What should I get with $300?

[beardedvillain]

Alright, so I have $300 to spend during Christmas time and I am trying to decide on two options:

1. Get a second 7950 (I have a low tolerance for frame rate, so if I am below 55fps average I just consider the game unplayable. Getting a second 7950 may prevent that with many games like Skyrim or BF3/Sleeping Dogs... But, then again, Nvidia and AMD will likely roll out their next set of GPU's next year.



2. Get a 128gb SSD and a Das mechanical keyboard. (I have never had an SSD before, nor a mechanical keyboard, so it may or may not change my computing experience tremendously outside of playing games. Plus I would have around $100 left over after purchasing both)

So what do you think? Should I get a second 7950, or is an SSD/Mechanical keyboard going to improve my computing more? I am also open to other opinions on what I should get. I'm sure most of these items will be on sale during christmas time; on the off chance that 7950's go on sale for $200~ I would be able to get that and an SSD.. but the odds of that happening are probably not very high.

 

[prototype18]

Well a SSD wil give you a great boost. No load times and great boot timing.Personally i would get the SSD as 55+Fps are really good

 

[ttcboy]

One quick note, does ur mobo have another PCI-Ex16 slot or ur PSU have enough power/connector for the second card ?

If yes and u don't mind slow window and game loading time, get another card.

With SSD, u can boot window under 30sec and start using it as soon as u reach the window screen and dun even need to wait for other start-up programs to load up. 128GB is quite good to install OS and a few games but it won't be able to hold ur complete library. I normally install the games/programs that i play/use most on the SSD and others on the HDD.

 

[burritobob]

Go with a 2nd 7950 just be careful about the microstuttering that can happen from CrossfireX/SLI that is when the gpus dont "sync" you could say and the frames happen at odd times, making it look like you are losing frames. Also some games dont support CrossfireX/SLI so just be careful with that.

If you really want performance computing in general go with just an SSD save the rest and buy a next gen AMD card the 7950 is great as is, if you are experience lower than 55 fps OC the card depending on brand you can go pretty far.

 

[arcticle]

Which do you prefer? 5 extra FPS, or a computer that is in general MUCH faster?

SSD without a doubt.

Just bought a Samsung 840 250 GB with a free copy of Far Cry 3 for $170. Im sure you can buy a SSD with more than enough room to transfer your entire HDD to for $300.

 

[lostgamer_03]

Which do you prefer? 5 extra FPS, or a computer that is in general MUCH faster?

SSD without a doubt.

Just bought a Samsung 840 250 GB with a free copy of Far Cry 3 for $170. Im sure you can buy a SSD with more than enough room to transfer your entire HDD to for $300.

extra 5 fps? Come on. We're talking serious business here.

I would get another GPU, it's already a beast, Imagine 2 of those beasts just terring through every game as if they were butter. We're talking increase of about 90% performance.

SSD won't make anything but loading times faster, and then you can't have everything on your SSD. It doesn't affect framerates or any Visuals, and as I can see you like gaming, and not just gaming, quality gaming.

You could wait until next year with buying a new GPU, but I doubt any of the flagships GPUs can compete with 2 x 7950.

If your PSU and MOBO allow it then go for it!

 

[arcticle]

For gaming, an SSD will improve very little. Games that are level based will obviously have much quicker loads when the level starts, but if you play seamless gaming world type games, having an SSD will cut down on the stuttering when going to new zones and the like. However, for general computer use, it's advantages over a HDD will be much more evident. And anyways, you can make up for lower FPS while gaming by lowering the settings. You can not lower any setting to make you PC faster.

With an SSD, your PC will boot faster, it will consume less power, it will make no noise, it will read / write data multiple times faster, it will last longer before failures begin to occur.

Cheers.

 

[sam_p_lay]

Lostgamer_03 is right that the gain from Crossfire would be significant (maybe not noticeable, but significant on an FPS counter!) but what Artcticle says is true that there's a lot more noticeable benefit to be had from using an SSD. I wouldn't even consider using a computer without one now (even my computer at work I made sure had an SSD). And I certainly would never put any files you can't afford to lose on a hard disk. Couldn't say about mechanical keyboards, but I suspect it's a gimmick, like gaming mouse (even though I own one for some reason...).

 

[arcticle]

If you do plan on getting a mechanical keyboard, do not get a Razer. Razer products do have horrible build quality...