Time to Upgrade! Not sure what needs it though.

[Holesto]

Okay so I'm tired of buying new games and them running like complete dog doo so it's time to upgrade! Only problem is I'm not sure what is still decent in my rig (if anything) and what needs to go. First I'll list my rig.

Motherboard: A8N-SLI Deluxe
CPU: AMD FX-55
Video: eVGA 6800 Ultra(2 running in SLI)
RAM: Corsair Ballistix PC3200
HD: Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10,000 RPM
OS: Windows XP Home edition

I'm thinking a lot of my problem is the video cards but I may be wrong. I only get around 30FPS in loaded areas in World of Warcraft, I can't play Warhammer Mark of Chaos at all because it's too choppy even at low graphics settings, and I dare not even try to run Bioshock or Crysis on this computer. I was looking at some 8800GT video cards at Best Buy today for about $280, but I wasn't sure if that was a good deal or if I should buy 2 for my SLI MOBO.

Basically, in a nutshell, all I want is to be able to play my games at high(maxed if possible) graphics and be able to play new games like Bioshock, COD4, and Crysis at high or max settings. Any comments or suggestions would be much appreciated cuz I am getting VERY frustrated with my rig. It was great back a few years when playing Doom 3 but now it's gettin sluggish. HALP MEH!

[Cricket]

How much RAM do you have?

How much free space do you have on that hard drive?

When you're playing your games do you notice the hard drive activity LED blinkiing constantly?

Cricket

[Holesto]

I have 2 GB of the RAM. I have about 46-50GB free on the HD and while playing WoW, no, It doesn't blink constantly.

[scythe_god]

Do you have a budget? if so, how much?

[Dave21]

What powersupply do you have?

You might also want to look at the new 9600 cards that came out, or even consider the 9800 when it is released in a few weeks if you want to really futureproof your rig. Otherwise, the 8800gt will be good for you.

[Holesto]

Power Supply is an Enermax 535W PSU.

As on the budget, I'm not really sure at the moment, just wanted to get an idea on what all would need replaced in the PC before I started seriously looking at parts. I've been out of the PC parts world for too long and I'm rather lost on all the new hardware.

Is the 9800 going to be a lot faster than the 8800GT? And will it cost an arm and a leg to buy it?

[Dave21]

I've read that the 9800gx2 will cost 449 USD. It will be 30% more powerful than the 8800 ULTRA. So in my opinion that is a pretty good deal. For those who bought the 8800 ultra when it first came out, it's still top of the line. So the 9800 will be definitely worth it.

However, I think your processor and HDD will be a bottleneck for the videocard upgrade.

[Holesto]

449 is a little more than I wanted to pay for a video card but we'll see what happens. What kind of processor and HDD would you recommend? I've read Intel is destroying AMD right now so I'll probably get an Intel. Need new RAM? New PSU?

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by Dave21 I've read that the 9800gx2 will cost 449 USD. It will be 30% more powerful than the 8800 ULTRA. So in my opinion that is a pretty good deal. For those who bought the 8800 ultra when it first came out, it's still top of the line. So the 9800 will be definitely worth it. However, I think your processor and HDD will be a bottleneck for the videocard upgrade.

If the 9800gx2 will be 30% more powerful than the 8800 Ultra, wouldn't it be about the same as the HD3870X2 in performance? It will cost about the same also, so it should be an interesting comparison between the two.

[alex530]

If you got an Intel, you would need a new motherboard. Check out the E6750 or the E8400. Is your RAM DDR or DDR2? First pick out your video card (Make sure you have a PCI express slot free), then we could recommend a power supply. In general, Corsair and Antec are very good. For a HDD, check out Western Digital or Seagate. IMO, 500GB is the sweet spot right now for space v. price.

[Holesto]

For a processor would you guys recommend a 2 core or a 4 core processor? Is it really worth it gettin a quad core right now?

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by Holesto For a processor would you guys recommend a 2 core or a 4 core processor? Is it really worth it gettin a quad core right now?

If you plan on using your computer for a longer time, 4 cores is the way to go, for most programs/games it is slightly slower than a higher clocked (usually slower, Supreme Commander for example will get a decent boost when using quad core), but as more programs become multi-threaded, you have the 4 core processors starting to become faster than 2 core processors even when the 2 core processor is clocked higher. The Q9000 series from Intel should be out next month, these are quad cores on a lower manufacturing tech (45nm), so they'll be faster than the current quad cores, and run cooler also while costing about the same as the current Intel quad cores.