Need some advice on an upgrade...

[valdier]

My current system specs are listed below. The issue is, my motherboard seems to be having problems, losing USB port functionality constantly and causing problems with my SSD drive.

Without going overboard, I think the easiest fix is just a new motherboard. I don't think I would be gaining much out of a processor upgrade and my video card still seems to be letting me run at ultra settings in most games today. Can I ask for some advice on this?

http://apps.facebook.com/tomsbuilder/12430

My current gaming rig
My CPUs: Intel Core i7 Quad-core I7-860 2.8GHz Processor
My Memory: Corsair CMD8GX3M2A1600C9 Corsair Memory 8G DDR3 1600 2X4G Dominator Platinum
My Video Cards: XFX Radeon HD 5870 Graphics Card
My Motherboards: Asus P7P55D-E PRO Desktop Motherboard - Intel - Socket 1156
My Storage: Intel 520 Series Internal 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (SATA III)
My Storage: 2 x WD Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1 TB Internal Hard Drive - Bulk

My Cooling: Zalman CNPS10X Extreme CPU Cooler
My Monitors: Asus VS248H-P Black 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor (1920x1080, 19:9, 2ms, DVI/HDMI)
My Sound Cards: Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Sound Card
My Mice/Trackballs: Logitech MX Performance Wireless Laser Mouse
My Keyboards: Logitech G110 Black Gaming Keyboard
My Windows (Family..: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate

 

[sixsamuraisoldier]

yes, motherboard is the way to go, however, might i suggest, ah, a gpu upgrade

 

[valdier]

yes, motherboard is the way to go, however, might i suggest, ah, a gpu upgrade

Do you have a suggestion on either one? The GPU I have stuck with because I just haven't had a need for more graphics power yet... I suppose it wouldn't hurt, just wouldn't provide anything I need currently (I still pull 40-60 fps on average in games like MWO at ultra)

 

[aevm]

If you want to upgrade the CPU, I'd suggest you get an LGA 1150 board and an i7-4770k CPU. You get about 50% more CPU performance.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/108?vs=836

You should first determine if you need a CPU upgrade. Have you ever seen your CPU usage reaching 100% in Task Manager? Check, next time you do something more intensive. If you're never reaching 100% on your current CPU, a faster CPU wouldn't bring you any benefits. For example instead of compressing a video in a minute on the i7-860 with CPU usage at 50% you'd compress the same video in the same one minute on the i7-4770K with CPU usage at 30% or whatever.

If you decide you don't need a CPU upgrade, just buy another LGA 1156 MB and reuse your i7-860, of course.

The same thing for your video card... If it's doing fine in your favorite games, keep it. Wait until some new game comes out that you really like and the card can't handle it properly, then upgrade it.

 

[valdier]

If you want to upgrade the CPU, I'd suggest you get an LGA 1150 board and an i7-4770k CPU. You get about 50% more CPU performance.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/108?vs=836

You should first determine if you need a CPU upgrade. Have you ever seen your CPU usage reaching 100% in Task Manager? Check, next time you do something more intensive. If you're never reaching 100% on your current CPU, a faster CPU wouldn't bring you any benefits. For example instead of compressing a video in a minute on the i7-860 with CPU usage at 50% you'd compress the same video in the same one minute on the i7-4770K with CPU usage at 30% or whatever.

If you decide you don't need a CPU upgrade, just buy another LGA 1156 MB and reuse your i7-860, of course.

The same thing for your video card... If it's doing fine in your favorite games, keep it. Wait until some new game comes out that you really like and the card can't handle it properly, then upgrade it.

A little more specifically, I am looking for advice on an LGA 1156 motherboard. I currently have two drives in a Raid setup on my current board, but they are neither striped or spanned actually. (Just under the BIOS they are configured that way). Would this be a problem when switching to a new board?

Thanks