Current:
ABit GD8 Pro
P4 3.6Ghz
2Gb Kingston DDR2 533Mhz
Geforce 8600 GT
Mid-level Upgrade:
ASUS P5Q Pro
Intel Core 2 Duo e8400 3.0Ghz 1333Mhz FSB 6MB Cache
2Gb Corsair DDR2 1066Mhz or 4GB 800
ATI Radeon HD 4850 or Geforce 9800 GTX+
Thermaltake Pure Power 500W PSU
--------------------------------
Total: ~560
High-End Upgrade
nForce 780i (has SLI but no DDR3) or an Intel x38 (no SLI but has DDR3. could go
Intel Core 2 Quad q9550 2.8Ghz 1333Mhz FSB 12MB Cache
4Gb Corsair DDR2 1066Mhz or 4Gb Corsair DDR3 1333Mhz Depending on MB
Geforce GTX 260 or Radeon HD 4870
--------------------------------
Total: ~1000
Right now, as lousy and old as my setup is, can handle Crysis on Med/High settings in general but has to be lowered to all Medium at best in the more intense areas. I was going to do a full, high end upgrade but I don't really see the point or need based on my casual-medium gaming habits and the fact that my current system actually gets the job done (CoD4 is fine for example). Due to that I started looking at a mid level upgrade but I'm not sure if that will be enough of an upgrade to be worth it. On the other hand, aside from Crysis not much at the moment needs the high end build, although who knows what will come next and the high end build will have superior longevity. The options for SLI/CS are nice but I would be unlikely to ever need it and I'm partial to Nvidia. Any thoughts on how much of a performance boost the mid level upgrade would really be? Would it be worth it? Thanks
ABit GD8 Pro
P4 3.6Ghz
2Gb Kingston DDR2 533Mhz
Geforce 8600 GT
Mid-level Upgrade:
ASUS P5Q Pro
Intel Core 2 Duo e8400 3.0Ghz 1333Mhz FSB 6MB Cache
2Gb Corsair DDR2 1066Mhz or 4GB 800
ATI Radeon HD 4850 or Geforce 9800 GTX+
Thermaltake Pure Power 500W PSU
--------------------------------
Total: ~560
High-End Upgrade
nForce 780i (has SLI but no DDR3) or an Intel x38 (no SLI but has DDR3. could go
Intel Core 2 Quad q9550 2.8Ghz 1333Mhz FSB 12MB Cache
4Gb Corsair DDR2 1066Mhz or 4Gb Corsair DDR3 1333Mhz Depending on MB
Geforce GTX 260 or Radeon HD 4870
--------------------------------
Total: ~1000
Right now, as lousy and old as my setup is, can handle Crysis on Med/High settings in general but has to be lowered to all Medium at best in the more intense areas. I was going to do a full, high end upgrade but I don't really see the point or need based on my casual-medium gaming habits and the fact that my current system actually gets the job done (CoD4 is fine for example). Due to that I started looking at a mid level upgrade but I'm not sure if that will be enough of an upgrade to be worth it. On the other hand, aside from Crysis not much at the moment needs the high end build, although who knows what will come next and the high end build will have superior longevity. The options for SLI/CS are nice but I would be unlikely to ever need it and I'm partial to Nvidia. Any thoughts on how much of a performance boost the mid level upgrade would really be? Would it be worth it? Thanks