Looking to upgrade, need help

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ansamech

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ok so, when it comes to computers, i'm not that great. I mean i'm not oblivious, but obviously dont know everything since im asking you guys for help:)

so here is what I have:

Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 760 @ 2.80GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.8GHz
Asus P7H55-M/CSM LGA1156
Mushkin silverline DDR3 1600Mhz 4GB Dual Channel
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200rpm 32MB 3.5" SATA II 3.0Gbits/s
NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
600w powersuply

I download a lot, watch movie and play MMO's, so im looking to optimize for that.

Cant replace whole thing, so suggestion on what would be best bang for buck to upgrade... almost full on my hard drive, so thinking about getting another, can i run a SATA 6Gbits along side a 3Gbits one? also, can my system run 6Bits? and is it worth it to get a SSD for a boot drive?

thanks a lot for any input you have
 
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striker410

striker410

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Hi there, welcome to the forums.

I see you have not a bad system! It's LGA 1156, but still not bad.

So I'd like to address your first question about a Sata 6Gb/s HDD drive. DONT BUY ONE! The drive you have now is plenty fast, and you will see 0% performance change in upgrading the HDD. Why? SataII (3.0Gb/s) has PLENTY of bandwidth for hard drives. Even the fastest hard drives are well away from breaking this barrier. When sata III matters is in SSD's.

Now let's talk about SSD's. As I'm sure you know, they work as a boot drive. If you have the cash, might be worth it. But let's talk about some other stuff first.

Your GPU needs and upgrade. Right now, your cheapest option would probably be add a GPU for SLI. Can you link me to the power supply please?

And the other thing you might consider is OCing the CPU. It will give you a hefty performance boost on the cheap. You need a good cooler though.

So once we buy a cooler and GPU, then you can consider an SSD. Not before.
 
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ansamech

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Well thanks a lot for the welcome and for the response!

interesting info on the sata III, thanks.

So, the GPU. My power supply is: OCZ StealthxStream 2 600w. As far as the SLI goes, you think its better to buy a 2nd GPU and run both rather than buy a good one?

and I'd like to overclock, but dont even know where to begin, and how much cooling I would need.

Once again thanks for the help and hope to hear more from you!
 
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striker410

striker410

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Ahh thank you for that. Nice PSU.

Now here's the good news. You can buy a GTS 450 for about $120. 2 GTS 450's give almost the performance of a GTX 560 Ti, which is $230. So you can save $100 haha.

Here's the OTHER good news. According to Guru3d, the power consumption for the WHOLE SYSTEM peaked at 400w. And their system uses WAY more power than yours. This gives you a good 250w overhead. Here's what I'm talking about: http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gts-450-sli-review/14

And for OCing, it's pretty simple. What you need is a good CPU cooler, like a Hyper 212+. They are $30-35 on amazon. What case do you have? I wanna make sure it fits :p

Hope that helps ya a bit!
 
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ansamech

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Man, you rock, so grateful for your help
and saving 100$ is pretty awesome! that guru of 3d thing is cool, gotta love people that do testing!
case is a thermaltake V3 black edition VL80001w2z
 
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striker410

striker410

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ansamech

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sweet looks like it fits no problem:D
i think ill get another GTS 450, andything i need to know about putting in a 2nd card?
also, once i have the 212+ how do i make my CPU OC?
 
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striker410

striker410

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Yeah, that you can't..... facepalm I forgot to check the mobo for compatibility, Didn't see the M on the end.. It would appear that your mobo doesn't have a second PCI-e slot, meaning only 1 card. Damn, sorry for missing that. Amateur mistake.

However, I could not find your exact model. Could you look inside and check for a second PCI-e slot? It's longer and closer to the board than a standard PCI slot. However, I doubt it does.....

Sorry about misleading you, I thought you had a board like this in my head: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131621R&cm_re=p7p55-_-13-131-621R-_-Product My bad, I'm sorry for not double checking. Maybe I should get some sleep -_-
 
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striker410

striker410

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Unforntunately I am correct. That second, light blue slot is actually PCI, not PCI-e. Sorry about the confusion. In that case, here's my other recommendation:
-Sell the GTS 450. What model do you have? Should be able to easily get $60-70 on ebay, cutting the price of a GTX 560 Ti down quite a bit.

Again, I would like to apologize for leading you astray. For that reason, make sure to pull in some more opinions before deciding anything.

Any more questions?
 
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ansamech

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dang, thats too bad:( umm, Radeon DH 5770 1GB 128bit

hmm, could i buy a new mobo without a CPU that has 2 PCIe slots, and just switch my CPU over? or at that point would it just make more sense to buy a whole new rig?
 
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ansamech

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lame at buying a new copy, and disregard the 5770 comment, brain not working you asked for GPU model, that was the box i looked at, but its from another computer, i cant think of what my model is atm:(

so get 212+, and just a new GPU in general.. you suggest the GTX 560 Ti? anything else or just that one?

once again, thank you so much for the help:D
 
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striker410

striker410

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Well, you have options. Depends how much you wanna spend. I made a little chart for you...

Striker's made up GPU hierarchy chart: (based on facts, google is you friend ;) )
Cards over GTS 450, stopping at 6950

GTS 450: $120. Current card.
GTX 460: $169. Decent improvement, not enough to warrant an upgrade.
ATI 6850: Nice upgrade, maybe not worth it $165
ATI 6870: For sure an upgrade, worth the money $188
GTX 560 Ti: Worth it for sure. Double performance $229
ATI 6950: same as 560 Ti. Worth it $229

It goes in order of cost. Any of those GPU's is an excellent choice, but I would not upgrade to anything lower than a 6870. In fact, I'm gonna say the 6870 is the way to go. Cheap and awesome.
 
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ansamech

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hmm the specs say GPU : GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) so im confused, but ill take your word for it!

could i get something thats better than my GTS 450, but maybe not quite as expensive as the GTX 560 Ti?
 
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ansamech

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hmm well that's a lot to consider, thank you so much for your info:) deff gonna get the 212+ tomorrow, and gonna think about a new card:D basicly, comes down to new card or new monitor, from 19" to 24" lol
 
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striker410

striker410

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lol, so they do. It's a typo. Notice the low price, the "5670" In the title, and the TINY cooler? There's no way it's a 560 Ti. Trust me on this one.
 
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