Upgrading 3 Year Old Gaming System

[matthewh133]

Hey everyone, so I've had my computer for probably three years now. Maybe more.. and I'm now considering upgrading a few parts to get it up to speed for Battlefield 3 etc,

Specs:

i7 920 d0 stepping + Scythe Mugen cooler
EX58-UD4P
4890 1gb
6gb ram
TX750 Corsair Power Supply
HAF 932 case

Now, my question is, if you had $500, what would you upgrade and what's worth holding onto for now? Is there anything coming out in the near future I should be waiting for instead?

I was looking at just replacing the 4890 with a 6950 2gb and that should do me, but would like some further thoughts.

 

[AdrianPerry]

Motherboard, RAM, CPU, PSU, Case all look fine there's nothing id change there, especially not on $500.

Your best option is just to upgrade your graphics card. $500 would easily allow for a 6970 to be added in there.

XFX 6970 2GB $320 (after rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150517

 

[matthewh133]

Cheers Adrian, I was considering the HIS IceQ 2gb 6950 and flashing it to a 6970. I haven't really read much on this or how difficult it is, but I can get the 2gb IceQ for $260 which sounds decent.

 

[AdrianPerry]

I've never owned an AMD card so i'm not sure on how "flashing" works. But yes, upgrading your GPU is all you really need to do

 

[singemagique]

Definitely upgrade the video card if you are looking to play BF3. If you want a quick general system boost, get an SSD. Everything else should last a while longer.

 

[AdrianPerry]

Definitely upgrade the video card if you are looking to play BF3. If you want a quick general system boost, get an SSD. Everything else should last a while longer.

Good call on the SSD.

 

[cats_Paw]

I agree on graphics cards if anything, perhaps RAID configuration or SSD but definitly rest is very good.

 

[singemagique]

Good call on the SSD.

After much research and hesitation, I upgraded my desktop to a 120GB X25M Intel SSD last year. Two weeks later I updated my laptop. Now I cry when I have to use a computer with an HDD. It's the single most impressive system upgrade I have ever performed.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

for 500$ you can get 2 6950 1gb cards or 2 560 ti 1gb gpu's in there. that will give you the best performance for 500$. and it should max out bf3. and your psu can run both cards

 

[AdrianPerry]

for 500$ you can get 2 6950 1gb cards or 2 560 ti 1gb gpu's in there. that will give you the best performance for 500$. and it should max out bf3. and your psu can run both cards

NewEgg recently (and may still have) Gigabyte GTX 560Ti (OC edition 900MHz) for $204 after rebate. A superb buy in my opinion. And yes, 750w PSU would be enough for two of these in SLI.

 

[matthewh133]

Best answer selected by matthewh133.