Search
Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in

Deciding what to Upgrade

Tags:
Last response: in Components
Share

First time poster long time reader.
I have some money to spend and I want to upgrade my computer but I don't know what I need most.
Is there any software that could help with this? Like something that reads CPU GPU RAM HHD and PSU usage so I can get an Idea of what I need? Anyway here is my system

Gigabyte 790XTA-UD4 Mobo
AMD Phenom II x2 560 BE overclocked to 4ghz
Gigabyte Radeon 5770 1gb GDDR5
4gb Patriot Sector 5 series 1333
Cooler Master GX650
V3 Thermaltake case

I have $175-$200
Right now I am thinking about...
the Phenom 6 core BE
A second Video card for Crossfire
another 4gb of RAM

Any ideas or tips would be appreciated

More about : deciding upgrade

Register or log in to remove

Upgrade depends on what you are using the system for really.

If you want to go down the crossfire route then i would suggest replacing your card with a 6850 and selling the old one to keep costs down as that will out perform 2x 5770's anyway.
4gb ram is fine for games really and light multi tasking, although if you were say, running a game and maybe iplayer on another screen then sure, another 4gb aint going to hurt.
Personally i'd go with spending the $200 on a new vga card then selling the old one and putting that money towards some more ram.

If you have not already done so try to unlock some more cores on your current CPU. After that a second 5770 will give you a cheap and very good boost to performance (and will outperform a single 6850 in most games).

I tried unlocking the cores a while back, no luck there. I looked around and looks like CF 5770 does beat out a 6850 in most applications. I can get one for 100-120 on sale and that leaves me with some money for ram and I don't have to hassle with selling my old card, then I can just rock those till the next big line of single cards comes out.
Register or log in to remove
 
Ask the community
Read discussions in other Components categories
!