System upgrades

I keep thinking about upgrading, but haven't pulled the trigger. Below is what I'm looking at upgrading to. My budget is under $400. I game and edit photo and video, although this is mostly for gaming as the editing is fine on the current specs. In fact, I may be able to do without the memory upgrade. I'm not sure. I'll also post what I'm currently running. If you have any suggestions that would be better buys please let me know.

Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)

Intel Core i3 530 @ 2.93GHz

6GB DDR3

Nvidia GeForce 550Ti

Stock Gateway PSU

Stock Gateway Motherboard

Motherboard:

ASRock H77M LGA 1155 Intel H77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU:

Intel Core i5-3470 Ivy Bridge 3.2GHz

Memory:

CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600)

PSU:

CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 500W

I'd recommend upgrading the CPU to a 3570k, the ability to overclock could really help editing.

And if you're upgrading for gaming that is pointless since you're keeping your old GPU which is the bottleneck in your case for 90% of games.

I keep thinking about upgrading, but haven't pulled the trigger. Below is what I'm looking at upgrading to. My budget is under $400. I game and edit photo and video, although this is mostly for gaming as the editing is fine on the current specs. In fact, I may be able to do without the memory upgrade. I'm not sure. I'll also post what I'm currently running. If you have any suggestions that would be better buys please let me know.

 

Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)

Intel Core i3 530 @ 2.93GHz

6GB DDR3

Nvidia GeForce 550Ti

Stock Gateway PSU

Stock Gateway Motherboard

 

Motherboard:

ASRock H77M LGA 1155 Intel H77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU:

Intel Core i5-3470 Ivy Bridge 3.2GHz

Memory:

CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600)

PSU:

CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 500W

quikdash6

you wont feel the ram upgrade at all if you want to get 8gb just get another 2gb stick and pocket the difference. if you want you could go AMD and still get an improvement but thats your call.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131872

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113285

basically the end result is the same but unlike the intel option you have above you cant overclock and your spending 10 bucks more

I'd recommend upgrading the CPU to a 3570k, the ability to overclock could really help editing.

And if you're upgrading for gaming that is pointless since you're keeping your old GPU which is the bottleneck in your case for 90% of games.

kraken2109

it could be alot cheaper to find a used core i7 920 and overclock it to past 3.2 ghz.

it could be alot cheaper to find a used core i7 920 and overclock it to past 3.2 ghz.

blaznwiipspman1

[QUOTE="kraken2109"]

I'd recommend upgrading the CPU to a 3570k, the ability to overclock could really help editing.

And if you're upgrading for gaming that is pointless since you're keeping your old GPU which is the bottleneck in your case for 90% of games.

quikdash6

[QUOTE="blaznwiipspman1"]

it could be alot cheaper to find a used core i7 920 and overclock it to past 3.2 ghz.

ionusX

Motherboard: ASRock Z77M LGA 1155

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K

PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series 650W

RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600

This is my first time doing anything this extensive though and the part I'm nervous about the most is getting everything running again. So much conflicting information saying to do a clean install of the OS, others saying you don't have to do anything, and others saying you just need to disable software like iTunes and Adobe products so product keys don't get locked to the board. Plus, it seems like a pain in the ass to get everything set up the way I like again from the fresh install. I'll probably be getting everything by Monday. We'll see how it goes from there. Anyways, thanks for the advice even if I didn't use all of it. Stil gives me another perspective and makes sure I wasn't glossing over something.

[QUOTE="ionusX"]

[QUOTE="blaznwiipspman1"]

it could be alot cheaper to find a used core i7 920 and overclock it to past 3.2 ghz.

quikdash6

Motherboard: ASRock Z77M LGA 1155

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K

PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series 650W

RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600

This is my first time doing anything this extensive though and the part I'm nervous about the most is getting everything running again. So much conflicting information saying to do a clean install of the OS, others saying you don't have to do anything, and others saying you just need to disable software like iTunes and Adobe products so product keys don't get locked to the board. Plus, it seems like a pain in the ass to get everything set up the way I like again from the fresh install. I'll probably be getting everything by Monday. We'll see how it goes from there. Anyways, thanks for the advice even if I didn't use all of it. Stil gives me another perspective and makes sure I wasn't glossing over something.

[QUOTE="ionusX"]

[QUOTE="blaznwiipspman1"]

it could be alot cheaper to find a used core i7 920 and overclock it to past 3.2 ghz.

quikdash6

Motherboard: ASRock Z77M LGA 1155

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K

PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series 650W

RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600

This is my first time doing anything this extensive though and the part I'm nervous about the most is getting everything running again. So much conflicting information saying to do a clean install of the OS, others saying you don't have to do anything, and others saying you just need to disable software like iTunes and Adobe products so product keys don't get locked to the board. Plus, it seems like a pain in the ass to get everything set up the way I like again from the fresh install. I'll probably be getting everything by Monday. We'll see how it goes from there. Anyways, thanks for the advice even if I didn't use all of it. Stil gives me another perspective and makes sure I wasn't glossing over something.

That's a nice upgrade.  You will see some big improvements in overall system speed.  Your GPU will really hold you back in a lot of games though.