Suggest an upgrade

[Pollock]

Got some money I feel like spending on my computer (in signature). What should I upgrade?

Other relevant parts of my computer:
24", 22", 19", 19" LCDs
nice mouse + keyboard
Logitech X-530 speakers

I'm definitely thinking about an i5 or i7, but I think a speaker upgrade would be pretty cool. Not sure I need much more horsepower with my GPU, not yet at least. No specific budget, maybe a few hundred bucks, but mostly I want to get good value.

 

[mfenn]

Got some money I feel like spending on my computer (in signature). What should I upgrade?

Other relevant parts of my computer:
24", 22", 19", 19" LCDs
nice mouse + keyboard
Logitech X-530 speakers

I'm definitely thinking about an i5 or i7, but I think a speaker upgrade would be pretty cool. Not sure I need much more horsepower with my GPU, not yet at least. No specific budget, maybe a few hundred bucks, but mostly I want to get good value.

I don't see your current monitor mentioned, but unless you already have a nice 24" I would go with that. $300 will still be a TN panel, but it will be a nice one. Step up to $500 and you can get an 24" IPS panel which will literally be the last LCD monitor you will ever buy (assuming affordable OLED displays manifest within the next 5 years).

If you don't want to get a monitor, or already have a nice one, the for $300, don't buy any "PC" speakers. They wouldn't be an upgrade from what you have now. Head over to avsforums and have the guys hook you up with a nice T-amp and a couple of bookshelfs.

 

[Pollock]

I don't see your current monitor mentioned, but unless you already have a nice 24" I would go with that. $300 will still be a TN panel, but it will be a nice one. Step up to $500 and you can get an 24" IPS panel which will literally be the last LCD monitor you will ever buy (assuming affordable OLED displays manifest within the next 5 years).

If you don't want to get a monitor, or already have a nice one, the for $300, don't buy any "PC" speakers. They wouldn't be an upgrade from what you have now. Head over to avsforums and have the guys hook you up with a nice T-amp and a couple of bookshelfs.

I don't really need more monitors unless I want to replace one of my 19" ones, although I'd have to figure out where that would go, first.

Something like Swan M10s?

 

[mfenn]

I don't really need more monitors unless I want to replace one of my 19" ones, although I'd have to figure out where that would go, first.

Something like Swan M10s?

Can you give a breakdown of your current monitor setup?

Yeah, the M10s are good.

 

[Pollock]

from left to right, 19" Norcent, 24" Soyo, 22" Samsung, 19" Acer

None of them are especially high-quality monitors, although I think I would need some convincing to buy a $500 LCD. I understand TN isn't the greatest but I don't personally see a need for any of the higher end ones?

In this picture you will also see a potential issue with desk space... I think the M10s would fit but have no idea, really.

My roommate has Z-2300s - how would these compare?
M-Audio AV40s? I really don't know much about speakers other than what others say are good.

 

[betasub]

LOL at the Norcent hanging out to the left over thin air.

 

[mfenn]

from left to right, 19" Norcent, 24" Soyo, 22" Samsung, 19" Acer

None of them are especially high-quality monitors, although I think I would need some convincing to buy a $500 LCD. I understand TN isn't the greatest but I don't personally see a need for any of the higher end ones?

In this picture you will also see a potential issue with desk space... I think the M10s would fit but have no idea, really.

My roommate has Z-2300s - how would these compare?
M-Audio AV40s? I really don't know much about speakers other than what others say are good.

Holy crap dude!

This is my personal opinion, but I think having 1 or 2 nice monitors beats the pants off of having a bunch of crappy monitors. One downside to getting an IPS monitor is that you'll never be able to stand using a TN piece of trash ever again. So, if you want to save money, IPS ain't the way to go.

As far as speakers go, the Swans can't even be compared to "PC" speakers (i.e. anything Logitech makes). They are into the class of "real speakers" as opposed to "multimedia toy speakers". I can't speak about the M-Audios because I've never personally listened to them.

Also, the Swans are pretty dang big, and you would have to rearrange your setup considerably to fit them. Speakers are like car engines though, there's no replacement for displacement. It is acoustically impossible to get good (relative term, I know) from a speaker as tiny as the ones you currently have.

 

[Pollock]

I mean, can you explain why an IPS monitor would be such a great improvement over a TN?

I would like to get "real speakers" or bookshelf speakers if they will be a real improvement. Obviously I may have trouble fitting them as-is, but I can rearrange things. Any ideas?

More on the hardware side - I've convinced myself to get either an i7 860 or 920. They're the same price ($200 at Microcenter), I would get the same quantity of RAM, and really, for a similar motherboard, those prices are about the same, too. I do like to play games, and I will overclock. I'd prefer not to buy an extremely expensive HSF (and 920 can go to 4GHz on stock voltage, yeah?). I do not intend to do crossfire/SLI and do not care for that extra flexibility. I do not care much about future-proofing because I won't have any need for a hex-core, and I would likely upgrade to a new platform anyway. Which one is the winner here?

 

[mfenn]

I mean, can you explain why an IPS monitor would be such a great improvement over a TN?

Color accuracy, contrast ratio, viewing angles. Viewing angles matter because, on a TN panel, contrast ratio is a function of viewing angle. If you are even slightly off-center, the contrast goes into the toilet. This effect is most pronounced on the vertical axis, but is still present on the horizontal.

TN panels vary greatly amongst themselves, so:
IPS (Dell U2410, etc.) >>>>>> good TN (your Samsung) >> crappy TN (your Norcent, Acer, and probably Soyo)

I would like to get "real speakers" or bookshelf speakers if they will be a real improvement. Obviously I may have trouble fitting them as-is, but I can rearrange things. Any ideas?

Yes, they will be a huge improvement in terms of sound quality, especially if you're a music guy. I would probably get some stands and stand them behind your desk (that way you can also get proper stereo separation, each speaker should be 45 degrees off axis from your head).

More on the hardware side - I've convinced myself to get either an i7 860 or 920. They're the same price ($200 at Microcenter), I would get the same quantity of RAM, and really, for a similar motherboard, those prices are about the same, too. I do like to play games, and I will overclock. I'd prefer not to buy an extremely expensive HSF (and 920 can go to 4GHz on stock voltage, yeah?). I do not intend to do crossfire/SLI and do not care for that extra flexibility. I do not care much about future-proofing because I won't have any need for a hex-core, and I would likely upgrade to a new platform anyway. Which one is the winner here?

Good luck finding a 920 still in stock at MC. It seems that most MCs have sold through their 920s and only offer the 930 @ $280.

Personally, I would get an 860, because you can just grab a cheaper P55 mobo.

 

[Pollock]

I've read favorable things about the Klipsch Promedia 2.1 - how does that stack up?

Microcenter updated prices:
920 ($180), 930 ($200), 860 ($200), and 750 ($170) all have >40 in stock, so that's not an issue.

Is cheaper motherboard even a valid point? The AsRock X58 Extreme is $160 and got a good review from Anandtech IIRC. Or XFX X58i for ~$140 AR and ACB.

I think I like the Gigabyte P55A-UD3 for a P55 motherboard ($135 + a combo with 4GB Corsair DDR3-1600 for another $80).

I was leaning leaning slightly toward the 860, but the fact that it requires much more voltage to really overclock is a little discouraging. And with the price drop on the 920, I don't have a clue anymore.

Also I think I've read that SSDs (such as mine) sometimes max out SATA2? So SATA3 may be worth whatever extra cost?

 

[mfenn]

I've read favorable things about the Klipsch Promedia 2.1 - how does that stack up?

Microcenter updated prices:
920 ($180), 930 ($200), 860 ($200), and 750 ($170) all have >40 in stock, so that's not an issue.

Is cheaper motherboard even a valid point? The AsRock X58 Extreme is $160 and got a good review from Anandtech IIRC. Or XFX X58i for ~$140 AR and ACB.

I think I like the Gigabyte P55A-UD3 for a P55 motherboard ($135 + a combo with 4GB Corsair DDR3-1600 for another $80).

I was leaning leaning slightly toward the 860, but the fact that it requires much more voltage to really overclock is a little discouraging. And with the price drop on the 920, I don't have a clue anymore.

Also I think I've read that SSDs (such as mine) sometimes max out SATA2? So SATA3 may be worth whatever extra cost?

The ProMedias are fine for computer speakers, but they don't really compare to real studio monitors (i.e. self-powered bookshelf speakers, Klipsch's own included). The ProMedias are really tuned for the "teenage gamer" crowd and tend to have really overblown base when compared to a more serious solution.

I'm glad that your MC has some stock on those CPUs, many were OOS as of last week. How about $119 or $104 for the motherboard? The UD2 was particularly well liked by AT, but it doesn't have SATA 6Gb/s or USB 3.0. Of course, neither of your X58 choices have those either. X58 isn't a bad platform, but I'm not sure if the extra overclocking potential is worth the cost. You have to realize that you run into a self-selection bias when people post their overclocking results. 4GHz on stock volts is by no means guaranteed.

Your SSD only supports SATA 3Gb/s, so getting a mobo that supports SATA 6Gb/s makes no difference in the near term. That being said, there are already a couple SATA 6Gb/s SSDs out, and more will be coming. They are $$$ right now though.

 

[Pollock]

This is true about my SSD only being SATA2 - didn't think about that. I guess SATA3 won't likely ever affect me with this purchase. USB3 maybe, but hard to tell.

The first motherboard is really $128 shipped, and at that point, it makes more sense to buy the $135 board to save $$$ on RAM.

mATX board does not fit my needs - need at least 2 16x PCIe slots, 1 1x PCIe slot, and 1 PCI slot. Plus I would like an ATX board so that I have more upgrade potential.

I do like this AsRock board for $115 but then I may as well buy the $135 Gigabyte board for about the same price once RAM is figured in, right?

The overclocking voltage issue is still that - an issue. I haven't read anything quantitative though, and maybe it won't matter if I get a Freezer Pro 7 or something.

 

[Pollock]

I think the question is: if all other prices were fixed, would you rather have the 920 or 860?

 

[Axon]

For single GPU and stock CPU speed, 860.

For overclock and potential crossfire/SLI, 920.

 

[mfenn]

For single GPU and stock CPU speed, 860.

For overclock and potential crossfire/SLI, 920.

This. 860 is actually faster than the 920 because of the higher base clock speed. It's faster than the 930 in single-threaded workloads due to the more aggressive turbo modes.

 

[simonizor]

You could put a quad core CPU in your current build (something like a q9550) and see a decent performance boost for much less than it would cost to upgrade your mother board, processor, and RAM (you'll need DDR3) to get an i5 (which wouldn't really be that much of an upgrade) or i7. With the money you save, you could get the sound system that you want.

 

[Pollock]

You could put a quad core CPU in your current build (something like a q9550) and see a decent performance boost for much less than it would cost to upgrade your mother board, processor, and RAM (you'll need DDR3) to get an i5 (which wouldn't really be that much of an upgrade) or i7. With the money you save, you could get the sound system that you want.

I can sell my old parts such that the upgrade only costs ~$100. I do not want to invest in LGA775. I mostly want an upgrade to quad core and 1156 or 1366 are the only sockets that make sense at this point in time.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Personally I would get rid of the extra monitors except for your 24" TN and get a nice 24" IPS as the main monitor. Your desk is ridiculous.

 

[M0RPH]

Nice waste of energy with all those monitors. You should get rid of all of those and get the 28" Hanns-G link

 

[Pollock]

Duly noted, but I find them useful.

 

[mfenn]

Just want to point out that HP's new 24" IPS monitor is on sale for $425 right now.