Upgrading existing PC for future games

[evotech]

ASUS GeForce GTX 570 1280MB PhysX CUDA PCI-Express 2.0, "DirectCU II", GDDR5, 2xDVI, native-HDMI, DisplayPort
ASUS Rampage III GENE, Socket-1366 mATX, X58, DDR3, 2xPCIe(2.0)x16, SupremeFX X-FI, ROG Connect, SATA 6Gb/s, USB3.0
Corsair Dominator DDR3 1600MHz 12GB CL8 Kit w/6x 2GB XMS3 modules, CL8-8-8-24, 1.65V, for Intel i7, 240pin
Intel Core™ i7 Quad Processor i7-960 Quad Core, 3,2Ghz, Socket 1366, 8MB, QPI: 4,8GT/sec, 130W, Boxed w/fan

I have disks and PSU. a 650W PSU and X25M 80GB SSD + 2TB Disk

What do you think about this setup to hold me up a year or two? Do you feel it's overkill? Could i get a solid performance for less? should i be going for SLI over one card? got any tips for me?

It's been so long since i have actually browsed hardware so i just need some solid input.

Thanks!

 

[boiler1990]

What exactly do you plan to do with the computer, and what budget do you have for the parts you don't have?

 

[evotech]

I plan on playing games on high quality aswell as stream them, i need this PC to last, lets cap the budget out at 300 usd pr part

Think ive decided to atleast upgrade to sandybridge i7 2600, shoudl be better atleast

 

[clarkjd]

I don't think you can upgrade to Sandy Bridge for only $300. You'll spend most (if not all)on just the CPU, then you'll need almost as much for a motherboard. Also, you'll only be able to use 8GB of your RAM as SB is dual channel only, and the motherboards only have 4 DIMM slots.

 

[sadams04]

Stick with what you have. You are in good shape with the LGA1366 platform and about the only thing I would do is overclock the CPU after installing an aftermarket CPU cooler. While gaming you won't see a huge benefit upgrading to a SB setup. SB is faster, but you won't have any problems getting high frame rates with the i7-960. That, and maybe a second GTX 570 down the road, and you are set for a while...

 

[evotech]

I don't think you can upgrade to Sandy Bridge for only $300. You'll spend most (if not all)on just the CPU, then you'll need almost as much for a motherboard. Also, you'll only be able to use 8GB of your RAM as SB is dual channel only, and the motherboards only have 4 DIMM slots.

As i said, 300 usd per part, and yeah, probably gonna go for 16GB ram in dual channel, still very unsure about videocards though. might just hold on to my gtx 260 while i check some out

 

[CopaMundial]

ASUS GeForce GTX 570 1280MB PhysX CUDA PCI-Express 2.0, "DirectCU II", GDDR5, 2xDVI, native-HDMI, DisplayPort
ASUS Rampage III GENE, Socket-1366 mATX, X58, DDR3, 2xPCIe(2.0)x16, SupremeFX X-FI, ROG Connect, SATA 6Gb/s, USB3.0
Corsair Dominator DDR3 1600MHz 12GB CL8 Kit w/6x 2GB XMS3 modules, CL8-8-8-24, 1.65V, for Intel i7, 240pin
Intel Core™ i7 Quad Processor i7-960 Quad Core, 3,2Ghz, Socket 1366, 8MB, QPI: 4,8GT/sec, 130W, Boxed w/fan

I have disks and PSU. a 650W PSU and X25M 80GB SSD + 2TB Disk

What do you think about this setup to hold me up a year or two?

Stick with what you have. You are in good shape with the LGA1366 platform and about the only thing I would do is overclock the CPU after installing an aftermarket CPU cooler. While gaming you won't see a huge benefit upgrading to a SB setup. SB is faster, but you won't have any problems getting high frame rates with the i7-960. That, and maybe a second GTX 570 down the road, and you are set for a while...

Unless I'm mistaken, the OP does not HAVE the 960 CPU right now... that was just the initial suggestion of what they were considering for upgrade.

If your primary use is gaming, definitely go Sandy Bridge, and definitely go I5-2500k.
Games don't take advantage of the 2600k enough to warrant the price difference.

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
$219

MSI P67A-GD65 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$180

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9Q-16GBXL
$250 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231429

(so I'm $251 under the $300/item budget... I would take that money and roll it into the GPU to get into the $500+ range for GPU)

MSI N580GTX Twin Frozr II/OC GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
$505 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127567

Total = $1154 or $46 under budget

(edit here's a combo deal for that RAM + motherboard to save an extra $30)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.616749

 

[boiler1990]

I doubt you'll ever need 16GB RAM. You're just wasting money at that point.

I agree with the i5-2500K as a CPU, but if you're going to spend $180 on a board, get an Asus or ASRock board.

 

[evotech]

I doubt you'll ever need 16GB RAM. You're just wasting money at that point.

I agree with the i5-2500K as a CPU, but if you're going to spend $180 on a board, get an Asus or ASRock board.

Your PC can always use whatever RAM you give it. "Need" is an interesting term though.

Thanks for all the input guys! really appreciated, i think i'm good now, except i think the new video cards is going to be too big for my case, ill have to look into that...

 

[boiler1990]

I have 9 GB in my system, and my computer only uses 4-5 on a regular basis when gaming (some of that is cached for the system, so it isn't actually in use). It won't use all 9GB unless I run computations on Matlab or Maple.

A gaming computer rarely needs more than 4, though 8GB kits are cheap enough now that they're becoming the standard. Also note that two 2x4 kits are cheaper than one 2x8 kit.