Phased upgrade of Gaming Computer

[BofRA]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. Surfing Net, Torrenting and Playing WoW

2. What YOUR budget is. $450 now and another $450 spread out over several months

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from. USA

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. None

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are. Will List and explain below

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

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds. Overclocking once fully built

8. WHEN do you plan to build it? Starting now


OK I answered the obligatory questions. Now for the explanation. Here is my current system:


AMD x2 3800
Asrock 939 dual sata 2 motherboard
2Gig DDR-400 Ram
Seagate 150Gig Sata HDD
WD 500Gig external HDD
Lite-on IDE DVD-ROM
EVGA 8600GT
Thermaltake 430W powersupply (does not have connectors for new Video Cards)
Random case

I am limited to what I can spend right now to $450. I am looking at replacing half the system now and the rest later. Which half would give me the best bang for the buck now?

Intel E8400
P45 motehrboard
4Gig G Skill DDR2 1066

or

XFX Radeon 4870 1GB
Thermaltake 650W Powersupply
Antec 900 case

The rest of the stuff like DVD, HDDs and extra cooling will come once the above stuff is done.

 

[fourdegrees11]

I would do the cpu/mb/ram upgrade first

 

[alcoholbob]

You can sell your CPU/mobo/ram for $250ish on ebay.

 

[Denithor]

Originally posted by: fourdegrees11
I would do the cpu/mb/ram upgrade first

Normally I would agree with this - CPU/RAM has more impact on fps in WoW than in most games. However - he's chugging along on an 8600GT - that's gotta be the first thing to upgrade.

But why not just do both?

Intel e5200 $70
Gigabyte EP45-UD3R $115 - $20MIR
G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2-800 $43
MSI 4870 1GB $195 - $20MIR
Corsair 650TX $95 - $20MIR

Total: $518 - $60MIR = $458

OC the e5200 to 3.2-3.5GHz (easy on this board) and WoW won't slow down for anything. Except possibly the recent crush of people that we saw on launch evening with the 3.1 release. I'm running on a setup very similar to this (e7200 @ 2.53GHz, 9800GTX+) and everything runs smooth as silk at 1920x1200 with all eye candy turned to the max.

:thumbsup:

 

[theAnimal]

E5200 $70
Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L $53
2x2GB Corsair DDR2 800 $30AR
Antec 900 $120
OCZ Fatal1ty 550W $45AR

Then sell your current components and buy the video card.

 

[BofRA]

Well I might go with the E5200. Only reason I was leaning towards the E8400 was to overclock it to extend the "life" of it till games really start making full use of quad cores.

 

[morkman100]

Originally posted by: Astrallite
You can sell your CPU/mobo/ram for $250ish on ebay.

How can he sell those components for $250?!?

 

[Hacp]

Ok, if you're just playing Wow, why do you need to upgrade your CPU and graphics? You'd probably be happier spending the money on a SSD.

 

[TotalLamer]

Originally posted by: Hacp
Ok, if you're just playing Wow, why do you need to upgrade your CPU and graphics? You'd probably be happier spending the money on a SSD.

I wouldn't say that. I run WoW on the rig in my sig, and I can still drop to high 20's for FPS in Dalaran at prime-time. Granted WoW doesn't take advantage of CrossFire, but that would still give me what's effectively a single 4870 1GB for that game, which is no slouch. 3.0 with the new shadows, among other things, really screwed with the game's performance. A 8600GT would be painful.

 

[Hacp]

Originally posted by: TotalLamer

Originally posted by: Hacp
Ok, if you're just playing Wow, why do you need to upgrade your CPU and graphics? You'd probably be happier spending the money on a SSD.

I wouldn't say that. I run WoW on the rig in my sig, and I can still drop to high 20's for FPS in Dalaran at prime-time. Granted WoW doesn't take advantage of CrossFire, but that would still give me what's effectively a single 4870 1GB for that game, which is no slouch. 3.0 with the new shadows, among other things, really screwed with the game's performance. A 8600GT would be painful.

Then he could upgrade to one of the new 4770 thats comming out. His board still has Pci-E. High 20s in terms of fps is very good. Wow isn't a first person shooter. You don't need more than 24fps.