Lookg for new MoBo/CPU/GPU

[akmcknz]

This system is not crazy high performance but more so than the other comps in the general upgrade section so I posted it here. As stated in the title, I'm looking into some new hardware. I've dabbled with upgrading hardware for a little over 10 years now (New video cards here and there, new PSUs, more ram, etc.) but this is the first time I've dared to mess around with my CPU/Mobo. I feel my system, as it is now, is becoming quite dated for some new and upcoming games (FFXIV, Two Worlds 2, etc...)

Here is my system now:

M2N SLI nVidia 560 Chipset SLI mobo
4 x 1gb RAM (DDR2)
Earthwatts 500w PSU
nVidia 9800 GT 5112 mb
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 3.2 (I believe)Mhz
Sb Audigy
Hitachi 500GB 7200rpm HDD
2x 120mm Cooling fans

Im looking at these upgrades

Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!

And I'm on the fence about a GTX 460, not sure about the performance/price ratio is worth it.

Newegg.com - EVGA 768-P3-1360-TR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Any and all suggestions and advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys!

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

That CPU/Motherboard combo looks pretty good for a good AMD build and is at a good price too (my LGA1366 motherboard alone was $209). It is a microATX board though, if you have a full ATX case you might want to look for a full ATX motherboard, full boards are larger but have more expansion slots so you can add more graphics cards or other addons. However, a microATX is the safest motherboard if you are keeping your existing case, a microATX will fit in a microATX case as well as an ATX mid or full tower.

As for the GTX460 it is one of nVidia's best for price/performance. I've heard that 2 GTX460's in SLI beats the performance of a GTX480 and is cheaper as well. Personally I like AMD's current lineup a bit better than nVidia's but the new nVidia cards are starting to get better driver support and show off their true potential. If you're using AMD you may want to consider an nVidia nForce based motherboard as this will allow you to run a multi-GPU SLI setup if you ever want to upgrade. AMD's own chipsets do not support SLI and can only run multi-GPU configurations with AMD (ATi) GPU's.

 

[akmcknz]

My case is the following (Newegg.com - CyberpowerPC Gamer Ultra 7200 Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 2GB DDR2 500GB NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT Windows Vista Home Premium) Bought that computer a few years back because I didn't feel up to building one from scratch just then, but as you can see, I've changed almost every component out. I don't plan on going SLI anytime soon, but who knows, plans change. The only comparable GPU for price/performance ratio by ATI was a 4870 (Newegg.com - XFX HD-487A-ZWFC Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card) But all the reviews said it got extremely hot and seeing as I only have two fans I'm not really wanting to go that route. If you know of any other ATI cards that would be around the same performance as the 460 for about that same price that would be awesome. The last thing I wanted to clarify was the issue of compatibility between my case and the motherboard I have linked above, just curious if there would be any issues? I didn't think that there were going to be, but after reading your response I'm not so sure anymore. Thanks again for all your help guys!

 

[Muffin Man]

yes, an m-atx board would fit, cyberpower doesn't use proprietary cases like some dells for example.

a 4870 is a last gen card, but you can afford something better so you shouldn't really consider it at this point, plus it doesn't compare to a gtx 460. the only ati card that's supposed to be competing with the gtx 460 is the 5830, but it has a worse price/performance ratio; it's slower and it costs more.

get the 460, you'll be happy with it.

btw, you might already know this, but incase you don't, you're gonna have to upgrade your ram to ddr3 too to use that board.