Help With Upgrade

[adstal]

Current Rig
E4400 OC'd to 2.5 ghz
Asus Ip35-E
6gb DDR2 PC6400
Good 500w PS (Forgot the Brand)
300gb Sata HD
Geforce 7950GT
Samsung 23" Monitor P2350 resolution - 1920X1080
Antec 900 Case
Lite on DVD burner

1. What YOUR PC will be used for - My main reason for upgrading is to be able to play newer games. My machine cant handle "Star Wars the Force Unleashed" or other new games.

2. What YOUR budget is - ~500

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from. - US

4. IF YOU have a brand preference - Current machine is intel, machine before that was AMD. I guess I really dont care

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are - Monitor, Case, PSU, DVD Burner, HD

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads - yes

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds - currently overclocking so I will prolly OC

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with - 1920X1080

9. WHEN do you plan to build it - Within the next month

I was pretty sold on the I5 Intel processors but ive been reading and the AMD chips are being recommended alot for bang for the buck builds. So Im starting to lean towards AMD. Also I have no clue when it comes to GFX Cards. As you can tell by my 7950gt its been awhile since Ive purchased one. Thanks for the help

 

[MisterDonut]

AMD P2X4 955BE: $165
Gigabyte AM3 UD3P (Egg is out of stock, Directron is in stock): $82
ATI 5770: $150
G.Skill ECO DDR3-1333: $110

You can opt for the i5, but the AM3 socket leaves the option of Thuban open, if you ever need a beefier processor. An Intel hexacore would cost a hell of a lot more. It would perform a hell of a lot better, but it's not speed you'd miss regardless.

EDIT: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.353083

This is a good combo for a motherboard + processor

 

[mfenn]

Athlon II X4 620 $100
ASUS M4A77D $80 (before $10 MIR)
G. Skill DDR3-1600 4GB $106
Radeon 5850 $280
Total = $566 before MIR

That's about 10% over your budget, but I think the 5850 is worth it over the 5770 or 5830 when gaming at 1080P. Needless to say, either build proposed thus far will be quite a bit faster than what you currently have.

 

[MisterDonut]

5850 is a bit beefy @ that rez for anything other than Crysis ;P. Either way though, I believe we've been recommending the same build to everybody who's under $1k, haha.

 

[mfenn]

5850 is a bit beefy @ that rez for anything other than Crysis ;P. Either way though, I believe we've been recommending the same build to everybody who's under $1k, haha.

That's true about the GPU, but considering that the OP has a 7950, it seems like he tends to keep things for a while! The 5850 will be a capable card for longer, and like I mentioned, it's only about 10% more up front.

I have noticed that we've been recommending basically the same parts (you with the 955 and me with the 620). Great minds think alike I guess. :awe:

 

[MisterDonut]

That's true about the GPU, but considering that the OP has a 7950, it seems like he tends to keep things for a while! The 5850 will be a capable card for longer, and like I mentioned, it's only about 10% more up front.

I have noticed that we've been recommending basically the same parts (you with the 955 and me with the 620). Great minds think alike I guess. :awe:

Duly noted. I wouldn't have thought about that 🙂. What am I thinking right now :awe:?

5850 will truck through anything you throw at it. Better than Optimus can 😱

 

[adstal]

thanks for the info. thats a big help. If i understand correctly fenn is recommending a little less processor and a little more video card and donut is recommending the opposite. I generally upgrade every two years but just got a little delayed this time. So I think i'm going to go for the p2X4. Is there a video card that is between the 5770 and the 5850 that is worth the money? I like to play games but realistically I might be able to play once a week so I'm struggling to justify the 5850. thanks

 

[mfenn]

thanks for the info. thats a big help. If i understand correctly fenn is recommending a little less processor and a little more video card and donut is recommending the opposite. I generally upgrade every two years but just got a little delayed this time. So I think i'm going to go for the p2X4. Is there a video card that is between the 5770 and the 5850 that is worth the money? I like to play games but realistically I might be able to play once a week so I'm struggling to justify the 5850. thanks

There is the 5830 at $240, but it's not as good of a value proposition as the 5770 or 5850. If you don't get to play that much, you might as well go with MisterDonut's build because the 955 will be faster than the 620 in general use.

 

[Magusigne]

So...I'd just buy a Q9550 from microcenter.

Sell your old chip for what..40 bucks? Sell your old card or keep it as a back up.

Buy a 5770= win for cheap.

No major upgrade required.