Upgrading PC. Could use some help.

[Damaeus]

I built my first PC in December of last year with this hardware:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115004

Motherboard: ABIT AW9D LGA 775 Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/product/...p?item=N82E16813127014

Graphics Card: BFG Tech Nvidia 7950GT (couldnt find it on newegg anymore)
http://www.cesell.com/product.php?productid=74803

PSU: Enermax Liberty 500W PSU
http://www.newegg.com/product/...p?item=N82E16817194003

RAM: Corsair Valueselect, 2GB
http://www.newegg.com/product/...p?item=N82E16820145098

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar, 250GB
http://www.newegg.com/product/...p?item=N82E16822144701

A Thermaltake Tsunami case (http://www.newegg.com/product/...?item=N82E16811133132) and Windows XP Home Edition SP2.

So, I feel that now or in the near future, just about a year after I built my PC, it is time to upgrade. I plan to use it mainly for playing graphically intensive games at high-max settings, such as Crysis or Age of Conan, where I would like to utilize a DX10 graphics card and Windows Vista (is it still too buggy to bother?).

My question for all you kind folk is, what parts to upgrade? The graphics card is what I know I need to upgrade. Im thinking of the 8800GT. Is this a good choice? I think it might be necessary to get 2 more gigs of RAM to make it 4gb. Is the RAM that I currently have still good and would it be okay to just get 2 more of the same or should I get 4 of something entirely different and better?

I havent overclocked any parts of my PC but I am willing to as I feel that I have read up on it enough to do it properly. Is it necessary to overclock my CPU and if I do will I need to buy a better heatsink?

To satisfy the things that will make it easier for you guys to help me: I dont really have a strict budget, but I dont think it can cost too much money (~$500?) for all of my new stuff (not including OS if I should stick with XP for now). Will be buying from US.

Basically im asking what parts of my PC that I need to upgrade to play next-gen DX10 games at very high settings.

Well, anyways, thanks for any help you guys can provide, I really appreciate it.

 

[InflatableBuddha]

Welcome to Anandtech!

First off, great case you have there...I have one too . I agree with the 8800GT as an upgrade, especially if you can sell your 7950GT. Lots of threads here on what a great deal the 8800GT is. Should give you a nice boost in many games.

Keep in mind though, that Crysis isn't really playable at very high at any decent resolutions (above 1280x1024) with any currently available video cards. The best you'll be able to hope for is a mix of medium/high settings with an 8800GT. This is just from what I've read so far; I have yet to play the demo.

2GB of RAM should be enough for the moment, unless you're planning to move up to Vista 64. The memory you have is great basic stuff, but I don't think it's capable of much overclocking.

 

[Damaeus]

Thanks.

Any other suggestions?

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Damaeus
Any other suggestions?

I don't have any other suggestions, but I'm gonna answer a few of your other questions. First of all, if you upgrade your video card to an 8800GT, you're gonna be seriously cpu-bound, unless you overclock your E6400. You'd have to be running it @ 3.0-3.2 Ghz, before it would be roughly as fast as the 8800GT. And you'd definitely want to also upgrade your heatsink. For a dual-core @ ~3.2 Ghz, this Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro would be plenty, and the price is right.

 

[Damaeus]

Do you think that monster heatsink would fit in my case?

 

[jkresh]

8800gt is a good choice though I would wait for the 3870 to see if it competes. As for 4gigs of ram if you are moving to vista (and using a 64bit os) then go for it, vista likes ram, if you are sticking with a 32bit OS then you wont see much more then 3.4gigs so 4 will be less important.

myocardia, your statement about cpu limiting (a 3.2ghz c2d to match an 8800gt) is kind of strange. CPU limiting is based on resolution you are running at and the particular game, and unless he is running at really low resolution most modern games will see a benefit for the 8800gt over the 7950 regardless of cpu (certainly if any c2d is used). As an 8800gtx is faster for crysis (even at 1280x1024) with a 3ghz core 2, over an 8800gt then one would assume that even at 1280 the cpu is not the limiting factor (admittedly Crysis the is the most gpu intensive game out at the moment but...)