Considering an upgrade

M

mryerse

2[H]4U
Joined
Jan 29, 2005
Messages
2,121
Current System:

Crappy Ultra ATX full tower case
Crappy Ultra PSU
Intel DX38BT motherboard
Q6600@3GHz
VisionTek 4850
8GB memory, some g.skill from newegg I beleive
2x 640GB WD blacks striped and short-stroked. OS partition and Data partition.
1x 500GB drive for backup of pictures/documents.
HP ZR24W (1920x1200), so I'm not looking to run 2560x1600

Main objectives:
1) replace case. I hate this ultra case. Makes working on my computer a frustration.
2) replace PSU. It already died once and had to get replaced and I'm just waiting for it to die again.
3) Add in an SSD. Looking at the Intel X25-M 80 or 160. Would like the 160 but it might cost a bit much
4) come up with a better data strategy. My main need is to store my bluray rips and ISO's from technet. If I lose the data it's not a huge deal, but I'd like to get rid of the 500GB drive too minimizing the number of drives in the system. NAS would be ideal but I cannot do a garage NAS in my apartment so I'll keep the storage internal for now. Thinking of two 2tb drives mirrored.
5) better video card for gaming

Upgrades I'm considering:
LIAN LI ARMORSUIT PC-P50 - $161.48 (I love lian li cases)
XFX P1-750B-CAG9 Black Edition 750W PSU - $132.99 (Want modular, efficient, reliable. Don't think I need 750w but at this price it seems like a good buy)
Intel 80GB X25-M - $206
2x WD20EARS 2TB drives - $260
Unsure of the video card. Seems a 5850 would suffice but a 5870 would be nice for longevity.

If I budget about $300 for the video card I'm looking at around $1060. Need to keep under $1100. Would like to go 160GB SSD and 5870 but I don't think that's in the cards this time around.

Although in mid June I'll have another $450 so I was thinking go for 160GB SSD now, leave the 4850 there, and add in a 5870 in June.

Haven't even considered replacing the motherboard/proc/ram. Don't really think it would get me much performance to upgrade those yet. At least not in comparison to SSD and video card. And the case/PSU are the main priorities.

Thoughts?
 
Well it looks like both SSD and GPU prices won't be dropping by the time you get that extra $450 in June.

So I say go for the SSD first.

The upgrades you're considering sounds fine to me.
 
Thanks. So you think leaving the MB/CPU/RAM is not a bad idea? I was wondering if having an SSD that is Sata II on a MB that is Sata I would be a performance bottelneck. Seems even if it is it won't be much. Also, I know i7 is much faster, but for the cost it just doesn't seem worth it compared to what I can get out of other parts.
 
mryerse said:
Thanks. So you think leaving the MB/CPU/RAM is not a bad idea? I was wondering if having an SSD that is Sata II on a MB that is Sata I would be a performance bottelneck. Seems even if it is it won't be much. Also, I know i7 is much faster, but for the cost it just doesn't seem worth it compared to what I can get out of other parts.
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Well, the MB/CPU will be a bottleneck for a HD 5870 but fine for a HD 5850. Still a capable setup.

And yeah, a Core 7 upgrade would not be that much of a improvement to justify the costs. Unless you're going for Crossfire.

Also, your mobo has SATA 3Gb/s, not SATA 1.5Gb/s, so the SATA 3Gb/s SSD will still work just fine.
 
Okay, thanks. It seems to me that there isn't much reason right now to buy a 5870 unless you want to run 2560x1600 or more. I'm planning to keep my new HP ZR24w which is 1920x1200.

So I'm looking at the Sapphire 100282-3SR. I noticed there are a number of 5850's, and it seems the main difference is some are clocked a bit faster. Wouldn't it make sense to buy the lower speed one and overclock it? Or is there something else I'm missing with the higher priced 5850's that I'm missing?
 
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Pretty much go for the cheapest but still well supported and well warrantied HD 5850 and overclock it yourself. Definitely go with the cheapest XFX HD 5850 you can find since XFX offers a lifetime warranty and excellent customer support.
 
The Sapphire can be found for $299 plus 12% bing CB at tigerdirect. The XFX can be found for $335 with 2% bing CB from ZZF.

Maybe it has a better warranty, but is it really worth the $60?
 
mryerse said:
The Sapphire can be found for $299 plus 12% bing CB at tigerdirect. The XFX can be found for $335 with 2% bing CB from ZZF.

Maybe it has a better warranty, but is it really worth the $60?
Click to expand...

The XFX HD 5850 can be had for $310 from Newegg. So the difference is about $45 instead of $60. It's really up to you man if the the lifetime warrany and excellent customer support is worth the extra $45.
 
I went with the xfx. The main reason is that I decided to pay a bit more to order from newegg so hopefully it is here sooner. They seem to ship pretty quick to Washington and I'd like to get the parts by the weekend. Also went with a 160gb Intel SSD instead of 80. And a 650w PSU not 750.
 
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