UAU unsure about upgrading

[sancco]

I'm itching for an upgrade of my gaming rig. I can run most games fairly high but some games are too demanding on my system, and I have to mess with the graphic settings OCD style to try and get the best graphics with decent fps.

Here's my current computer:
- CPU: i7 920 @ 2.67GHz (Stock, I don't want to OC)
- GPU: Gigabyte 6950 OC 1GB
- Screen: 27' Dell screen @ 2560x1440 resolution
- RAM: Not sure, 6GB 1066 I think
- OS: 64-bit Win7
- HDD: OCZ Vertex 2 SSD
- HDD: A few WD internal storage drives
- Motherboard: Asus P6T

I think that's everything to mention. So, my research leads me to believe I need to consider the following:
- Should I wait for next generation video cards?
- Does VRAM or bit width matter considering my high resolution needs?
- Should I wait for Windows 8?
- Do I need to update my whole computer or just the graphic card?

If I was to get a new card, I don't think I'd get anything more than a 7970 or 670. If I need a whole new computer, I could afford about $2000 using www.itestate.com.au or something similiar.

It should be noted that I'm in Australia so things are fairly expensive here. Anyway, thanks for sharing your knowledge

 

[TheBigTroll]

no the video card is fine but you should have gotten the 2gb model if you were running a higher resolution monitor.

to boost your performance, try these 2 things

1: overclock the i7 920 to around 3.5ghz. might boost daily performance and in game performance
2: overclock the video card a bit more to get more performance. also,overclock video card memory as well

 

[sancco]

Yeah I should've mentioned I'm completely uninterested in overclocking. Far too much effort and stress for my liking.

So you think I won't see much improvement with one of the new generation of cards?

 

[TheBigTroll]

its just not worth it. just overclock. its so easy and a free way to unlock hidden performance. check out overclocking guides for the i7 920

you can get a new chip but its not that much of a performance increase in games