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Suggestions on how to spend $300-$400

S

semlethe3rd

Member
Was wondering what people would suggest upgrading as a gamer with $300-$400.

Current system:
Modded Antec 900
Q6600 @ 3.6ghz w\ Tuniq 120
IP35-E
EVGA 280 SSC
G.skill 2x2GB DDR2 800 PC2 6400
Corsair HX620W

Any suggestions will be appreciated =).
 
Mail it to me in a padded envelop in small bills...

😀

In terms of performance enhancements, there's not much you can do to improve things. You could drop in a Q9550 for lower heat generation & power consumption and you could probably hit 4GHz but you seriously wouldn't see much difference unless the apps you routinely run would take advantage of SSE4.1 (unlikely, but you never know).

If you're running 64-bit OS you could always add another 4GB of RAM for $50.

EDIT: Or, make it $600+ and get the Intel MLC SSD. From everything I've read those make a huge difference in the feel of a system (apps load very very quickly, etc).
 
I can't help but feel that this thread is as much "look at my computer!" as it is a genuine request for advice.

Either way, what type of monitor are you using?
 
First off I think a lot of people have better computers than what I have considering I know some with tri-280's and the new i7-core. I assure you I'm not trying to brag in any way shape or form. Christmas is coming up and my parents generally spend $300-$400 on me.. and i generally upgrade my computer, but this year I'm struggling to figure out what to update and wanted to see what others suggested. I currently have a 2253BW 22" samsung LCD that I enjoy and dont feel a need to upgrade. Do you guys thing getting 4x2GB of RAM @ cas latency 4 would help over my already 2x2GB cas latency 5 =/? I recall people saying there isn't much difference, but I could be wrong. Also I'm thinking of getting a new hard drive and was wondering if a raptor would be that much better than going for a WD 32mb cache with more disk space. All suggestions are appreciated thank you =)
 
You're not going to see much if any improvements by swapping out parts. Adding ram is pretty useless as well. Best bet could be a 780i mobo and another gtx280 for SLI, but then again, you're gtx280 is allready curbstomping your 22" LCD that runs at 1680*1050, so you're still not going to see any real improvements, unless you run fraps all the time and get of on high numbers of FPS being displayed in yellow. Really, feed that gtx280 a real amount of pixels, and get yourself a 24/26" screen at 1920*1200, good for watching HD movies as well. Use your old monitor as a secondary to watch whatever it is you like ...
 
Originally posted by: semlethe3rd
Christmas is coming up and my parents generally spend $300-$400 on me.. and i generally upgrade my computer, but this year I'm struggling to figure out what to update and wanted to see what others suggested.
Click to expand...
Software (games!) or a monitor upgrade.
 
Originally posted by: MarcVenice
You're not going to see much if any improvements by swapping out parts. Adding ram is pretty useless as well. Best bet could be a 780i mobo and another gtx280 for SLI, but then again, you're gtx280 is allready curbstomping your 22" LCD that runs at 1680*1050, so you're still not going to see any real improvements, unless you run fraps all the time and get of on high numbers of FPS being displayed in yellow. Really, feed that gtx280 a real amount of pixels, and get yourself a 24/26" screen at 1920*1200, good for watching HD movies as well. Use your old monitor as a secondary to watch whatever it is you like ...
Click to expand...

I was going to say the same thing. He needs a larger screen to even REALLY take advantage of his current hardware.
 
I honestly really enjoy my 22" and dont want to upgrade it yet considering i just got it this year =P. Thanks for all the recommendations so far! Sooo the question comes down to if you guys had $300-$400 to spend with my current setup would you upgrade the memory.. or the hard drives. And what exactly would u upgrade too? Is a Velociraptor worth the money? or should i just go with a WD 32mb cache with more space. Also for memory should i get a whole new set of 4x2GB with CAS 4 or should i just get another 2 sticks of what i already have at CAS 5. Honestly thank all of you so far! its helping a lot!
 
Whatever you replace just mail it to me... I have a hamster in a wheel compared to that and i'm trying to upgrade:

ASUS a8n-SLI N-Force4 2mb
athlon 64 x2 4800+ 2x1mb (2.41ghz)
2gb RAM
Nvidia Geforce 7800GTX KO 256mb
raptor 74gb sata 10krpm x 2
xp pro


 
Maybe I would get some more RAM and another screen. What is your hard drive? At this point we're just throwing grapes... What is there to improve?
 
That's a pretty solid rig already. I would put the money away somewhere and save it for a future upgrade, rather than spend it now on something frivolous.

(Maybe get a big-screen TV to watch DVDs and game on? I've seen some 32" LCDs for $400)
 
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