What should I upgrade?

[Tera]

Hey guys,

tax time is coming up so I'm going to have a little bit of cash to play with (which is unusual for me) so I've decided I'm going to throw it into my PC I'm just unsure how exactly.

My current rig is getting on a little bit so what do you think would be the most effective upgrade for my PC? What's my current bottleneck?

PC:

MOBO: Gigabyte GA-EX58 UD3R Intel X58 Socket LGA1366
CPU: i7 920 2.66Ghz Quad Core
GPU: Powercolour ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB
RAM: G.Skill F3 6GB DDR3
PSU: Corsair JX 620W Pro Series
HDD: WD 2GB Caviar Green & 600GB WD VelociRaptor

[exe3]

An SSD maybe. Looking at your specs there's nothing that jumps out to me that says you need something new. But that's just me.

[diamondd]

I'd throw in an SSD and a new Graphics Card and you'll be good to go for ages.

EDIT: although on a more thorough read I see you've already got a VelociRaptor, but still an SSD would be an improvement.

also you don't mention a sound card, get one and you certainly won't regret it.

[Bek]

Sure you need to upgrade? Not too familiar with those parts but is there anything that it struggles to do, or any AAA game coming out in the near future that you'll need more power for? If not, probably better to keep the money. SSD is an option but you'd have to reinstall everything just for that.

If the bottleneck isn't obvious you'd probably have to run some benchmarks to find out.

[diamondd]

^this is true, you're almost better off putting your tax money away, waiting for next years tax money, adding them together and look at building an all new rig. There's nothing too shabby about what you've got but for pure gaming performance a tasty new graphics card is always welcome.

[tranquil]

I would sell off your 5850 (should get at least around ~$90 for it) and buy a GTX670. I sold my 5850 to upgrade to a GTX580 last year and noticed a very nice boost in performance.

SSD would be nice too, also is your CPU overclocked? If not, you could also get a CPU cooler and OC a bit.

[Tera]

also you don't mention a sound card, get one and you certainly won't regret it.

Actually a really good idea. Any recommendations you can make on this front? Will I have to worry about upgrading my PSU if I get a soundcard?

Yeah I can run current pretty well I suppose, just with the rig being almost 2 years old I thought it might be time to look for a upgrade.

[Bek]

Look up reviews between the Auzen Forte and the Asus cards. I have an Auzen Bravura and have no complaints. Got good enough headphones / speakers to benefit from a sc?

[diamondd]

+1 on Auzen cards.

Your PSU should be fine, 620W is heaps really as long as your running a single graphics card. If you're interested in the headphone idea I highly recommend Audio Technica ATH-AD700's.

we're starting to get off the beaten track a bit I suppose lol, but SSD+Graphics Card+Sound Card is probably all you really want to chuck in the case. I'd be thinking new monitor as well if you haven't got a monster already...

[exe3]

Do you have good headphones/speakers? You'd want some good ones if you're going to get a sound card.

[Ninja Catfish]

I'd recommend a USB DAC over a sound card. I've had an ASUS Xonar Essence STX for years, and it was fantastic. But being a card, it takes up space on your motherboard and could limit your ability to SLI.
USB DACs don't have any EMI from inside the case as well.

If you do go for a card though, I've had nothing but fantastic experience from ASUS Xonar cards.

[Tera]

Got good enough headphones / speakers to benefit from a sc?

I actually have a pair of...

Audio Technica ATH-AD700's.

So yeah, that no issue.

I'd be thinking new monitor as well if you haven't got a monster already...

Monitor situation is taken care of!


Looks like I might invest in a sound card. Probably going to look for one that has a 1/4" jack so I can plug my guitar in directly and bypass the **** USB device I'm using currently.

[diamondd]

yeah you're looking pretty set man.

may I inquire what your keyboard situation is? *cough*mechanical*cough*

[Instinx]

Would also recommend an ASUS Essence ST/X with the AD700s, thats what i run currently along with the ASUS Unified drivers which can do some much nicer dolby sound warping if you so wish plus with ASIO the AD700s are tear-worthy. Also, the EMI is a no-issue for the ST/X (The ST is a PCI card, the STX is a PCI-E 1x card) as it has a nice proper shield on it. I have it sitting next to two 470s and above 1000W PSU and never heard a single thing out of place.

[Bek]

Auzen Bravura has a 1/4" socket but that's for output, which I have my A700's plugged into. While not really necessary some soundcards will have a dedicated amplifier, which you might find handy. My card has one which means I have windows sound limited to 6%

One thing that seems unique to the Auzen cards is you can replace the op-amps on them yourself quite easily to customise the card, which is kind of awesome, although I will probably never bother with unless they break or something. Auzen basically uses creative hardware but their own drivers, so you get the best of creative without the terrible drivers. Although I believe you need the Forte if you want the actual audio processing to be done via the card rather than the CPU.

Speaking of mech keyboards, I had a particular board bookmarked but it looks like the website is gone http://www.mechkeyboards.com/