Upgrading ideas needed

[RedknightX]

Hi everyone I am in the process of thinking of ideas of upgrading my current system. Right now I am only wanting to spend around 600$ and about 500$ later this summer. A few key things that I want to get first, I want to get away from Vista and into Win 7. I also want to lose my current pc case because it's junk with bad airflow and get a bigger HD as mine is close to full. Here is what I have now.

Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0GHz
Asus P5N-E SLI
4MB DDR2 800
WD 300 GB 7200 HD
Geforce 8800 GTX
Thermaltake toughpower 1000W PSU
Vista 32

I had another 8800 GTX running in SLI but it died. What do you guys think would be the best perfomance boosters. I play all sorts of games FPS, RTS, MMO's, ect.

This is some of the items I am currently looking at right now with the idea of buying CPU/motherboard and RAM later in the summer. Im kind of waiting on the i5 2500 to come back out.

Cooler Master HAF 922
Western Digital 1TB 7200 SATA3.0Gb 64MB Cache HD
GTX 560 Ti or HD 6870
Win 7 Pro 64

That pretty much goes through the 600$ I have to spend with a good amout going to Win 7. I dont know much about the license for windows. Could I get by with a system builders pack or will that cause problems when I go to upgrade my CPU/ motherboard later on? Also since my MB is SLI compatable with will I have problems with the HD 6870?

Any comments and suggestions welcome! Thanks in advance!

 

[MadAdmiral]

I would just wait until you've got the full $1,100 to spend this summer. This would give you a few advantages and avoid a few issues.

First, you'd get better overall components. New stuff comes out all the time. By summer, not only will the new Sandy Bridge motherboards be out, but AMD's Bulldozer.

Second, new GPUs would likely be released. Even if there wasn't a good new option out there, the prices on the older models would certainly be lower. You'd like get that 560 or 6870 for much less than you would now.

Third, you wouldn't be bottlenecking that shiny new GPU. That CPU is very old, so while you will see a difference in performance, you'll feel like you've wasted your money because you don't get the performance you paid for.

Finally, you wouldn't have to worry about reinstalling the OS. The OS is often tied to the motherboard or at least has some interaction with the board. A new board means a new installation or even a new copy of the license (if you buy OEM). By waiting until you're getting everything, you'd avoid needing to reinstall the OS and you'd save money by only being able to buy the OEM version not the retail version.

To answer you other questions:

OS: An OEM version is tied to a motherboard. If you bought an OEM version now, and installed it with your current board, you'd have to buy another when you got the new board. However, given that the retail version is around $200, and the OEM version is about $100, you'd essentially be spending the same amount if you bought the retail version or if you bought two OEM versions.

SLI: SLI-compatibility means nothing for single card solutions. It also means next to nothing for dual card solutions. All motherboards with multiple PCIe 2.0 slots are Crossfire (ATI's dual card tech) compatible, so you wouldn't have any issues even if you bought two 6870s.

Parts: Not a bad list, but I'd avoid that WD HDD. It's slower and more expensive than the competition. Instead, grab the Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB for $65.

Also, the decision on the GPU should between the GTX 560 and HD 6950 2 GB at that price range. The 6950 2 GB can be modded with a BIOS update to perform exactly like the HD 6970, so I'd lean towards the 6950.

 

[RedknightX]

Thanks for all the answers! I think I will just get by with what I have now and wait and see all the new hardwear that comes out in the next several months.

 

[christop]

OEM is tied to the motherboard but you can reinstall it on a different board. I have done it many times. When asked how many computers this copy has been installed on just say one then you will get a conformation code to type in from the automated phone service from MS.