Best Price/Performance Upgrades for this system??

[kenfmn]

Hello,

I built my last rig in 2009 and am contemplating some upgrades. Here's the current system:

-AMD Phenom 2 X4 955 BE
-Stock Cooler
-ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X
-Western Digital WD Blue WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
-8gb G Skill 1600 Ram
-XFX HD-489A-ZDFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16
- Thermtake 750w PSU
- Antec One Case
- Win 7 64Bit

I'm definately replacing my video card, planning on going with a radeon 7850. Then I started thinking about upgrading to an i5 or FX6300. After doing research and looking at benchmarks, it seems like my 955 is more than sufficient to last a while longer.

Would I see performance increases or other benefits in upgrading the mobo? Would it make sense to wait until prices drop on i5's or i7's to upgrade? Would I be better off spending money on a SSD for the time being?

My computer is hooked up to 46" tv and is used for gaming (nothing too crazy) and media streaming/general computing. I would have about $350-400 to spend on upgrades.

Any advice would be appreciated; I am confused as to what makes the most sense for me to do!!!

 

[manofchalk]

Depends on where you want more performance. For gaming then a GPU upgrade is the obvious place to start. Beyond that it would be a processor upgrade, which will probably mean a whole platform upgrade.

If your after just better general usage, then maybe an SSD is a good option.

 

[Guest]

-Stock Cooler

best price/performance upgrade would be to replace that when you get a 7850 and overclock that 955 BE.

have you considered an SSD?

 

[kenfmn]

-Stock Cooler

best price/performance upgrade would be to replace that when you get a 7850 and overclock that 955 BE.

have you considered an SSD?

I am definately considering an SSD at the moment; I live by micro center and they usually have pretty good deals on them.

Would it make sense to upgrade the motherboard to a 990fx for the ability to drop in a new processor down the road and also are newer chipsets easier to o/c? Or is there not enough performance increase on a new mobo to warrant spending the $120?

This is what I'm looking at now: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=13-130-650&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=4#scrollFullInfo

 

[Guest]

I am definately considering an SSD at the moment; I live by micro center and they usually have pretty good deals on them.

Would it make sense to upgrade the motherboard to a 990fx for the ability to drop in a new processor down the road and also are newer chipsets easier to o/c? Or is there not enough performance increase on a new mobo to warrant spending the $120?

This is what I'm looking at now: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=13-130-650&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=4#scrollFullInfo

i honestly couldn't tell you the difference of overclocking between two different AMD chipsets. though i believe it has been confirmed that steamroller, the next AMD cpu, will be using the AM3+ socket; it would help with future upgrading if you stick with AMD.

but for a performance difference with the same CPU; aside from a "possible" higher/more stable overclock, i doubt there is a difference.

 

[kenfmn]

i honestly couldn't tell you the difference of overclocking between two different AMD chipsets. though i believe it has been confirmed that steamroller, the next AMD cpu, will be using the AM3+ socket; it would help with future upgrading if you stick with AMD.

but for a performance difference with the same CPU; aside from a "possible" higher/more stable overclock, i doubt there is a difference.

Ok -- Thanks so much for the help. I think I'm going to drop in the 7850, new cpu cooler, and a SSD for now and save the extra money for upgrades down the road. Off to micro center I go!

 

[Guest]

you're welcome, have fun shopping and look for a "year end" deal"