Here are my desktop specs:
Nvidia 8800 GTS 512MB
4GB RAM
Intel Core 2 Quad OC'ed to 3.0GHz
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster 2232BW Plus
If my budget is, say, $400 or less, what would be the best way to upgrade this system? I think I put it together about 2 years ago and it still runs newer games like a champ (IMO), but I think it's time for an upgrade. I thought about moving to an i7 but I think the inconvenience of a new motherboard and all that would be too annoying... Do I even need to upgrade my processor? And then the RAM, I don't think more than 4GB is really necessary for video games. So I guess that would leave me with the video card - I'm considering the GeForce GTX 470, any thoughts there? I would really like to run Call of Duty: Black Ops at the highest possible settings at 1680x1050. I'm behind the times when it comes to computer hardware so if I said anything ridiculous or ignorant please let me know... It wasn't intentional lol.
Also, my CPU overheated so bad yesterday that my system shut down... I reseated it, tried again a few hours later and it turned off even faster. I decided it must be cheap thermal paste or improperly applied thermal paste so I went out to Best Buy and they only had a brand I had never heard of - bought it ($10, no big deal), applied it, and when I turned my computer on, within two minutes of idling it was at 100 degrees celcius . So I'm basically at a wtf moment there. I've ordered some Arctic Silver 5 from Amazon and it'll get here Tuesday... Hopefully it will be better than this Best Buy trash...
Thank you in advance for any answers to my many questions.
Nvidia 8800 GTS 512MB
4GB RAM
Intel Core 2 Quad OC'ed to 3.0GHz
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster 2232BW Plus
If my budget is, say, $400 or less, what would be the best way to upgrade this system? I think I put it together about 2 years ago and it still runs newer games like a champ (IMO), but I think it's time for an upgrade. I thought about moving to an i7 but I think the inconvenience of a new motherboard and all that would be too annoying... Do I even need to upgrade my processor? And then the RAM, I don't think more than 4GB is really necessary for video games. So I guess that would leave me with the video card - I'm considering the GeForce GTX 470, any thoughts there? I would really like to run Call of Duty: Black Ops at the highest possible settings at 1680x1050. I'm behind the times when it comes to computer hardware so if I said anything ridiculous or ignorant please let me know... It wasn't intentional lol.
Also, my CPU overheated so bad yesterday that my system shut down... I reseated it, tried again a few hours later and it turned off even faster. I decided it must be cheap thermal paste or improperly applied thermal paste so I went out to Best Buy and they only had a brand I had never heard of - bought it ($10, no big deal), applied it, and when I turned my computer on, within two minutes of idling it was at 100 degrees celcius . So I'm basically at a wtf moment there. I've ordered some Arctic Silver 5 from Amazon and it'll get here Tuesday... Hopefully it will be better than this Best Buy trash...
Thank you in advance for any answers to my many questions.