Advice on my current build

[SlammerBurgr]

I am a newer member and I think it is about time I post up my build. Tell me your thoughts, maybe help me prioritize my purchases.

My MB is a Gigabyte GA-MA77OT-US3, kinda of an old product but seems to work well

CPU: AMD Phenom x6 1055T 2.8GHz (stock cooler I do not overclock)
GPU: NVIDIA GTX 660 TI (I caught some flak for that one, let me tell you)
RAM: 4 x 2GB samsung 667 ( I just realized how slow that is)
HDD: 1TB Hitachi ATA (this thing needs to go but I can't find my Windows 7 disc so I can't replace it!)
Optical Drive: Samsung Blu Ray
PSU: Mercury Monster Series 600watt

obviously I need some new stuff, but where do I start? Is my motherboard CPU combo good for another year? Any other advice would be great also. Just let it all out, I made this a discussion because there isn't really a particular question. Keep in mind I do run a little on the cheaper side, keep it reasonable for a good gaming experience.

Thanks for reading

 

[maui67]

It would really help to know what your budget is in order to determine where to put the money. Also, why do you want/feel you need to change anything right now?

At first glance, I would suggest a new cpu, mobo, and ram. If this is for gaming primarily, you could base the upgrade around an i3. Of course, if you change the mobo you'll also have to get another copy of Win7 (or find the disk).

What resolution is your monitor?

 

[SlammerBurgr]

It would really help to know what your budget is in order to determine where to put the money. Also, why do you want/feel you need to change anything right now?

At first glance, I would suggest a new cpu, mobo, and ram. If this is for gaming primarily, you could base the upgrade around an i3. Of course, if you change the mobo you'll also have to get another copy of Win7 (or find the disk).

What resolution is your monitor?

I don't really have a set budget because I am not doing a new build I am just upgrading some parts on my current build.

My board supports 1600 ram I definitely want to upgrade that, the question is which ram I suppose.

Are you telling me that an Intel i3 would be an upgrade from my current x6 1055T?! I thought it was at least on par with a quad core sandy bridge i5. I mean I can run modern games as is, I just want to know generally where I stand with this build.

My monitor is 1900 by 1080, I just bought my 660 TI, that was my first upgrade so I am gonna stick with it for a while.

 

[maui67]

My apologies, you are correct. The i3 isn't any better than what you have, especially when you factor in the cost of new mobo and ram. However, it isn't quite on par with an i5 SB. But again, I don't think the difference in performance is enough to validate spending the money on a new cpu, mobo, and ram. I think the 1055T will be fine for at least another year, longer maybe if you decide to overclock it a little.

An SSD would be a good investment. Or, if you don't want to lose your current install I could suggest a Crucial Adrenaline cache drive. Not as fast as a pure SSD drive, but a lot faster than HDD alone. I couldn't believe the difference in my system. Boot-up used to take 30+ seconds, now I am into Windows in about 14-15 seconds. All the applications that I use on a regular basis load much faster as well. For instance, Outlook used to take about 10 seconds to load, and now it loads in about 2-3 seconds.

 

[SlammerBurgr]

My apologies, you are correct. The i3 isn't any better than what you have, especially when you factor in the cost of new mobo and ram. However, it isn't quite on par with an i5 SB. But again, I don't think the difference in performance is enough to validate spending the money on a new cpu, mobo, and ram. I think the 1055T will be fine for at least another year, longer maybe if you decide to overclock it a little.

An SSD would be a good investment. Or, if you don't want to lose your current install I could suggest a Crucial Adrenaline cache drive. Not as fast as a pure SSD drive, but a lot faster than HDD alone. I couldn't believe the difference in my system. Boot-up used to take 30+ seconds, now I am into Windows in about 14-15 seconds. All the applications that I use on a regular basis load much faster as well. For instance, Outlook used to take about 10 seconds to load, and now it loads in about 2-3 seconds.

thanks maui, I am going to look into some SSDs, I have heard that they are great for load times if games are installed on them.

I was thinking about overclocking, but some advise that my MOBO's VRM wouldn't be able to take the heat. Second opinion?

Other than that I guess I am at a bit of a stand still, I ordered some 1600mhz hyper RAM, but if I can't overclock my cpu with my current MOBO then I am stuck till my next build, which will probably be this time next year (depending on the release of Haswell!)

 

[Bolivious]

An SSD is the most significant upgrade you can make to almost any system. Do you have your Windows 7 Key? If you do, you can bum a Windows 7 disc long enough to just install it on the SSD and then give it right back.

 

[SlammerBurgr]

An SSD is the most significant upgrade you can make to almost any system. Do you have your Windows 7 Key? If you do, you can bum a Windows 7 disc long enough to just install it on the SSD and then give it right back.

Yeah the key is right there on the system info screen, someone recommended that I download a Windows 7 ISO file furn to DVD the boot from that and use my key, but I am a noob and I don't know how to do that haha. I found the download but I don't know what program to use to put the image on a disc, or if it would work for that matter.

If it will work then I will replace my old drive while Im at it, that thing is making all kinds of noises, can't be good. The OS key is bound to the MOBO right? so as long as I keep the same MOBO I am fine using the same key, is that correct?