Upgrade advice

[kirilus]

Hello,

I use my PC for the usual office programs, photo editing (Photoshop - nothing complex), and some gaming (for example, Mafia 2 and Deus Ex 3 when they come out). There is no real price range since I am not sure of what upgrades are really necessary. US parts. No brand preference.

Here is what I have currently:

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W

Cooler: ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink

Memory: Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

Video Card: BFG GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

Hard Drive: Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10000 RPM SATA 1.5Gb/s 3.5"

Hard drive: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"

Power: CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX 620W ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91

Case: Antec P182 Gun Metal Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower

Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster T220 (22")

O/S: Vista


I know that there are multiple sales going on right now... so What can be upgraded? Any ideas will be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Fayd]

upgrade the video card first.

edit: then the monitor.

 

[kirilus]

I was also thinking about the video card. Any specific suggestions?

How about this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133304

 

[Lewy]

Ther are a lot of better card out there for not much more.
Such as any ATI HD5750 based card but you should look at some reviews first.
Such as http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3658

 

[kirilus]

Which one would you recommend for my build specifically? Thank you!

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

You could benefit most from a cheap $75 ATi 4670 1GB vid card and an SSD with about $325. Monitor too, but that can be over $500 for a GOOD 24". Also the sound system would be MY priority, so it's a personal value judgment. After that a quad core would be the next step.

 

[eggrolls]

You already have a 8800GTS 512. I wouldn't buy to any of those cards listed above. If you're only on a 22" monitor, the 5750 is only a minor upgrade, and both the 9800GT and 4670 are downgrades.

I would wait till those games are released before buying a new card. Prices will drop, and availability of cards will be higher. If you are unsatisfied with the performance or quality settings of games you currently play, I'd suggest the 5850 or the 5870 (depending how much you're willing to pay). Both of them will be sufficient for higher resolutions should you decide to upgrade your monitor as well.

 

[SOSTrooper]

You already have a 8800GTS 512. I wouldn't buy to any of those cards listed above. If you're only on a 22" monitor, the 5750 is only a minor upgrade, and both the 9800GT and 4670 are downgrades.

^^ He's right, I have no idea why the said video cards are even recommended for the 'upgrade'.

Your computer is perfectly fine for what you do, I'm not sure why you see the need to upgrade. The only thing I can suggest is to get rid of that raptor hard drive and get an Intel or other competitive brand SSD, but that's more of a luxury than need. Really though, your computer is already powerful as is.

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

^^ Because I have no care to read about video cards and for Photoshop, 1GB memory is better than 512MB, plus does the 8800GTS 512 decode HD video like the 4670 does?? Besides how the hell can you say an 8800GTS is better than a 9800 GT? The 9800 GT is supposed to be an overclocked G92 8800... I also disagree that a SSD is a luxury item. It's more like a poll tax.

 

[eggrolls]

^^ Because I have no care to read about video cards and for Photoshop, 1GB memory is better than 512MB, plus does the 8800GTS 512 decode HD video like the 4670 does?? Besides how the hell can you say an 8800GTS is better than a 9800 GT? The 9800 GT is supposed to be an overclocked G92 8800... I also disagree that a SSD is a luxury item. It's more like a poll tax.

9800GT = 8800GT, which have lower clocks and fewer stream processors than a G92 8800GTS. 1GB isn't necessarily better than 512MB when the cards are different. The 4670 is still slower.

 

[kirilus]

Agreed. I will keep my video card. I feel good because I was building this PC under the guidance the community of this forum

I am not really satisfied with the monitor, though. I got it as a replacement from Samsung when my other 20" Syncmaster (not a wide screen) broke. I have no preference over regular or wide screen - any ideas about what is best in the market right now?

I would also like to thank EVERYONE for your responses - I value your time and advices!

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

Thanks for the thank you... I'll say the monitor I'd buy right now is the DELL U2410

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...9&sku=320-8277

Unless you can spend over a G on a 42" plasma and who would want that for a monitor 2 feet away? 24 is more than big enough from 2 feet away and I'd rather have an IPS panel with the best warranty and design. You may hate DELL computers, but they are doing something right with LCD displays. It's too bad IBM doesn't sell the T221 anymore though.