Need help upgrading my Nvidia Gforce 9600 GT

[razius]

Hello guys,

i have just stumbled upon this website and i must say , i am learning so much about computers .

here are my computer specs,
i have bought a high end Desktop 3 years ago , costing me about 3000$( i was stupid for paying that much) my specs are:
Crossfire 2 formula motherboard.
Nvidia Gefore 9600 GT
AMD Phenom X4 9850 black edition (core speed 2511.3 , multiplier x12.5) <--last bit of info may seem irrelevant but i wanted to add it cause i don't know much about PC hardware.
Ram is Corsair DDR 2 4 GB .
running windows xp 32 bit proffesional( was 64 bit when bought was changed for no apparent reason but too lazy to change back )
Bios (as said in dxdiag)hoenix - award BIOS v6.00PG
Soundmax HD Audio
Monitor is a panasonic HD TV 50"
computer case is a Silverstone Kublai KL03.

and here are my questions:
i have been facing some problems when i play world of warcraft mainly, the problem doesn't seem to happen when i play MW3 though. so i want to ask if there are pieces in my desktop that i can change to help me play games with amazing graphics.
another question is that i want to upgrade my video card mainly , cause it feels like its the problem.also if the card has an HDMI port , that would be awesome. ignore Budget , would appreciate more than 1 suggestion of a given component though.

i don't really want to buy a new PC cause this was pretty costly and i don't have the cash to get a new one at the moment.

i really appreciate any help that i can get. please feel free to ask me anything, if its complicated , explain to me how i can do it .

 

[DM186]

What is your Power supply size and brand?

 

[refillable]

Can you show me your PSU and the brand? Seeing that you paid $3000 for your whole system I'm pretty sure that you have a really good PSU. If you don't care about budget you can wait for the new Radeon 7970 (Coming on the next year) Which probably will cost $550. We can see from the reviews it's the fastest single core GPU today in the market and outperform GTX 580 Out of the water. It will kill all games at ultra 1080p I think. Also overclock your CPU to make sure that the GPU won't be bottlenecked.

 

[razius]

all i can i say is that its a gigabyte 550 watts (says max power) also my old psu fried a while back , and i dont remember how much the watts on that. but still a PSU can be changed if its necessary.

when you say overclock , should i be increasing my cooling in the system too?
another silly question , is my PC still good ?

 

[DM186]

Your PC is still good but your PSU is another story when it states Max, it means it tops out at 550. Constant is what you need. If your PSU supports SLI than there would be the 6 pin connecters comming out of it.

A 750w PSU will run about 129.00 dollars and up. a 500w will do the job and it will run about 59.00 dollars and up. Here are two links to the 500w also while you are there look at the 750w just in case you want that. When looking make sure it is 80 plus.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371035

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

 

[refillable]

I suggest you to wait when you want an upgrade, now still you can use your computer right? So it's worth to wait a while and see for radeon 7xxx series which is (in really high chance) will be better.

 

[lkkgg72200812]

YOU CAN WAIT FOR 7970^^ THE NEWEST CARD~~

 

[razius]

Your PC is still good but your PSU is another story when it states Max, it means it tops out at 550. Constant is what you need. If your PSU supports SLI than there would be the 6 pin connecters comming out of it.

A 750w PSU will run about 129.00 dollars and up. a 500w will do the job and it will run about 59.00 dollars and up. Here are two links to the 500w also while you are there look at the 750w just in case you want that. When looking make sure it is 80 plus.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371035

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

whats the reasoning behind changing my PSU? ( i will do it , but i want to know why so i can learn )

 

[jyjjy]

An HD7970 paired with an original Phenom at 2.5ghz makes no sense at all.

Fortunately your motherboard can use AM3 CPUs assuming you meant this is your motherboard;
http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM2Plus/Crosshair_II_Formula/#CPUS

You really need to upgrade that as well to bother buying a decent current video card. I'd recommend a Phenom II x4 955;
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=47459&vpn=HDZ955FBGMBOX&manufacture=AMD&promoid=1368

Your PSU is likely this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817233010
Which has only 360w on the +12v rail which isn't all that much. You will probably need to replace it as well. What you should replace it with depends on what card you get.

How much are you willing to spend overall is the question I guess and that you haven't mentioned.

 

[razius]

An HD7970 paired with an original Phenom at 2.5ghz makes no sense at all.

Fortunately your motherboard can use AM3 CPUs assuming you meant this is your motherboard;
http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM2Plus/Crosshair_II_Formula/#CPUS

You really need to upgrade that as well to bother buying a decent current video card. I'd recommend a Phenom II x4 955;
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=47459&vpn=HDZ955FBGMBOX&manufacture=AMD&promoid=1368

Your PSU is likely this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817233010
Which has only 360w on the +12v rail which isn't all that much. You will probably need to replace it as well. What you should replace it with depends on what card you get.

How much are you willing to spend overall is the question I guess and that you haven't mentioned.

yes indeed that is my board.

if you are really talking about compatibility with the mobo , wouldn't the phenom x6 II 1090t be a better upgrade? or would getting a new Mobo + an intel cpu be an even better idea? and which video card would you really suggest with this pair? i also checked on my PSU and it stated that it gives 450 watts.

am actually willing to spend something between 500$-1000$

 

[jyjjy]

If you are willing to spend that much then certainly a new motherboard and a Sandy Bridge CPU is the way to go. I'd recommend something along the lines of the following;

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) Quad-Core & COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler - $245
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.783352

ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Motherboard - $125
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory - $44
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

Antec EarthWatts EA-750 Green 750W 80 PLUS BRONZE Power Supply - $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371051

GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1GB Video Card - $210
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125401

The above totals $700. The motherboard and PSU can handle a second GTX 560 Ti for SLI should you want to do so. The video card is over 4x faster than your 9600GT. The processor is a gigantic upgrade over what you have now;
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=29
That is at stock speeds and the i5-2500k should be easily overclockable to 4.5ghz with the cooler in the linked combo.

 

[DM186]

jyjjy is right on the money I would listen to what he is saying he really knows what he is talking about. That is a good buy the 750w PSU as well as the other hardwear.

If you go that route you will be able to do just about anything at good speeds and gaming. And 700 dollars you can't beat that.

My system ran about 1500 dollars and what you are looking is better than mine. I wish you good luck on this rig.

 

[razius]

Best answer selected by Razius.