Upgrading - $600 budget

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kittcg

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I am going to upgrade my current system and could really use some advice/help. My main goal is to increase performance in gaming.


Approximate Purchase Date: Today/Tomorrow

Budget Range: $600 before rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming (FPS, MMO, Diablo 3), Photoshop, Programming

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS
Hoping to also reuse the following:
Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive
PSU: COOLMAX CUG-700B 700W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Certified Modular Active PFC and Compatible with Core i3/i5/i7 Power Supply
Case: Case: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Case

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg or Amazon prime

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: No preference - Focused on game performance

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: Don't really have a favorite, less lag the better

Additional Comments:


I am considering adding the following, based on a previous suggestion:

CPU: i5 2500k
Heatsink:CPU Heatsink (sounds like a tight fit in the Antec 900, but doable)
Mobo: ASRock Z68 PRO3-M LGA 1155 Intel Z68
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

A couple of questions I have:

1) Any suggestions on what GPU to go with? The above would cost about $400, so if I don't need to add a new PSU, I can probably look in the $200 range.
2) Will my PSU be able to handle this?
3) Is there a better Mobo/RAM that I should consider? The RAM was picked due to an earlier promotion that has since expired and I really don't know much about picking a good mobo or RAM.
4) Anything I am missing?

The $600 budget isn't set in stone and if you think I could get a decent performance boost by upping that a little bit, I would be okay with that. Would like to stay under $800, though. SSD worth it for faster loading?

Am ready to order, just not sure about these last few things.
 
Solution
Nvidia GTX560 Ti for GPU if you can stretch that far, they are around the $200 mark, maybe a few bucks over.
Look for combo deals with memory or CPU.

Would recommend the Asrock Z68 Extreme 3 Gen3 for mobo on a budget, about $125 or so.
Possibly the Z68 Pro Gen3 if that is too much. it's about as much as what you listed.

PSU is not ideal, but should be ok.

The Ram is fine, with those specs get Corsair, Gskill, Mushkin or Kingston.
1.5V Cas9 1600Mhz 2x4GB

Optical drive: $20 for DVD writers, unless you already have a Sata model which you can re-use.




rvilkman

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Nvidia GTX560 Ti for GPU if you can stretch that far, they are around the $200 mark, maybe a few bucks over.
Look for combo deals with memory or CPU.

Would recommend the Asrock Z68 Extreme 3 Gen3 for mobo on a budget, about $125 or so.
Possibly the Z68 Pro Gen3 if that is too much. it's about as much as what you listed.

PSU is not ideal, but should be ok.

The Ram is fine, with those specs get Corsair, Gskill, Mushkin or Kingston.
1.5V Cas9 1600Mhz 2x4GB

Optical drive: $20 for DVD writers, unless you already have a Sata model which you can re-use.




 
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kittcg

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Thank you for your advice, rvilkman.

When looking at the various Nvidia GTX560 Ti models, is there much difference between the different brands? Prices seem to fluctuate quite a bit, along with the reviews at Newegg. Is there a recommended brand between EVGA, Gigabit, MSI, ASUS, etc?

Is there much difference between the Nvidia and the comparable Radeon video cards?

I do have some Sata DVD drives I can reuse, as well. Sorry, I forgot to include those in the original description.
 

rvilkman

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Of the brands you listed all of them are good. The $209 Gigabyte for example is just fine.

The differences are based on the games being played. Some work better on one, some on the other.
If a game uses PhysX then usually the Nvidia cards are better at it.

The comparable Radeon card is 6950. It's a little bit faster generally than the 560Ti but also costs $10-20 more for the 1GB models.

But if the prices seem too high and you can't fit them into your budget. Radeon 6870 is a solid choice and can be had as low as $140-150 after rebates.
The Sapphire or the XFX Dual Fan versions would be fine for example.
 

somekidxd

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LG 22X Super-Multi DVD Burner 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model GH22NS90B - OEM $18

GIGABYTE GV-N560OC-1GI GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB $235

ASRock Z68 PRO3 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $110

Team Elite 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model TED38192M1333HC9DC $36

i5 2400 $190

Total: $589

But if you are thinking of overclocking to 4.5+ get i5 2500k and fans and a cooler.
 
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