Hi all. Im considering spending around $4-500 to upgrade my now ~3 year gaming rig. This box will be used for gaming only. I drive 2x22" LCD's, and game at 1680x1050 on one. My current hardware is getting a bit dated, fans are wearing out, case is old, bios has an annoying bug for overclocking, etc. So..
My current hardware (important bits):
Intel Pentium E2160 @ 3.0Ghz (overclocked from 1.8)
* Corsair 550W PSU (will re-use)
Gigabyte P35-DS3L
6GB PC2-6400 Corsair RAM
* Nvidia GeForce 9600GT (will re-use for now)
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD753LJ (750GB - Will re-use)
Upgrade option #1:
Antec Sonata Elite Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit
AMD Phenom II 925 Deneb 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor
Total shipped: $414
Upgrade option #2:
Antec Sonata Elite Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
ASUS P7P55D LE LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Total shipped: $515
I will upgrade my GPU later, as I am happy with how my 9600GT drives the games I play currently.
So which one, if either, would be a worth while upgrade? Which would be the best bang for the buck? Is it worth it for me to upgrade with the hardware I have now?
I do not plan on overclocking if I upgrade. Im going for something a little more quiet then my current rig.
My current hardware (important bits):
Intel Pentium E2160 @ 3.0Ghz (overclocked from 1.8)
* Corsair 550W PSU (will re-use)
Gigabyte P35-DS3L
6GB PC2-6400 Corsair RAM
* Nvidia GeForce 9600GT (will re-use for now)
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD753LJ (750GB - Will re-use)
Upgrade option #1:
Antec Sonata Elite Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit
AMD Phenom II 925 Deneb 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor
Total shipped: $414
Upgrade option #2:
Antec Sonata Elite Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
ASUS P7P55D LE LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Total shipped: $515
I will upgrade my GPU later, as I am happy with how my 9600GT drives the games I play currently.
So which one, if either, would be a worth while upgrade? Which would be the best bang for the buck? Is it worth it for me to upgrade with the hardware I have now?
I do not plan on overclocking if I upgrade. Im going for something a little more quiet then my current rig.