Feedback on System Upgrade

[richison]

I am looking for feedback on my proposed PC upgrade. This computer is only used for gaming. Primarily FPS and Strategy games. The reason for the upgrade is that I'm currently getting 50 FPS in COD Black Ops with the graphics turned way down and I'd like to improve that significantly. That's the main driver here. I have a 30" monitor and run the game at a minimum in 1920 x 1200. I would like to keep this under $1000 or lower. Currently at $825 now.

As you will notice below, I'm also taking the opportunity to upgrade the OS and go 64bit.

Any thoughts or suggestions on my choices would be appriciated.


Old Parts:

Cpu - Intel E6850
MB - ASUS P5K SE
Ram - Patriot Extreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel
Hard drive - Western Digital Caviar SE WD1200JB 120GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 / ATA-6 3.5"
OS - Windows XP


New Upgrade Parts:

Cpu - Intel Core i5-760 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80605I5760
MB - ASUS P7P55D-E Pro LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Ram - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
Hard drive - Western Digital VelociRaptor WDBACN3000ENC-NRSN 300GB 10000 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5"
OS - Windows Home Premium 64bit

Not Changing:

Graphic card - Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 X2 Video Card - 2GB GDDR5
Powersupply - Cooler Master UCP 1100W 80 Plus Certified
Cpu cooler - COOLER MASTER RR-CCH-L9U1-GP 92mm Hyper TX2 CPU Cooler
Case - NZXT Tempest ATX Mid-Tower Case

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

[mianmars]

Suggested Components;

CPU+MOBO: AMD Phenom II X4 965 B.E 3.4GHz + GIGABYTE GA-890FXA-UD5 AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.564534
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277
HDD: SAMSUNG F3 1TB 7200RPM SATA II
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

Above components are focused on Gaming. AMD 965 combo is more or less performs like 760 but is way cheaper and u dont need too much CPU power for Gaming. Also u dont need 8Gb for games, 4GB is enough but if you want to spend money then its ur choice, 2x4GB is better for future though. A VelociRaptor? No need for it, get a Samsung F3 hdd which performs better in 7000rpm range hdd's and if u need more speed from it then get another one as well and get it in RAID0 or else buy an SSD.

 

[richison]

Thanks Bloodymoth! I do have other hard drives from a storage perspective. I was just going to do a clean install of Win7 and the current drive is an old IDE so I figured why not get one with a little juice and SATA. But you are correct. I don't need to go for the WD VelociRaptor.

 

[richison]

Thanks Mianmars! Are you saying that I will not notice the difference between the AMD 965 and the i5-760? Not that I'm a big overclocker, but I thought the i5 offered better overclocking potential?

The 1TB seems like overkill but the price is definately low. I was thinking of trying to keep the OS on it's own drive and put all the games/software on the 2nd drive. I currently have a SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" which I'm using for the games. I figure it would be easier to switch over to a SSD this way when the prices come down. I realize the VelociRaptor is costly, and I would love to find a lower alternative, but you don't think I will notice a difference?

 

[mianmars]

Both CPU's are more then capable of providing smoother performance in gaming at stock settings. Though 965 is a tad slower in other tasks but its not a big decrease to be noticed since their prices have gud gap. I personally would get the 965 but if u wana get the 760 then rather wait for LGA 1155 socket CPU's releasing 9th Jan, 2011. Problem with that is the new CPU's/MOBO's pricing will be higher then the ones u can afford now though it would be better in performance but still for Gaming purpose i wont bother.

Since u already have a 500GB Samsung F3 then i suggest to get this SSD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227550 for ur boot drive which will be gud for windows experience and applications etc.

 

[christop]

If you have the cash go for a ssd drive.

 

[richison]

I guess the biggest concern I have about the SSD drive is the limited life. Not that HDD last forever but could last much longer. Plus no experience with them. I'm definitely not an expert system builder by any mean. I just get by.

Does anyone know a good tutorial for going down the SSD route? From a hardware perspective, do I just need the drive and a cable?

Also, any difference to this drive? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227542

 

[mianmars]

SSD's have came a long way, its life is dependent on write-erase cycles but since u wont be using it as ur main data storage its not a risky buy. SSD have same sata connector as current hdd's so nothing special is required for it.

 

[richison]

Thanks! Did you see my other 2 related questions?

 

[mianmars]

Vertex 2 is a tad bit faster then Agility 2 but since Agility 2 is 10$ so get that one cause u wont notice the difference.

Any other question left?

 

[richison]

Know a good tutorial for going down the SSD route? i.e. I've seen talk about setting TRIM, but don't know more than that. Looking for a good step by step so I can maximize the performance and life.

Thanks again for all your help!

 

[mianmars]

hmmm read this http://www.techspot.com/guides/246-ssd-performance-tweak-utility/ u can search for more related articles on google.

 

[richison]

Best answer selected by richison.