graphics cards...

[philbar71]

go with the 5850, XFX preferably or a ASUS and sapphire is pretty decent.

The 5000 series price raise is only temporary I heard the price will even drop below the original price when nvidia comes out with its 300 series on like the 26th.

fermi is only going to be a paper launch this December so i doubt that will affect prices much.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

I was thinking about upgrading my graphics card from my 8800 GT to something newer. Is it worth it? or should i wait a bit longer?

Hey, wassup?

A HD 5850, HD 5870 or even a HD 4890 / GTX 275 would be a pretty big improvement over your 8800gt depending on how much you want to spend.

They also tested Battleforge, WOW, Hawx, Resident Evil 5, Batman AA, and L4D with bouth the 8800gt and 5850.

AnandTech: AMD?s Radeon HD 5850: The Other Shoe Drops

Nvidia's new cards should be a pretty big improvement too but they won't be out until sometime next year

 

[zmatt]

I was thinking about upgrading my graphics card from my 8800 GT to something newer. Is it worth it? or should i wait a bit longer?

Hey Josh, It's Matt W. Sup?

I would grab a 4890. They are cheap and much faster than that 8800GT. One should hold you over into next spring when I would recommend build a new system. The core i5 socket issue should be fully worked out and the 5850/5870s should be in stock by then. You could always get two 4890s too. if that is in your budget. You have a good revision Q6600, so you could oc it and not have a cpu bottleneck.

 

[farinha]

zmatt, what is the issue with the i5 socket?

 

[Nazgul]

hehe hey, its going pretty good. You guys?

This is what i currently have

Case - Antec 900
Mobo - Intel X38 Abit
Gfx 8800 GT 512mb
cpu - 6600 Quad-core 2.4
HD - 320 GB 7200 RPM seagate
Ram - 4 gb 800
PSU - 700 W OCZ

I am either going to get a new soundcard, better ram or a new graphics card.
And my budget is not an issue. I just don't feel like dropping money on all 3.

 

[zmatt]

zmatt, what is the issue with the i5 socket?

Foxconn makes most of the sockets for the i5 motherboards. There are only a few boards that don't use sockets sourced from them. This has been true for a long time. It seems they messed up on the socket design and when you oc it you can fry your motherboard due to uneven socket pin contact in the VCC area.
AnandTech: P55 Extreme Overclockers: Check your sockets!

It's a very expensive problem. However you shouldn't have any issues p to 4.3ghz OC's or so. After that anything goes. the problem is being addressed, although it will take time for motherboards without this problem to work their way through the pipeline. Until then if you are into extreme overclocking then look elsewhere.

hehe hey, its going pretty good. You guys?

This is what i currently have

Case - Antec 900
Mobo - Intel X38 Abit
Gfx 8800 GT 512mb
cpu - 6600 Quad-core 2.4
HD - 320 GB 7200 RPM seagate
Ram - 4 gb 800
PSU - 700 W OCZ

I am either going to get a new soundcard, better ram or a new graphics card.
And my budget is not an issue. I just don't feel like dropping money on all 3.

A soundcard is a waste of money unless you have a really nice sound system to power. I have a nice pair of sennheiser headphones and the onboard audio is fine for listening to music. Your ram is slow, but ram speed makes the biggest impact in benchmarking. What make/model is it? It is likely if you bought good stuff you can OC the ram anyways. I think a new video card will give you the most bang for buck. 1 4890 will be nice, 2 will be awesome. They are cheap and plentiful right now, unlike the HD58xx cards.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150438

I recommend this one. XFX has a great warranty, it protects against overclocking and aftermarket cooling among other things.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

hehe hey, its going pretty good. You guys?

This is what i currently have

Case - Antec 900
Mobo - Intel X38 Abit
Gfx 8800 GT 512mb
cpu - 6600 Quad-core 2.4
HD - 320 GB 7200 RPM seagate
Ram - 4 gb 800
PSU - 700 W OCZ

I am either going to get a new soundcard, better ram or a new graphics card.
And my budget is not an issue. I just don't feel like dropping money on all 3.

Things are pretty good.

In terms of upgrades I agree with Matt as far as the sound card is concerned but looking at prices I'm not sure the HD 4890 is the way to go for a gpu upgrade. Here are a couple of options...

1) 1x HD 4890 like suggested above ($200)

2) 2x HD 4870 512mb in crossfire ($250)
Newegg.com - XFX HD-487A-YWFC Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

3) 1x HD 5850 $300 but currently out of stock.
Newegg.com - Computer Hardware,Video Cards & Video Devices,Desktop Graphics / Video Cards,Radeon HD 5000 series,Radeon HD 5850

The single HD 4890 is the slowest option but the crossfire HD 4870s and the HD 5850 should have pretty similar performance overall. However the Hd 5850 is a pretty new card so it does have the potential to get faster as drivers mature and it also has the advantage of supporting DX11. The downside is it's hard to find them in stock and they do cost a little more.

One other upgrade you may want to consider is getting a SSD. It won't directly help gaming performance but it should make a very noticeable difference in system responsiveness and also help with application loading times. This article is pretty long but it does a far better job of explaining the benefits of SSDs than I could hope to.

AnandTech: The SSD Relapse: Understanding and Choosing the Best SSD

If you are interested in getting a SSD the Intel X25-M G2 is just about the best.
Newegg.com - Intel X25-M Mainstream SSDSA2MH080G2XXX 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Solid State Disks
+ mounting bracket
Newegg.com - OCZ OCZACSSDBRKT2 Solid State Drive 3.5" Adaptor Bracket 2 - HDD Accessories