should i upgrade whole pc or just video card?

[666lordinfamous6]

hey guys, quick question...

I have had an evga 680i mobo with an E6600 oc'd to 3.5ghz and a 8800gtx.... I have had this system for about 3.5 years, it has been an awesome system, but games are coming out now (such as battle field bad company 2) where i have to turn to settings to a mixture of mostly medium and one low setting @ 1680x1050 res... I'm a hardcore gamer and play games at the highest settings and do not like anything less... I would have upgraded by now, cept I am waiting for the new nvidia GTX 480 to come out within a month and my question is...

should I buy a new x55 mobo with i7 920 and all that crap that comes with it, or just upgrade only the video card to gtx 480 when it comes out?

My cpu is a CHAMP 3.5ghz at stock voltage and I dont know if its worth upgrading mobo, cpu, ram, psu, and all new coolers and stuff or just to upgrade the video card...

opinions??

THanks!
-lord

[xfxmonkey]

well... you said your a hardcore gamer. In that case i would upgrade everything, and i7 will last you quiet a few years. and the games that are coming out, and will be in the next year or two will definitely need upgraded systems.

Here's what you should do. Because you have such a sweet OC'. Just wait til the card comes out, put it in your current system, if it does the job which it should then cool! you've just held off upgrading your system for another 1-2 years.
And if the card does not get you the FPS that you need, then upgrade anyway, and you still have the card.

[666lordinfamous6]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xfxmonkey

well... you said your a hardcore gamer. In that case i would upgrade everything, and i7 will last you quiet a few years. and the games that are coming out, and will be in the next year or two will definitely need upgraded systems.

Here's what you should do. Because you have such a sweet OC'. Just wait til the card comes out, put it in your current system, if it does the job which it should then cool! you've just held off upgrading your system for another 1-2 years.
And if the card does not get you the FPS that you need, then upgrade anyway, and you still have the card.

yeah I guess it would make sense to buy it alone since I am going to buy the card anyways .. thanks for your advice bro

[xfxmonkey]

no problem just here to help. I'm surprised to hear that your current gfx card can't handle games. 8800gtx is a very good card. Have you tried OC'ing your card instead of buying a new one???
I know the 8800 series has the big gpu in them so they get hotter quicker. but if you have very good air flow you can probably get the temps down to OC it. Try to do that before putting couple hundred into new card

[666lordinfamous6]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xfxmonkey

no problem just here to help. I'm surprised to hear that your current gfx card can't handle games. 8800gtx is a very good card. Have you tried OC'ing your card instead of buying a new one???
I know the 8800 series has the big gpu in them so they get hotter quicker. but if you have very good air flow you can probably get the temps down to OC it. Try to do that before putting couple hundred into new card

haha well, here is the same cooler i got on my 8800gtx.. Imageshack - hr03passivecasefanscl8.jpg

so i have it OC'd as far as it can go, you know your stuff tho.. the 8800gtx was a beast for a looong time, even the gpu's after it were just enhanced versions of the same chip, but when the gtx 480 comes out soon, it will be a whole new architecture, thats why i waited till now to upgrade

[RacerX]

I'd definitely say card only now.
unless you're opting for a dual GPU, 3.5 is plenty for any card right now.
Not to mention plenty for pretty much everything else, minus some synthetic benchies.


once you eventually hit games that need more CPU power, then look at upgrading. by then the second gen of I7's will be out and fine tuned, not to mention the second rev of mobo's. (and cheaper for the same thing)

The only thing you may need to do, is confirm your existing power supply will handle the new card.
if not, get the biggest (high watts, high quality) you can now, that will handle the new card, and then some.

[xfxmonkey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RacerX

I'd definitely say card only now.
unless you're opting for a dual GPU, 3.5 is plenty for any card right now.
Not to mention plenty for pretty much everything else, minus some synthetic benchies.


once you eventually hit games that need more CPU power, then look at upgrading. by then the second gen of I7's will be out and fine tuned, not to mention the second rev of mobo's. (and cheaper for the same thing)

The only thing you may need to do, is confirm your existing power supply will handle the new card.
if not, get the biggest (high watts, high quality) you can now, that will handle the new card, and then some.

Personally I think Ultra makes the most usefull psu's Ultra Products - X3 1000-Watt Energy Efficient Modular Power Supply - SLI that's the link. You only plug in the cables that you need... no messy wires to zip tie or rubber band together.

[JPMiller]

Ultra is notorious for flashy but garbage PSU's...
Some of their higher end recent offerings aren't as bad, but they are also not worth the money...
You can get MUCH higher quality and peace of mind for much less money...
Modular is mildly convenient for those that are inept at wire management, but in general, the modular design reduces the efficiency of a PSU's output...

for the money, Ultra is a bad buy... and anything that's remotely affordable from Ultra is not much better than a bomb with a faulty detonator.