Upgrade?

[tfredro]

What a great community. I am learning a lot! I am considering doing some upgrading to my current 3 year old system. Here are my current specs:

Intel Core i7 2.66ghz (with stock fan -- never really overclocked)
Biostar TPower X58 MB
Corsair 750 W TX Series 80 SPU
6 GB Corsair DDR3 Memory
XFX FeForce 260 Core Edition
Asus DVD burners x2
1 TB WD Caviar Black HD
640 gig WD Caviar Blue HD
ATI TV Wonder HD 650 Dual Tuner
HAF 932

The machine has treated me well, but I could use some expert advice.... What could I / should I upgrade to gain system performance while getting the most bang for my buck? Any suggestions?

Thanks all!

By the way, I'd like to keep any upgrades around $500...

 

[Overclocked Toaster]

This depends what you are using your computer for, and what sort of performance issues you are facing that make you want to upgrade.

Since you have a gaming card, I am assuming you want to upgrade for gaming. The upgrade that makes most sense for you is to get a new gpu. a 6950/560 ti would be a great upgrade that is still jighly cost-effective and will cost you only about $250. I do not recommend upgrading anything else as it would probably be a waste of money. you may look into overclocking your cpu.

 

[tfredro]

Thanks for the quick reply. This is my gaming PC. On occasion I feel like there is a bottle neck somewhere in my system as, at times, it seems to take too long for a program to open or even show that it is opening. Not really sure where the problem lies. Do you think it would be worth it to try different higher performance RAM?

You would be correct to assume that I want to upgrade primarily for gaming (but lets face it, upgrading is fun and you always want to have the best system you can). Thanks for the advice on the graphics card. Anyone heard any rumors about what is coming out later this year and when? Would it be worth it to go ahead or should I wait?

 

[addison]

I think all you need is a new video card such as a 560ti, ati 6950, ati 6870 or geforce 470. Those are great specs. Also get a new CPU fan such as the hyper 212+ and overclock that i7 bad boy up!

 

[Overclocked Toaster]

Thanks for the quick reply. This is my gaming PC. On occasion I feel like there is a bottle neck somewhere in my system as, at times, it seems to take too long for a program to open or even show that it is opening. Not really sure where the problem lies. Do you think it would be worth it to try different higher performance RAM?

You would be correct to assume that I want to upgrade primarily for gaming (but lets face it, upgrading is fun and you always want to have the best system you can). Thanks for the advice on the graphics card. Anyone heard any rumors about what is coming out later this year and when? Would it be worth it to go ahead or should I wait?

I`m not sure what is causing slowdowns in your computer, but I doubt it is hardware related. You should try things like defragging your harddrive and checking for malware.

as for graphics cards, there`s always a new generation every year or two. the next one is coming late 2011 or early 2012 probably. It is expected to be a pretty big jump. if you are satisifed with your current performance, I would wait, otherwise I would simply upgrade now. its up to you, really. but the rest of your system I would definitely hang on to for at least until intel`s Ivy Bridge processors come out.

 

[tfredro]

Best answer selected by tfredro.

 

[tfredro]

Thanks guys. I will try the defragging and such. Pretty confident I don't have any malware or virus crud... but it wouldn't hurt to check. I thought maybe it was either the RAM or the Biostar MB... It has always seemed a little funny... even after I've reformatted.... maybe I have a driver issue or something too?

Anyways, thanks again!