Budget performance increase?

GeneralJim25

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Sep 1, 2012
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Ok, so in the past few weeks, i have disassembled and reassembled my PC more times than anyone should ever have to while trying to troubleshoot the most complex issues (i fixed them all, no thanks to this forum). right now, my computer is basically back at the state it was when i built it:

-Phenom II x4 965 BE (w/Stock cooler atm)
-EVGA Geforce GTX 560 SE
-8 gigs Corsair Vengeance ram
-700w OCZ ModXStream PSU (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4362115&CatId=2533) important to the question...
-500 gig SATA III WD HDD
- Generic cheap dvd drive lol

so im basically limiting myself to a budget to upgrade and repair some of the things that have plagued my system over the past 2 months. $330 MAX

i will be replacing my Phenom II x4 with an FX 8120 (used it, like it, only MY opinion matters, not yours)

i had an h60 till my computer was reading both processors at above 90c and shutting down on me. upon further tweaking i discovered the h60 was the issue (im running at 33c idle on stock cooler with the Phenom II atm). so while this is mainly about a GPU, your opinion on what i should get MUST include either an h80 or h60.

now i have two lists im looking into. feel free to share your opinions on these.

Option 1 (newegg) this is the option in where i plan on SLI'ing the two 560 se's together to try to get higher frame rates (single monitor) will the psu support this option?

1x EVGA Geforce GTX 560 SE ($129)
1x SLI cable ($20)
1x Corsair H80 ($100)
total $249

Option 2. in the long run, i intended on buying this card anyways, becuase im aware of the limits of my current card. this is from tigerdirect (in the future, i will upgrade my PSU to be able to run 2 GTX 660s in sli)

1x 2gb PNY Sig Series GTX 660 ($249)
1x Corsair h60 ($75)
total $324

if you have better ideas, im all ears. which options would go with? also, any left over parts i have, i intend to use to build another spare pc out of that i may sell or give to a family member or friend lol im too nice sometimes :p
 

vegettonox

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Oct 11, 2006
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Option 1 shouldnt even been on the table, a single 660 will destroy 2 560s easily. I recommend you wait till the holidays to upgrade, as you can probably get something even beefier for the same price like a 7950
 

GeneralJim25

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Sep 1, 2012
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i tend to buy my parts all together, so i generally dont have to wait that long to have my pc in full fighting form. not everyone in this world is patient, i definately know im not lol. im trying to take the least amount of money right now and make it better. ive been told that the two cards together will give me performance similar to that of a 570 atleast. there is also option 2, but the newer cards are so expensive. i am a firm believer that less is more in some cases. this is one of those cases :p im not looking to run Battlefield 3 on a 70 inch screen on ultra. my goal is more ultra at 1366 x 768. with one 560 SE i achieve 30 fps on ultra (even a 1920 x 1080 i hit atleast 35 fps).

ive been thinking over this decision for days. i have till thursday to make up my mind. i know the 660 is better than my card, and even two of them. option 1 exists as a ultimate last resort, but i figure i would show it anyways. you cant deny that there would be a performance increase with a second card :p