• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Most worthwhile upgrade for my system

O

OVerLoRDI

Diamond Member
I have come into some money to spend on my system (up to $500) and I have some ideas about what I should upgrade but I'm not sure what will give me the most bang for my buck.

My system is:

Phenom II X4 940
8gb ddr2
160gb SATA boot drive
3x 1tb SATA drives for storage
500gb WD Black for games
Radeon 5850 1gb
Nvidia 7600gt for 2nd and 3rd monitor
Asus Xonar Essense STX and Sennheiser HD555s
24" 1920x1200 BenQ LCD
19" Dell CRT running at 1280x960
15" Dell LCD 1024x768

The first thing that comes to mind is replacing the CRT and small LCD with 2 more of the 24" BenQ displays, which would give me more screen space and open up options for eyefinity. But sadly the BenQ fw241p monitor I have is no longer in production and 1920x1200 displays tend to be very expensive.

Besides displays I could replace my very old and slow boot drive with an SSD but really my computer stays on most of the time so the boot drive only annoys me the few times I have to load up windows and firefox.

Or I could do nothing, which is looking like possibly the best option.
 
Nice system. The two suggestions you listed and declined (SSD and eyefinity) were frankly my top two. I honestly don't seen how you'd get a significant improvement for 500$ with any sort of component change from that system. An i5 750 setup would run you at least 500$ for a new mobo/ram/CPU, and wouldn't really be worth it.

My vote: See if it's possible to grab two more matching BenQs, if so, pounce, if not, SSD.

But if you feel like keeping the money, there's always something better around the corner.
 
I really can't see much upgrades there. It looks like an already upgraded system. 😛
coming to point, If you really want to spend then you can get a AMD x6 with MSI pro x58 E USB3 motherboard.
 
Yeah that was my thought too, SSD would probably be the best but I still think bang for buck wise I should wait a bit longer on buying an SSD.

I guess I'll buy some cigars or save it for next wave of cool hardware/games
 
Yeah if you are fine wih the current OS drive keep it and wait for the next round of ssd. No need to spend money if your basicaly ok with your system.
 
OVerLoRDI said:
Most worthwhile upgrade for my system


I have come into some money to spend on my system (up to $500) and I have some ideas about what I should upgrade but I'm not sure what will give me the most bang for my buck.

Or I could do nothing, which is looking like possibly the best option.
Click to expand...
You're asking us to speculate on what purchase would make the most sense for your situation.
But you've left out one critical component... Your Situation!

You have failed to inform us as to how this PC is being or will be used.
Intensive HD video editing... Pure gaming... Normal internet box... Audio editing & production... CAD work... Office machine... Futures trading... Pure numbers crunching... Etc etc etc.

At this point all we can do is spin our wheels and guess as to what would give you the biggest bang for your buck.

Help us, help you! 🙄
 
Last edited:
I'd like the same kind of advice on what I should upgrade or increase in my rig. Most intensive thing I do with my rig is video encoding. Mostly used for web surfing, playing music and HD video. I'm not gamer but my vid card is almost 3 years old so I've been looking at that or adding another 4GB of Ram.
 
perdomot said:
I'd like the same kind of advice on what I should upgrade or increase in my rig. Most intensive thing I do with my rig is video encoding. Mostly used for web surfing, playing music and HD video. I'm not gamer but my vid card is almost 3 years old so I've been looking at that or adding another 4GB of Ram.
Click to expand...

Only thing I can think of would be a 1055t (eats video encoding, drop in upgrade).
 
Sp12 said:
Only thing I can think of would be a 1055t (eats video encoding, drop in upgrade).
Click to expand...

One of the first things I looked at but considering most of the vid I encode is about 25 minutes long each taking less than minutes to encode, it makes it difficult to justify.
 
perdomot said:
One of the first things I looked at but considering most of the vid I encode is about 25 minutes long each taking less than minutes to encode, it makes it difficult to justify.
Click to expand...

Then at that point I think you're best off waiting. Your system seems to be a good match for your needs.
 
Sp12 said:
Then at that point I think you're best off waiting. Your system seems to be a good match for your needs.
Click to expand...

That's what I keep telling myself. I am looking seriously at bumping up my ram to 8GB but I'm waiting for a good sale.
 
perdomot said:
That's what I keep telling myself. I am looking seriously at bumping up my ram to 8GB but I'm waiting for a good sale.
Click to expand...

Eh DDR2 is old tech, I'd be a bit hesitant about investing in it as it's nontransferable to a new build, and really not any cheaper than DDR3 for what amounts to slower, more energy hungry ram.
 
Blain said:
You're asking us to speculate on what purchase would make the most sense for your situation.
But you've left out one critical component... Your Situation!

You have failed to inform us as to how this PC is being or will be used.
Intensive HD video editing... Pure gaming... Normal internet box... Audio editing & production... CAD work... Office machine... Futures trading... Pure numbers crunching... Etc etc etc.

At this point all we can do is spin our wheels and guess as to what would give you the biggest bang for your buck.

Help us, help you! 🙄
Click to expand...

That was kind of a fail on my part. I use my machine mostly for gaming, but my computer lives in the same room as I do so heat and noise are a major concern.
 
Sp12 said:
Eh DDR2 is old tech, I'd be a bit hesitant about investing in it as it's nontransferable to a new build, and really not any cheaper than DDR3 for what amounts to slower, more energy hungry ram.
Click to expand...

You are right but the thing is that I have a good mobo(785G) that uses DDR2 and don't want to get rid of it because the new AMD 8xx series doesn't have enough features to justify the expense of switching. I'd have to sell my mobo and ram for at least $200 just to break even and then another $100 to get the extra 4GB of DDR3 ram. Just doesn't seem like it would be worth it.
 
perdomot said:
You are right but the thing is that I have a good mobo(785G) that uses DDR2 and don't want to get rid of it because the new AMD 8xx series doesn't have enough features to justify the expense of switching. I'd have to sell my mobo and ram for at least $200 just to break even and then another $100 to get the extra 4GB of DDR3 ram. Just doesn't seem like it would be worth it.
Click to expand...

I think Sp12 is saying that you should stick with 4GB for now and put the money towards your next build.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top