What Should I Upgrade Next?

[oobble]

Hello.

I have recently been feeling that my computer is a little slow for today's standards. I built it in December 2010. I mainly use it for gaming. My specs are:

CPU: Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Stock Intel Cooler
Motherboard: ASUS P6TD Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
Memory: Corsair CMX4GX3M1A1333C9 XMS3 4GB DDR3 RAM - PC10666, 1333MHz, 4096MB x 3= 12GB of RAM
Storage: Intel X25-M SSDSA2MJ080G2C1 MLC 80GB Internal Solid State Drive - 2.5" Form Factor, SATA II 3Gb/s
Storage: Seagate 2TB HD
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 5770
Power Supply: Ultra LSP650 650-Watt Power Supply
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS324-04 DVD/CD Writer
Monitor: Dell 2000FP 20" UltraSharp LCD Flat Panel Monitor 1600x1200

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[sam_p_lay]

That graphics card and monitor could use an upgrade, maybe the SSD too (that's actually what I have - definitely the best choice at the time). CPU is nice though! You won't see much benefit at all from what's out now. For monitor, the Dell U2412 or U2312 are brilliant displays and very competitively-priced for the quality. For graphics, the GTX660 offers amazing performance for the money. If you're feeling spendy, GTX670 is even better, but really not worth spending more than that - it's pretty much as good as a single GPU gets.

 

[FinneousPJ]

A CPU overclock would be nice though.

 

[oobble]

Thanks for the helpful responses. The thing is, in order to get a better SSD, the mobo would need to be replaced as it does not support SATA3, and then the CPU would also have to be replaced.

Would a 7850 be good? What monitor would it go with?

 

[FinneousPJ]

You don't need SATA3, SATA2 works fine with SSDs.

A 7850 is great for the price.

 

[sam_p_lay]

That's a good point - I'm in the same situation so should have thought of that 🙂 There actually were X58 boards with SATA3, it just wasn't integrated in the chipset and seems neither of us thought to buy one with it added in! You won't get much better than the X25-M on SATA2 so stick with it I guess. 7850 is OK, but it's barely any cheaper than the GTX660, provided you're looking at the 2GB model (and you really should be). Same monitors - most important thing for image quality to skip all the TN-panel displays (so the majority of them). You want an IPS-panel display, and the Dell U2312 is one of the absolute best examples for reasonable money. Aria have the U2412 (so 24" version) at £180 at the moment. I think the 23" can be had £40 cheaper.

 

[oobble]

Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[sam_p_lay]

Pleasure 🙂 Hope the upgrade goes smoothly.