Upgrade an existing build?

[jlarson69]

I built my current computer in late 2008 and haven't had any problems with it at all, but I figure it's time for an upgrade.

-Western Digital WD VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000
-Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor BX80570E8500
-Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
-PC Power and Cooling S61EPS 610W Continuous @ 40°C EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS
-G.SKILL PI Black 8GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) y
-XIGMATEK HDT-S1283
-Western Digital WD Blue WD10EALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
-ASUS EAH6850 DC/2DIS/1GD5/V2 Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16

This is what I would like to ugrade with:
-CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
-GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
-Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W
-Mushkin Enhanced Chronos MKNSSDCR240GB 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
-XIGMATEK LOKI SD963

I plan on keeping the PSU, the storage hard drive, the case, and the 3D card(for now).
Is 16 gb of RAM worth it, or is 8 gb enough? Is my old PC Power and Cooling PSU up to the task?
Will I notice a big difference with the SSD compared to the Velociraptor?

 

[cuecuemore]

What are you using the system for? If you're gaming, then 8 GB will do fine, if you're running VMs or doing some sort of intensive professional work, then 16GB might work better. Your PSU should be fine. The SSD is a massive upgrade, you should notice a difference almost everywhere.

 

[jlarson69]

Gaming, web browsing, and watching movies are what I primarily use it for.

 

[manofchalk]

Get 8GB then, your usage doesn't require any more than that. Also I advise getting the Low Profile Vengeance RAM, that way you wont be restricted in future heatsink choices.

You PSU should be fine unless its 3 or more years old, then it should be replaced.
Big difference between an SSD and the Raptor. The main advantage of SSD's have is access times, which no matter how fast a HDD is, will still be significantly lower (think its 10ms for HDD, under .1ms for SSD's).

 

[cuecuemore]

I'd go for 8GB and I'd get these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147096
They'll outclock any kit that you can get for even twice as much.

 

[manofchalk]

^
I'd say they overclock more than other kits because they are quite low clocked to begin with. Timings in the 11 range.

 

[cuecuemore]

They're also a lot higher quality than other kits. They hit 1866 C9 at stock voltage, and most can hit 2133 C9 at under 1.5v.

 

[jlarson69]

Thanks for the advice, I will be going with the Samsung memory. Although, I still haven't ordered my system as the Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals weren't that great. I did get a OCZ Vertex 4 256 gb for 160 on Amazon though as a start.
Is that Gigabyte motherboard a good choice or would the GA-Z77X-D3H be good enough?