Upgrading already?!

[Olo401]

So I built my new machine a few months ago:

Intel C2D E8400
XFX 680i-SLI-LT Motherboard
XFX GeForce 8600GT
Corsair 550VX Power Supply
Centon 2x1GB DDR2-800
Zerotherm BTF80 Cooler
Seagate 250GB SATA-300 HD
...and a few parts from my old machine.

It runs great now that I've got the kinks worked out (Realtek HD Audio sucks!), plays FFXI & WAR just fine without even overclocking, and does everything else I need. My boss also just got a multi-license of Adobe Suite 4 so I want to take advantage of that and learn how to use the damn thing.

My problem is that I just feel like I sold myself a little short on the motherboard and the video card. So now I'm looking to possibly upgrade both. Here's the new parts I'm considering:

Mobo: ASUS Maximus II Formula ($185 open box) -OR- Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R ($90 open box) - I'm only looking at that expensive one 'cuz it has a really awesome look and the open box discount.

ASUS Radeon HD 4830 512MB ($110 after rebate) -OR- Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 512MB ($225 after rebate)

...and also a possible memory upgrade:
Corsair Ballistix DDR2-1066 2x1GB Dual Channel Kit - $53

Comments?

[Jotaru]

Realtek HD Audio sucks!

That it does; I absolutely hate it. I still don't have those kinks worked out, and my system is a year old now

Only thing I can really mention right off the bat is; are you using Vista / XP? 32 bit OS's won't recognize more than about 3GB of RAM, so if you're using generic XP, 1gb of what you're buying will be 'wasted', more or less.

[Isiolia]

I don't see why you'd need to upgrade the motherboard. I mean, if you want something else for sound, buy a sound card.

Video card, eh, both of those are good, as would be a 4850. However, if you're not seeing degraded performance on anything you're running now, why not wait? You'll only get more performance for less money down the line.

RAM likely won't make much of a difference to you. While the previous poster is basically correct (a 32-bit OS can address 4 GB of RAM, but due to how Windows using some of the addresses for hardware access you'll get 3-3.3GB or so accessible). So if you're using that, either get a 512MBx2 kit, or just be aware that you'll only get around 1GB of your 2GB kit usable.

[Olo401]

I'm upgrading the motherboard in order to get the P45 chipset, which is newer and has a better upgrade path at the moment. The sound isn't a factor, just a gripe. Also SLI (or Crossfire for that matter) aren't factors either since I don't ever expect the need for dual GPUs, and if I ever do need it I'll just get an X2 card.

The video card is huge in this equation for me. I missed some information when I was catching up on five years of advances in tech, namely the memory interface. For the stuff I plan to do w/ gaming and gfx editing I think I'm gonna need at least a 4830.

Finally if I get the memory, it'll be a change not an addition. The board I have now supports up to DDR2-800, and either new board can support up to DDR2-1200. The memory I have now also isn't rated for performance or overclocking. Either way I'll still have 2GB.

My current OS is XP Home SP3 - 32-bit. I'm not downgrading to Vista - gonna wait for the next thing, and hope it's not shitty.

[Isiolia]

P45 is most likely a dead end, unless you're planning to upgrade your E8400 soon (which there seems to be little reason to). i7 uses a different chipset/socket, which is the more likely upgrade path if you might be looking to swap up in a year or so.

The main thing is that you'd be looking at $90 or $185 for a net gain of nearly nothing. Yes, the chipsets are newer, but the P45 was not a revolutionary upgrade or anything. Mostly just officially supports what many motherboards supported with the P35 chipset anyway.


Video card, sure, I think you'd see a nice boost with certain things. My comment was more that if you're just playing the MMOs you mentioned, and they run fine, then there's no point in spending money. If they could run better, or you're playing other games, then a better card would be nice. Personally, I've got a 4850 atm, which has been great.

That would be the logical thing to go for first, IMO.


RAM, yeah, you can go faster. It won't do a whole lot, but you can. Again, if you're looking to upgrade down the line, i7 uses DDR3, so you're investing in a dead end, so to speak.


I'd say to look at the graphics card upgrade more, but leave the other stuff. It's not the cutting edge, no, but neither is what you're looking to upgrade to.

[Calina]

My current OS is XP Home SP3 - 32-bit. I'm not downgrading to Vista - gonna wait for the next thing, and hope it's not shitty.

just so you know windows 7 is windows vista with some improvments thats it and currently if it dosent work in vista it wont work in windows 7(from the beta copys that are out right now anyway)

and i was on vista from day it came out it wasent THAT bad personaly i never had a problem i couldent solve myself in a few mins and with that sed no OS is perfect XP has problems to so does OSX and everything eles just a matter of what problems your willing to live with and deal with

[Cephius]

I'm with Isiolia, there is no reason to upgrade your motherboard. It's a waste of money. You won't see any differences going from the 680i to the P45. By all means, get the video card because you'll certainly notice a signifigant performance increase, but there's no reason to upgrade the motherboard. You won't be overclocking your memory over 800 (your CPU is the bottleneck, not the memory) and certainly not to 1200, so why get it? Support for newer chipsets is pointless if you're not going to use it.

[Epical]

Not going to repeat what has already been said, but I will add that $220 for the 4870 is a great deal.