Birthday coming up soon... do I need any upgrades?

[Penley54]

My specs are below and I was just wondering if there is anything I should consider upgrading? My spending cap is about 150-175 give or take a little if needed. If there is nothing I should upgrade what are some cool things I could get for my Computer instead of upgrading? Oh and by the way I play games like bf3, mw3 and should be getting max payne 3. for reference, I run Bf3 at 40-80 fps depending on what map I am playing on. Thanks.

 

[Chainzsaw]

Hello,

You have a fairly decent midrange system. I can't really recommend anything.

Is there anything you are particularly looking for?

 

[Chainzsaw]

How about a 120GB SSD? That would help speed up your boot times and loading times of all your programs/games (as long as they reside on the SSD).

Crucial M4 is my recommendation - a nice reliable SSD.

 

[inzone]

There are a couple of things that you could upgrade;
1. You can add a SSD and use it for the operating system and that would make things open quicker and maps load faster in games.
2. I see that you have 4gb of ram and if you have a 64 bit Windows OS then you could add some more ram , another 4 gb would be ok.

If you wanted to upgrade the video card you would have to get a 6950 , 7850 ,7870 , 7950 or 6970 and you won't be able to do that with a $175 budget. The graphics chart below will show you where cards are in the list.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html


Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW120A310 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - OEM
$179.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167095

I don't know exactly what you have for ram sticks but here is an example;

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-4GBXM
$39.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231443

What do you have for a monitor , you can also get a new monitor.

Asus VH238H Black 23" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers 250 cd/m2 ASCR 50,000,000:1
$174.99 and a $10 rebate makes the final price $164.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236117

So there are a few options to look at and depending on your needs you can go with one of them or just save your birthday money towards a high end video card.

 

[Penley54]

There are a couple of things that you could upgrade;
1. You can add a SSD and use it for the operating system and that would make things open quicker and maps load faster in games.
2. I see that you have 4gb of ram and if you have a 64 bit Windows OS then you could add some more ram , another 4 gb would be ok.

If you wanted to upgrade the video card you would have to get a 6950 , 7850 ,7870 , 7950 or 6970 and you won't be able to do that with a $175 budget. The graphics chart below will show you where cards are in the list.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html


Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW120A310 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - OEM
$179.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167095

I don't know exactly what you have for ram sticks but here is an example;

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-4GBXM
$39.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231443

What do you have for a monitor , you can also get a new monitor.

Asus VH238H Black 23" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers 250 cd/m2 ASCR 50,000,000:1
$174.99 and a $10 rebate makes the final price $164.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236117

So there are a few options to look at and depending on your needs you can go with one of them or just save your birthday money towards a high end video card.

I would like to eventually upgrade to a GTX 680 when I get the money so should I save up for that? Will my PSU be able to handle it and the rest of my Computer?

 

[swifty_morgan]

i agree with the 1st responder. you don't need anything. your processor is the limiting factor. an SSD sounds good but not really needed. no need for more ram. doubt you're running into any problems there.

how's about a new game ? steering wheel ?

 

[Penley54]

i agree with the 1st responder. you don't need anything. your processor is the limiting factor. an SSD sounds good but not really needed. no need for more ram. doubt you're running into any problems there.

how's about a new game ? steering wheel ?

Could I get a 3 monitor setup with my Video Card? I already have a good 1080p monitor so could I buy 2 more with out losing much performance? If I did lose performance how much would I lose?

 

[inzone]

The card that you have now will support up to 5 monitors so you should be ok for gaming on three , you might take a hit on performance but not so as you would notice. A couple fps would not be noticeable.

 

[swifty_morgan]

how are you going to get 2 more monitors with your budget ?

I'm no expert on 3 monitor systems but I think there's more involved than a card that will run them and I think you need 3 of the same monitors to keep problems top a minimum and other unforeseen hardware that's needed for hooking them up. Not very cost effective.

as far as the card goes......... more is better with multi monitor setups. At least 2 of you 6870 if they come with 2gigs of vram each and I personally wouldn't even try it with lower end cards because the speed won't be there......... THEN......... think about that puny processor...............

 

[Penley54]

The card that you have now will support up to 5 monitors so you should be ok for gaming on three , you might take a hit on performance but not so as you would notice. A couple fps would not be noticeable.

So your saying I would only be losing a couple of fps and nothing else? Also my Video Card has 1gb of v-ram if that helps.

 

[inzone]

The Eyefinity software that comes with AMD cards will handle the three monitor setup without any additional hardware or increased power supply all on one card.

 

[Penley54]

how are you going to get 2 more monitors with your budget ?

I'm no expert on 3 monitor systems but I think there's more involved than a card that will run them and I think you need 3 of the same monitors to keep problems top a minimum and other unforeseen hardware that's needed for hooking them up. Not very cost effective.

as far as the card goes......... more is better with multi monitor setups. At least 2 of you 6870 if they come with 2gigs of vram each and I personally wouldn't even try it with lower end cards because the speed won't be there......... THEN......... think about that puny processor...............

I can get two of the same monitors that I have for $200, so it is a little over my budget but I didnt think my VCard could handle it so it didnt come to mind. So do you think my VCard would be able to handle it or should I just go with an ssd or something like that?

 

[inzone]

I personaly like having a SSD for the OS drive and you could actually do a SSD and 4gb of ram upgrade. But it's your money and your computer so it is up to your preference as to what you want to do. You could also save your money and aim for a highend video card later on with some more saving.

 

[Penley54]

I personaly like having a SSD for the OS drive and you could actually do a SSD and 4gb of ram upgrade. But it's your money and your computer so it is up to your preference as to what you want to do. You could also save your money and aim for a highend video card later on with some more saving.

Would my psu and cpu support a gtx 680? That is the video card Iwould like to upgrade to when I have saved up enough money.

 

[swifty_morgan]

IF YOUR CARD HAS 1GIG OF VRAM IT'S A SHOT IN THE FOOT WITH THREE MONITORS.

 

[inzone]

A GTX 680 will require a 550w psu that has 38 amps on the +12v rail. Your psu has two rails with 25a on each so you would be fine with that psu. The cpu should also be ok and if need be you can always overclock it.

 

[Penley54]

A GTX 680 will require a 550w psu that has 38 amps on the +12v rail. Your psu has two rails with 25a on each so you would be fine with that psu. The cpu should also be ok and if need be you can always overclock it.

What would you guys recommend me to upgrade? Do you think I would be better off just getting an ssd and maybe some RAM or saving up for a new video card? What do you think would be more "future proof"?

 

[Zanarias]

I'm not the best at this, but you don't really need to upgrade anything. If I had to choose, it'd be the RAM or SSD.

I recently went from 4 gigs of RAM to 8, and did notice an actual difference in a few of the more intensive games; I can also alt-tab out of games a lot easier now than I could previously.

You're pretty well off though.

 

[inzone]

If I had to choose between a SSD and additional ram then I would choose the SSD. I do think however that you could do both if you shopped around a little bit and got a sale or rebate. Saving up for a new highend video card would depend on the card and how long it would take you to save.

 

[erunion]

Could I get a 3 monitor setup with my Video Card? I already have a good 1080p monitor so could I buy 2 more with out losing much performance? If I did lose performance how much would I lose?

Assuming you are running the monitors at their native resolution, you would have 3x the pixels so would have 1/3 the fps (roughly).

 

[inzone]

??

 

[danimal_the_animal]

i have the same motherboard except that it is the d3 and not a ud3.

if it were me..... would throw in two more sticks of Ram to bring it up to 8gig and then unlock your CPU....i have heard that all triple core CPU's can be unlocked to quad cores.

the CPU unlock is free and the additional memory is only 30 bucks.

I would go for a 120gb SSD......I have used patriot pyro se's on these motherboards and they work excellent. here is a link to a thread on toms hardware with all the details on setting one up.

I have used other SSD's but the patriots will work really well on your motherboard!

either that or get an 8 core CPU...i have an fx-8120 running at 4.6ghz and is screams!

 

[danimal_the_animal]

oops

link to thread

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/345810-31-finally-system-years-thoughts-advice#t2597345

 

[Penley54]

i have the same motherboard except that it is the d3 and not a ud3.

if it were me..... would throw in two more sticks of Ram to bring it up to 8gig and then unlock your CPU....i have heard that all triple core CPU's can be unlocked to quad cores.

the CPU unlock is free and the additional memory is only 30 bucks.

I would go for a 120gb SSD......I have used patriot pyro se's on these motherboards and they work excellent. here is a link to a thread on toms hardware with all the details on setting one up.

I have used other SSD's but the patriots will work really well on your motherboard!

either that or get an 8 core CPU...i have an fx-8120 running at 4.6ghz and is screams!

I like the patriot pyro se 120gb but it alone is over my budget... is there a good 120GB SSD for around $100-130? I know that is pretty cheap for an ssd but I would like to be able to upgrade my Ram also so I need to find an ssd around that price range. Also how can I find out how much space my Windows 7 takes up? Depending on that will decide how big of an ssd I would need.

 

[Penley54]

Also would I be better off just buying another 7200 rpm drive as I am almost out of memory as it is? How big of a difference is there between a 7200 rpm drive and an ssd?