Could anyone please help me choose some parts for an upgrade?

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brennk

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Hi everyone, this is my first post here and I'm really looking forward to your suggestions! Thanks in advance for your help...

System Specs - Purchased September 2009

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
CPU: 2.20GHz AMD Phenom 9550 Quad-Core
MB: PEGATRON CORPORATION VIOLET 3.02
RAM: 8GB PC2-6400 DDR2
HDD: 1TB SATA 7200RPM
GFX: NVIDIA GeForce 9300GE (256MB Dedicated)
Dual monitors, card must support at least (1) HDMI and (1) VGA or DVI
BluRay/DVD, Built-in Wifi Adapter

I need an upgraded video card without a doubt, and I need a new hard drive, as I've got a gut feeling the one I have now is about to fail. :( Needs to be minimum 500GB.

Now, the budget... I want to spend no more than $300. Everything in -- shipping, etc.

It would be awesome if you could give me options for just a HDD/GFX Card upgrade to start, and then even other upgrade options I could go for. All will be ordered online through NCIX/Newegg/TigerDirect -- It would be AWESOME if you could post links and/or prices.

Thank-you so much! This is my first attempt at upgrading a computer, and I'm looking forward to the end result :)

EDIT >> Forgot to mention, I'm in Canada BUT I can get parts shipped to the US and I'll go get them across the line if the product+shipping is cheaper. Just add $5 per part if it's from the US. Thanks!
 
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clarkjd

I'm thinking that if you are unhappy with your current graphics card, then the Intel parts, while a good upgrade in itself, will not improve your gaming...
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brennk

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Well, I have 2 monitors. One is 23.5" and the other is just a Dell 15"ish. It's not a big deal if I can't game on both, it just needs to have an HDMI output and either a VGA or DVI output.

I know this is a dumb question, but "GDDR5" on the GFX card... Does that mean it's not supported with my DDR2 ram?

Thanks!
 
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brennk

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Ok, that's what I thought. Thanks :D



Is there any easy way to determine if my current one is sufficient or if I need one that's more powerful? I'd be keeping the old HD in the computer, so it'd definitely require more power.

Do you have any suggestions for vid cards/hdds? If I need a more powerful PSU... Any suggestions on that?
 
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brennk

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Soo, I've got to order these parts next week... I'd love to get some more suggestions as to what GFX card to get and also a PSU suggestion if I need to upgrade that aswell.

Anyone know how to check and see if the PSU is powerful enough to support a second HDD and GFX Card?
 
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brennk

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I opened it up last night, it said 300W recommended and 330W max load or something like that. What specs should I post from it?

Here's what I'm thinking currently...

OKGEAR 18" SATA 6 Gbps Cable, Straight to Straight W/ Metal Latch, Black, Backward Compatible 3 Gbps and 1.5 Gbps
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812123160

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD7500AALX 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136768

APEX AL-D500EXP 500W ATX12V Power Supply
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817154026

and for GPU... Either

EVGA SuperClocked 01G-P3-1463-KR GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video ...
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130664

or

EVGA 01G-P3-1373-AR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) Superclocked EE 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support ...
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130568

TOTAL PRICE w/SHIPPING (before rebates)... $377.95
(take away $20ish dollars if it's the GTX 460 card... price above is for the GTX 560)

Any way I could reduce that? :p
 
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clarkjd

clarkjd

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Brand and model would be nice, if possible. Also list the power output (in amps) for each of the different voltages.
 
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brennk

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http://www.itwinkle.com/hp35posu51.html

Thats it... I just checked.


Did you see my above post? What do you think of that list?

Thanks!

--

Hmm, so I've been thinking... In your opinion, what's more worth it?

A new GPU ($210), a second HD ($60) and a new PSU ($70, changed to a Corsair possibly) for almost $400 w/taxes+shipping.

or

A new intel MB ($65), a new intel core i5-2400 quad core sandy bridge CPU ($189) and 8gb DDR3 ram ($56) for about $390 w/taxes+shipping.

For the second option, would I need a PSU aswell? :/

Which option would you choose? Haha, thanks in advance.
 
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clarkjd

clarkjd

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I'm thinking that if you are unhappy with your current graphics card, then the Intel parts, while a good upgrade in itself, will not improve your gaming performance. Most games are GPU bound, therefore a new PSU would be recommended for either option( because you need a new GPU). You have to determine what's more important to you. Also you said you needed a new HDD, so you would have to add that to the Intel build as well. Since you're on a limited budget, I would get parts that I NEEDED, with an eye to being able to use them in a new build down the road.
Good Luck!
 
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