Need help deciding upgrade path for my current PC.

[Neutralman]

I just recently discovered these wonderful forums and have been educating myself on new forthcoming technologies. I am really excited about changes like BD, Ivy Bridge, 22nm GPUs, etc...

Here is my predicament! In a month, I am going on a foreign trip for 2 weeks and plan on doing lots of video recording in 1080p. I plan on moving these recordings onto my desktop, editting them, and burning them onto blu-ray media.

Based on that main usage, as well as some medium gaming, what do you guys think I should upgrade in my current desktop?

Monitor: Alienware AW2210 21.5 inch
Case: Full Tower NZXT Zero 1 Aluminum Body
Motherboard: ASUS X58 not sure of serials...
Operating: Windows Vista 64bit
CPU: i7-920 2.66ghz
GPU: Nvidia GTX 260
Power Supply: Corsair TX 750watt
Ram: 8gb 1333ghz Ripjaws
Hard Drive: 320gb 7200rpm
Cooler: Coolermaster V8

Do I need a new motherboard/cpu, windows 7, SSD, video card, or anything else? Should I upgrade something now, and wait for new technology on other parts? Any input is greatly appreciated!

 

[Slugbait]

Maybe get a second hard drive, probably 1TB. I'd recommend a Spinpoint.

The best value right now on a burner is the Sony for $100 shipped, and it comes with five discs: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827118050

You might wanna consider upgrading to Win7.

Other than that, your machine is more than capable.

 

[BoomerD]

You'd gain a bit by changing your boot O/S drive to an SSD, but unless you're going to drop big bucks into one of the faster 1366 CPU's, you're looking pretty good. If you do enough gaming to justify upgrading your video card, then there are some good deals to be had for that as well.

 

[dma0991]

A bigger HDD to store all that HD videos would be nice. A 1TB or 2TB HDD is pretty cheap now.

 

[Neutralman]

Thanks for the great suggestions! I just went ahead and ordered that sony blu-ray burner. Right now looking into Windows 7. Does anyone know why this version is cheaper

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-754-_-Product

Should i buy this one or the "full" version which costs $80 more. Let me know thanks!

 

[dma0991]

What you are buying is the OEM version. The retail version will cost more obviously. What OS are you running with currently and why do you need to change it? :hmm:

http://www.computerforum.com/162215-windows-7-oem-vs-retail.html

 

[Slugbait]

It's cheaper because it has fewer capabilities and fewer features. Most people can get by with the Home Premium edition, but compare and figure it out for what you need. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/compare

edit: I thought you meant Ultimate OEM (same difference in price..)

 

[Neutralman]

What you are buying is the OEM version. The retail version will cost more obviously. What OS are you running with currently and why do you need to change it? :hmm:

http://www.computerforum.com/162215-windows-7-oem-vs-retail.html

Thank you, that answers my question. I am switching from Vista to 7 because right now my laptop has win7 while desktop uses vista and I notice win7 is much easier to use.

 

[Davidh373]

Vista X64 is windows 7 at this point. As long as you've got SP1, it will be identical in performance to Windows 7's initial release.

Now one thing I might recommend is a GPU upgrade in a year or so.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

What program will you use to edit your 1080p vids? If Adobe PP Pro CS5, you will want to take advantage of the Mercury Playback Engine and get a GTX card. If you can afford a GTX 480, I recommend one.

 

[mfenn]

About the only things that rig needs are some more storage (already addressed) and a GPU upgrade. I'd suggest the 6950 2GB as a good performing, reasonably-priced upgrade. I did the GTX 260 -> 6950 2GB upgrade myself and it provided a very nice performance boost.