heatsink to see if I have the space to upgrade.

I am looking to possibly upgrade my case to a full tower (Because my 5770 is pretty much cutting the power supply cords)

Would this case have any issues with my current build?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Alright, I will add the following items to my cart on newegg and probably go through with purchasing them within the month. (or tell my family to buy them for me for christmas, either one)

But yeah, thanks for your help.

How sure are you that the http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065 will work with my current set up?

And with that, the new gfx card, and the new case, I should be set to run anything. ^^

Oh, on another topic, I have no clue how to overclcok my computer. v.v

Best answer selected by nmeseth.

the haf 922 will serve you better then the case you picked, and is only 10 dollars more

But it doesnt have pretty LED 250mm fans!  

100% sure that it will work with your system. I use Hyper 212s all the time.

I agree with the HAF 922 case as well, I like those quite a bit more than that one with the turbine kinda fan.

As for overclocking, you'll have to check a few other forums for details on that, but basically, go into your BIOS (del. key on startup), and adjust the CPU clock / multiplier. You'll see system temperatures in there under PC Health Status or something like that. It's best to read up on overclocking before you do too much of it though...

the case you guys are suggesting is a mid tower case, which I suppose would work, but I'm so sick of this one (It's mid tower but its cramped inside of it)

Looking for a really good full tower case, here is one by the same brand, would this be alright?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

I might as well get a case that will last me...a long ass time.

Any problems with that one, such as USB 3.0 not working cuz of my obo, or similar issues?

If I'm spending $250 on a gfx card, would I better off getting a GTX 470 or something?

The 922 is a mid tower that will fit the biggest video cards that you can find, plus a pile of hard drives and everything else. The HAF 932 is bigger yet, and the HAF X is huge. If you need a big case, go for it - but 5970s will fit in the 922 just fine. USB3.0 won't function as USB3.0, but the port should work as USB2 I believe if you plug it into your MB.

The 470 is hands-down faster than the 6870, and I prefer nVidia. You can also grab an overclocked GTX 460 (faster than stock 470, more efficient, cooler) like the EVGA FTW GTX 460, or the MSI Hawk Talon Attack (gay name) GTX 460. Those will be cheaper as well. I just bought that MSI one for like $210 to try out...

Hit me up on yahoo if you can, nme.seth@yahoo.com is mine.

If you don't want too, that's cool, I just want to know this first of all.

I would be very willing to get a GTX 460, but I've heard the heating + cooling can be a major issue.