Looking for upgrade advice!!

[pous]

Current System: e2180, 2gb G.Skill DDR2 800, nVidia 8600gt, 380w Antec PSU
Resolution Gamed At: 1280x1024

Here's the question:
Keeping it cheap, what should I upgrade 1st, 2nd, etc?

I've been thinking of this:

e5200 ~70
3870 or other card ~100
2gb additional ram ~35

So roughly $200 in upgrades.

Please don't jump in and say to upgrade PSU right away, I've used that PSU to power my OC e5200 + 4850 for several months with no problems. I just want to know if I'm getting the best value/upgrade possible for $200.

Use of this computer will be gaming, Assassin's Creed, CoD 4, etc etc. The 8600gt can run all these games, but I think it'd be nice if my brother could crank up the settings 😉

I tried to be as specific as possible, if I was unclear on something please let me know.

 

[Stiffex]

You dont need to upgrade your RAM, unless you use "Photoshop" or other RAM intensive apps and do a lot of multi-tasking, 2GB is all you will need. Of course Vista 64 bit would utilize 4GB of RAM but you dont say which O/S you are using.

Your PSU is fine unless you plan to SLI or xFire your GFX cards anytime soon, and ANTEC make very good PSU`s, just remember to blow some compressed air through it every 3 months or so. My daughter has an Antec PSU & an Intel 2180 in her system, no probz at all.

I think you need to upgrade your graphics card and the "Power Colour HD 4670 1GB DDR3" is the best value for money and will play all your games on max settings at your rez, it will even play Crysis on high settings at that rez.

The Intel E5200 is another one of those top bang for buck parts that you wont regret buying and seeing as how your budget allows for these 2 items i would say "go for it". I would def get the E5200 because you get low power consumption & 45nm technology which will let you overclock from 2.5 to 3.2ghz very easily and with a decent cooler like a TRUE or some such, you could get to 3.6 on air with ease.

Another way you could go is by choosing another Graphics card, the 4770 is only slightly more than the 4670 but the 4770 is better for XFire but if you added a second in the future you would definitely have to upgrade your PSU so at the moment i think you can get the 4670 & E5200 with your budget but you may have to increase your budget slightly if you go for a 4770.

 

[fullmetall]

Well first, what motherboard do you have... all these things will run off this and before we know whats compatible we need all information.

 

[pous]

Sorry about this. It's running xp Pro.

Mobo is GA-p35 ds3L that was so popular last year, so dual card is out of the question.

Thanks for your advices.

 

[fullmetall]

2gb you have should be alright, get the e5200 and a 4770, if you want to oc, make sure you have a descent aftermarket cooler.

 

[orangejulius]

i know you said not to say psu, but i just wanted to say psu.

sorry i get a kick out of that. 😱 lol

do cpu first i think, then ram/video card
you can't enjoy a game with a good video card if you can't get it running with a good cpu
and you can't keep it running well without some nice ram to add thinking room.

 

[megamanx00]

That 380W Earthwatts is a good PSU 😀. Anyway a 3870 isn't really worth the money when a 4670 provides about the same performance for less and the 9600GT is faster. My suggestion would be to put in a 4850, and buy an aftermarket cooler to overclock the CPU. If you wanted to upgrade the CPU anyway then for the video card I say go with a Radeon 4830 as they are around $90 now.

 

[pous]

Hmm, so 4830 for $90, that sounds nice.

Also... $70 or so for the 5200... so that leaves $40 for a cooler, which will be the AF7Pro ^__^ I like it.

I think that's all I need, as long as everyone agrees that this will be the best way to spend my money.