I currently have a AMD x3 unlocked to a B60 @3.4GHz & a 1GB Asus 6850, & 8GB 1600Mhz Ballistix Sport.
I made a poor purchase when I upgraded early this year as my motherboard has no SATA3, so I'm not getting the best out my SSD (Vertex 3).
My PC is mainly for playing games and I also rip my DVDs & Blu rays, but I'm looking to upgrade more for the former rather than the latter.
I have my PC connected to my TV, which is not 1080p; the max resolution is 1366x768. My PC can currently play Skyrim (CPU intensive) on Ultra settings and Crysis 2 (GPU intensive) on hardcore settings, both at around 50-60fps with only Crysis 2 maxing out the GPU (tested this morning using the Afterburner/HWInfo OSDs tutorial elsewhere in the forum).
So, after testing, I'm faced with a conundrum; at some point, my old plasma is going to fail and its replacement will be 1080p. I've currently got about £300 to spend on upgrades - do I:
- just go for a AMD 965 (the unlocked x3 does not overclock too well), a mid range board and another 6850 to crossfire (although my 3 year old e.b.u.y.e.r. 650W PSU might not be up to task)
- plump for an Intel 3570K & a z77 board, and upgrade the GPU later?
- do nothing, put up with sata2 performance and see what i can get for the money later in the year?
Now i know that swapping my CPU for a 3570K would improve ripping/encoding drastically, future proofs me somewhat, reduces power usage and provides overclocking potential, but I need to impress Mrs Bascule with 'ooh, look at that', in order to justify the spend
Your thoughts?
I made a poor purchase when I upgraded early this year as my motherboard has no SATA3, so I'm not getting the best out my SSD (Vertex 3).
My PC is mainly for playing games and I also rip my DVDs & Blu rays, but I'm looking to upgrade more for the former rather than the latter.
I have my PC connected to my TV, which is not 1080p; the max resolution is 1366x768. My PC can currently play Skyrim (CPU intensive) on Ultra settings and Crysis 2 (GPU intensive) on hardcore settings, both at around 50-60fps with only Crysis 2 maxing out the GPU (tested this morning using the Afterburner/HWInfo OSDs tutorial elsewhere in the forum).
So, after testing, I'm faced with a conundrum; at some point, my old plasma is going to fail and its replacement will be 1080p. I've currently got about £300 to spend on upgrades - do I:
- just go for a AMD 965 (the unlocked x3 does not overclock too well), a mid range board and another 6850 to crossfire (although my 3 year old e.b.u.y.e.r. 650W PSU might not be up to task)
- plump for an Intel 3570K & a z77 board, and upgrade the GPU later?
- do nothing, put up with sata2 performance and see what i can get for the money later in the year?
Now i know that swapping my CPU for a 3570K would improve ripping/encoding drastically, future proofs me somewhat, reduces power usage and provides overclocking potential, but I need to impress Mrs Bascule with 'ooh, look at that', in order to justify the spend
Your thoughts?
