What to upgrade next?

[orangejulius]

so the ultimate question..

what to upgrade next?!

(off the top of my head)

I have:

19" lcd
evga 8800gts 512
e6750 @ 3.0 o.c. -24/7 with freezer pro
2x1 gb OCZ ram @ 800
380Gb western digital
(2) cd/dvd burner reader writer w/e you want to call them(s)
Raidmax Smilodon case (black and blue)
OCZ psu 700w
gigabyte S-series mobo model number GA-.... something
running Windows XP home 32bit
Firefox & Google Chrome
most demanding games i own are Grid, Mirrors Edge, Crysis, COD4, 5, and maybe Mass Effect?
I have the demo of cryostasis - b.a. btw, but VERY demanding for my system.



what would you guys suggest, the most "bang for your buck" upgrade would be for me?
i've heard maybe 64 bit operating would be better, or more and faster ram maybe 1066, and maybe better video card?

what do you guys suggest?

my mobo does not support sli unfortunately...

 

[hunter315]

What do you spend most of your time doing? Gaming mostly or video and photoediting as that is what determines what the best upgrade is? If its gaming you would probably be best off with a video card upgrade. What resolution is your monitor?

 

[orangejulius]

1280 1024

i normally do gaming
however i have been doing much rendering lately, which is more cpu based so i guess that doesn't matter so much in terms of video card. I just graduated as an architectural major, and so i don't know if i'll necessarly need to render on my own pc but for now gaming is the most demanding i assume.

I do graphic designs occasionally on my wacom tablet, and sometimes that is demanding to create the right effects, but no video editing for me.

 

[orangejulius]

so yeah gaming.

so video card eh?

 

[Fortunex]

Get 2 more GB of RAM, and maybe a faster processor. The 8800GTS 512 is still a good card, and should play most of the games you have fine at your resolution. If you were to upgrade it, I'd go for nothing more than a 4870 until you get a larger monitor. At 1280x1024, the 4870 is gratuitous overkill, if you're looking at bang-for-buck, try finding a 4770 in stock, or one of those cheap 512MB 4850s.

Your CPU is already overclocked, so you wouldn't see much difference going to a faster dual core (E8400/8500) unless you OC'd them quite high. Your best bet then would be either a Phenom II x4 940 or x3 720. The 940 is a quad core, which will help in rendering, but the 720 is AM3, is cheaper, and supports DDR3 RAM for future upgrades, should you choose to do that.

 

[orangejulius]

thank you i will take your advise into my consideration for future plans

 

[dirtmountain]

Just a graphic card. HD 4870 or a GTX260

 

[Andraxxus]

Yeah a graphic card. This: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130433 or this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801

 

[nocteratus]

I'd do the following upgrade in that order:

1-add 2Gb or 4Gb of ram with Windows 7 64bits (free until June 2010)
2-change monitor to at least 22" widescreen.
3-change video card to a min of 4870 1Gb/ GTX 275. or GT300/5870 if the timing is right.
4-add WD 640Gb hdd.
5-maybe a c2q cpu.