Upgrade advice

[ginandmilk]

Ahoy hoy.

I'm a bit out of the loop with the latest hardware, was hoping some of you good people could advise me on some upgrades.

My current setup is getting a bit long in the tooth and I'm after something that will hopefully play the latest games on reasonably high settings (especially Battlefield 3). 500ish quid to spend.

My current system:

Phenom II X4 955
Asus M4A77TD Pro
Patriot G Series 4GB RAM
4850 512MB

I definitely want to upgrade my graphics card and I've been looking at the 6950. Is that the best card to go for with ~200 quid to spend?

I'm also seriously considering a new case since my current one is pretty cramped. I like the idea of a full size case and the Antec 1200 seems to be the stand out model for the price. Can anyone suggest a better case than the Antec 1200 for the money?

I'm a bit reluctant to shell out for a new PSU since my trusty OCZ modstream 450W is doing a sterling job but I'm worried that the cables won't be long enough to reach inside a larger case and will 450W be enough juice?
Reccomendations for a new modular PSU? And does anyone know if the cables are actually longer on newer models?

Also, is it worth getting more RAM?

Thanks in advance.

 

[stulid]

I definitely want to upgrade my graphics card and I've been looking at the 6950. Is that the best card to go for with ~200 quid to spend?

Under £200, the 6950 2GB card is good - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-273-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

I'm also seriously considering a new case since my current one is pretty cramped. I like the idea of a full size case and the Antec 1200 seems to be the stand out model for the price. Can anyone suggest a better case than the Antec 1200 for the money?

The best "air cooling" cases, possibly?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-065-SV&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=1092

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-075-SV&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=1092

but I'm worried that the cables won't be long enough to reach inside a larger case and will 450W be enough juice?

You are correct, not enough juice or cable length.

A good (seasonic built) partially modular PSU with long cables - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-117-AN&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1088

 

[mp260767]

as per stulid's recommendations, case wise its a personal choice have a look around, if the silverstone isn't to your liking.

have you got the original cooler on your processor ?, if you do have a look at the Gelid Tranquillo,fairly certain your processor is the black edition version, have you tried overclocking it ?

what monitor size/resolution do you game at.

 

[Reaper 392]

i came in this thread to recommend exactly what stulid has just said.
i will add that the coolermaster HAF X and corsair 650D are also great cases. they arent as good at air cooling as the silverstone, but at the price your looking at i'd rather get a case that i love the looks of but doesnt have quite as good cooling over a case with better cooling that i dont like the looks of.

for me the choice is super simple because i love the looks of the raven, but everyone is different, so you might prefer something else.

what i will say is, if you are thinking about watercooling, the raven is pants. the corsair 650D is a great halfway house for air and water cooling

 

[ginandmilk]

It'll definitely be air cooled I go for. Those Raven cases look pretty mean! Same money as the Antec too I see, I'll have to have a think on that.

My chip is the black edition, I hadn't even considered an overclock since my current case can get pretty toasty. I'll certainly look in to a new cooler (using the OEM one at the moment), is the Gelid model best bang for buck?

I'm using an old 19" monitor at the moment, 1280 x 1024. Its next on my list to upgrade though.. I'll fork out for that next month.

 

[mp260767]

the gelid is pretty good, along with the likes of the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus and Corsair A50 i think they provide a reasonable improvement over the original cooler.