Upgrading Time!

[Ejac]

So I'm wanting to upgrade my computer and wanted to see everyone's opinion. I built my desktop I'm using now about 3+ years ago. I'm basically wanting to buy something like a barebone computer. I just want to get a new MB, CPU, RAM, and video card.

Currently I'm using....

CPU: AMD Phenom 9600
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-MA770-S3
RAM: 4G DDR2 800mhz
Video: ATI 3870 (512MB) PCIe

I was just wondering what was about there for a good price with better specs than what I'm currently running. If some of you guys could make like a newegg list, then I could check that out.

[fishstix]

How much money are you wanting to spend? The cheapest route I'd take would be upgrading just the CPU and video card and it'd still be pretty respectable in current gaming. $140 for the Phenom II x4 945, and $170ish on an ATI 5770 (or idk, video cards are hard to shop for other ppl).

Going with a full upgrade, would cost you a few hundred more, so it's all based on your budget really, and how far you want to go.

[Boyiee]

If you want to spend around 1k, take a look at my thread - note: final build is nearer to the bottom.

http://www.bluegartr.com/forum/showthread.php?t=92766

I didn't build this yet, waiting.

[lovehatehero]

Ive always wanted to build my own computer cause i know you can make a better one than some premade one from the store for a comparable if not better price, but Im so clueless as to what/how much etc etc. Any tips, thing I should look out for/need to know before I go on this venture?

[Boyiee]

Here, forgot I made it public.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Pu...umber=12824285

Think I'm gonna order these parts soon, think I should wait longer for new shit to come out? Might just get the GPU in the meantime, unless I should wait on that as well lol.

[sruon]

Dunno, Nvidia often release a second version few months after original one with less TDP and less costs to produce... should make the price drop on first architecture at least.

That build is sexy btw.

[Ejac]

I had thought about just upgrading the video card. I've been playing Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and last night for some reason it just kicked me to the desktop. Before that I was having white screen of death problems. I updated my drivers and changed a few settings in game, but that didn't help at all. So I uninstalled and reinstalled the game and that seemed to fix the problem. I do ALOT of computer repair work, but I don't keep up to date on the latest hardware that comes out.

I don't have any problems running other programs. I'm running windows 7 ultimate for my OS, with two 22" screens side by side for an extended desktop. I was hoping there might be something that was a customer favorite I could buy for not a retarded amount of money. Something that might pack more of a punch than what I have now, for a reasonable price.

[fishstix]

Well, upgrading just the video card would give instant improvements up to a point with newer games. The first generation Phenoms aren't the best, but you could go with upgrading the card and see how well it performs first, before moving along with upgrading other parts. I'm not really up to speed with video cards since the ati 5x series came out, but what you pick is also pretty budget based

[Boyiee]

The problem with my build is I was just looking to upgrade a few things (comp is like a year old but I wanted to get off my c2duo) and it turns out thats a whole new computer lol.

So the graphics card alone is what I was looking at, 480's are sick but just too much money if I decide to get the other parts as well... so the 470 looks good. But like I said, not sure if it was worth waiting or just grabbing it right now cause I'm happy with that price.

[Olo401]

Well you've got quite a few options here. Your board can support a bunch of different AM3 processors which is a big plus. You are limited to DDR2 memory, but that's not too much of a bottleneck right now.

If you're on a budget, I'd recommend just doing a CPU and video card upgrade, which you can do comfortably for about $300.