Computer upgrade opinions.
 

I'm looking upgrade my incredibly old desktop. This used to be a machine I used for gaming, and didn't have any issues running most games at the time, after maybe 4 or 5 years I'm looking to upgrade. I recently had a bit more time to play some video games so I picked up CoD:Black Ops and I'm going to grab Dead Space 2 pretty soon. I noticed for the most part CoD runs somewhat smooth, I get the occasional frame rate drop and it gets a bit choppy (these are with settings set at about medium level. it made no difference when i lowered everything).

The only parts that are somewhat recent is my video card (about a year old) I think. Anyways currently this is my setup.

amd phenom x4 940 3ghz
asus m3a78-em amd am2+ mobo
4gb ram. x2 2g ddr2 sticks
xfx radeon hd 5850
win7 os
ocz modstream pro atx 700w psu
atx case
stock heatsink, top and side panel fans.


Thats probably the key components thats needing to be replaced.
question is, is it worth replacing a the processor, mobo, and ram and just run with the vid card I currently have? Or start from scratch and build a new desktop. I don't necessarily have a budget, but I wanna say I would roughly want to spend around $500 - $600 give or take if I were to replace/upgrade parts.

Anyways I'd love to hear your input on this.
Cheers

Could you also list your PSU, specs on your RAM, computer case, cooling system?
Thanks!

you should mention how long you plan on going on with this upgrade into the future (eg. for the machine to hold another 2 years etc)

lastly, budget?

Just from the info you posted, I'd get an aftermarket cooler for your x4 and overclock it.
People have OC'd to 3.5ghz without touching voltage/stock cooling. I've read that you can go up to 3.9ghz on air cooling and probably higher if you do water cooling (60-100 on a cooling system on NCIX)

the ram, video card should suffice.

the only thing really "dated" is the am2+ mobo. if you plan on upgrading, check out the AM3 mobo's that support the new x6 processors

I'd like to add to this. This is why I wanted to know your PSU and case setup. Rather than running a mATX board, you could upgrade it to ATX and overclock the CPU depending on the cooling system. I read more negative reviews for this mobo than positive. Additionally, you'll probably have to upgrade to DDR3 with the new mobo. And with a good PSU, you can add another 5850 and run crossfire. I don't really see a need for massive upgrade to just play those games.

Basically comes down to budget. It's better if you've got the mindset of "I can afford to spend $xxx" rather than "I'm going to pay as little as I can get" imo.

I mentioned I wanted to spend about $500 - $600 roughly. I don't mind spending more assuming I need to.

updated original post with the psu and specs.

edit: no need for a PSU now


assuming you have a <500W PSU
first off id recommend getting something like this
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?s...c&promoid=1280
its an antec 650w PSU for $65
then u can get a bundle from ncix
like this one
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=59760&...Bundle%20Deals
for $360 (after rebate)

thats already $425, and then you can purchase 4gb or 8gb of ram depending on how much you want to spend, 4gb would range you around $50

mind you, I'd recommend not always going for bundles to save the couple bucks (unless you were like me, building a budget system so every couple bucks makes a difference) and you can choose a better motherboard.

But if you were to upgrade, I'd highly recomend the new Intel Line of Sandy Bridge, because off the line w/o overclocking they perform great

if interested, get an aftermarket heatsink, do some cable management in your current case so improve airflow, then you can overclock without really needing to purchase another "upgrade"

In my opinion stick to AMD instead of intel. You'll get more bang for your buck and you won't notice the difference. You'll notice that AMD only has 1 socket type (AM3) for mostly everything which means you won't really have to upgrade both your mobo and processor at the same time.

Also, seeing as your an FPS player, I'd wait it out until BF3 to do a big upgrade. Maybe use just a bit of money to upgrade some parts that might not be a sufficient upgrade to play BF3 maxed out or something along the lines. Keep the leftover and add more money along the way until BF3 is released. You'll be able to get better parts or get the parts you're looking at now for a lot cheaper.

Just a suggestion haha but it's currently what I'm doing. I've been looking to upgrade my video card and get more ram but I realize there's nothing really in between now and BF3 that interests me that I can't play on even low settings.

500-600 budget, nice.

PSU keep the same.

I'd suggest the AMD x6, 1055T, overclocks to 3.9ghz on stock voltage and aircooling! 6 cores is future proof for a while.

http://ncix.com/products/index.php?s...s&promoid=1280

4gb ram should be fine.

Any suggestions for a mobo?

just take that combo, MSI is reputable, and crossfire ready so you can even crossfire your 5850s in the future.