Building off *upgrading further* two gamings that I built last October

[MraK]

Haven't been on AT for a while and haven't checked for any new stuff till now. My main question to ask rather than adding more nonsense questions is: Is there anything I should add to better upgrade my rigs to live up to the games today or am I still pretty ok with what I got???? >>>see below:

Rig # 1

Intel i7 920 *processor*
EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 SLI LE *motherboard*
6GB 1600mhz Corsair Dominator *memory*
Creative Soundblaster Xfi *soundcard*
Evga GTX 285 2GB *videocard*
850W Corsair *psu*
Coolermaster V8 *cpu cooler*
Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit *OS*
Lian Li P50 *casing*

Rig # 2

Intel i7 920 *processor*
ASUS P6T *motherboard*
6GB Corair XMS3 1600mhz *memory*
(2) Evga GTX 275 1792MB in SLI *videocard*
850W Corsair *psu*
Thermalright TRUE black edition *cpu cooler*
Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit *OS*
Lian Li X500 *casing*

I felt a need not to input the harddrives or optical drives in the list since my main focus is on what i need to upgrade *that's if i really need to* to meet or surpase current gaming standards.

Hope anyone could give me some tips or recommendations

THANKS IN ADVANCED!

 

[VirtualLarry]

The only thing faster for gaming than an i7 920 is an i7 980X, Intel's hex-core, for $1000 a pop. Not worth it.
Your rigs are fine, IMHO.

The next big upgrades happen in 2011, Sandy Bridge for Intel, and Bulldozer for AMD.

 

[modestninja]

The only large performance increase you'll see in the vast majority of games would be from upgrading the graphics cards to 5850 CF, 5870 CF (or maybe just one), a 5970, gtx470 SLI or gtx480 SLI (or maybe just one).

 

[somethingsketchy]

Outside of an overclock (if haven't been performed yet)? Follow VirtualLarry's advice and wait until the new architecture comes out.

 

[mfenn]

What you've got right now is pretty damn fast. Unless you want to go 5870 CF or GTX 480 SLI, you're not going to see much of a boost.

 

[MisterDonut]

Ok, the LAST (and I mean APOCALYPTIC LAST) thing you need to do is to upgrade either rig for gaming. Maybe a bump up to Win7, but you can very likely even skip Sandybridge, as games will hardly be held back by an i7-920 for a very, very long time. Maybe a bump up to DX11, but those cards should still smash anything that's out so far.

 

[MraK]

Thank you all for your tips and advice, as for video cards I was leaning to only doing that as to thinking that I'm pretty much still in the current state of things. Its just been a whole year since I've seen some new or upcoming technology regarding PC gaming or what not.

I heard some things from some local guys, here where I live, that Windows 7, although having DX11 still has some bugs to work with. Video cards aside, would I see a significant difference when using 7 over Vista *btw as far as I can see vista still works for me unless I'm just confused lol* when gaming or working with installed applications?

I read that the new Nvidia cards are smoking and yet the only thing you'll see in increase in performance is roughly 20% over what cards I'm using, I personally think shelling out a couple of hundreds would not be worth it. One of you guys said to wait till say spring of next year for another video card line up. Do any of you guys know first hand as to what's planned for 1st quarter next year???? *video card*

THANKS AGAIN!

 

[MisterDonut]

I've heard rumors both on AT and off about an upcoming 6xxx series in late 2010. I'd probably wait and see what they can do before spending anything on a new card. Fermi is fast, yes, but I personally don't want my cards loading at 91c while I'm gaming. It's safe, but it bugs the hell out of me. Even if you were to "upgrade" (though it wouldn't really be too much of one), ATi would be your best friend on the market. Unless your current cards are struggling with what you need them to do (and not for one measly game like Crysis), leave 'em be.

Oh, as for OS, Win7 > Vista. That is all.