Need Opinions on Acer Aspire E380 Upgrade

[quzle]

Hello all!
This is my current PC configuration: http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=1638772

I would like to upgrade it enough to be able to do some gaming on it, and I'd like it to run the latest games at least for a few years. I'm planning on buying a 24-25" full-HD display, so it would be great if I could play games at a high resolution (possibly 1920x1080).

What I'm planning on buying is the following:
2x 1GB DDR2 RAM cards
64GB SSD (my current HD is packing up, and the advantages of SSDs are many, so might as well...)
Windows 7 x64

The only thing missing is a graphics card. I have no idea what would be adequate for my needs, so I was hoping someone here could help me find one. My budget for the GPU is max 130€. Maybe I can stretch it to 150-170€, if it's really worth it. I live in Italy, if that makes a difference

Thanks in advance,
David

PS: I've been looking at the Radeon HD 5770 1 GB. How can I tell if my motherboard and PC configuration supports it?

 

[WR2]

Hello quzle;
What is your GPU budget if you skip the SSD and use a 500GB Samsung Spinpoint F3 or Seagate Barracuda 7200.12?

HD 5770 is not the best match for 1920x1080 monitors.

 

[quzle]

Uhm, I can probably skip the HD upgrade altogether, at least for now, as I have an extra 250GB drive. So I can probably afford a 200€ GPU, maybe even 250€, but if it's gonna cost me more than 400-500€ altogether, I'd prefer to get a new powerful laptop for around 1000€.

EDIT: A friend of mine says I should also change my mobo and CPU. My mobo definitely isn't the best (only supports 4x 1GB RAM, only has 1 PCIe slot, doesn't support OCing...), so he might be right. What do you think? This is the manual for my mobo: http://scr.bi/ik4bBm

 

[WR2]

I was thinking along the lines of a AMD HD 6850. How much are they running over there?
What power supply does your system have? How old is it?

 

[quzle]

150-160€ for the HD 6850 is the best I could find.
I'll have to replace my PSU, it's only 250W and has no auxiliary 6-pin connectors.

 

[WR2]

Yes, your current PSU won't handle a new gaming graphics card. A good 450~500W PSU is where you probably want to be looking.

What websites do you use for shopping or price comparisons?

 

[quzle]

Trovaprezzi.it is quite good, amazon.it is useless so I check on amazon.de, and ebay. If I decide to buy it I'll look around a bit more though Tomshw.it gave me 170€ as the lowest price.

 

[daship]

If you cant afford at least a 128G SSD skip it. I once bought an 80 and it filled way to fast, and I dont have very many Apps that I use.

 

[quzle]

I would install heavy apps on a secondary 500GB/1TB HD. What do you think?

And about my mobo. Do I have to change it, if I want to upgrade my PC?