If I was to change only one hardware - what would it be? (specs inside)

[amirgelman]

hey all,

i have a dilemma.
my PC runs pretty slow and I'm not sure on what I should invest my money on.
most of the computer is pretty old (bought around 6-7 years ago).

my expectation from the upgrade:
- overall speed improvement. faster loading and better performance with heavy sotftware such as: Steinberg Cubase, Adobe's Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects etc
- better, faster gaming experience with as high as possible graphics (games like: Black Desert, The Elder Scrolls Online etc...).

Some tell me SSD will improve my overall performance the most. some say it's the least of my concerns.

Specs:

 

[1etherer]

If I was to change only one hardware - what would it be?

SSD

 

[Joe C]

my vote for an SSD too

 

[PP Mguire]

Damn, sucks you don't have a P55 board. I'd say get a Corsair H100i and go to TOWN on overclocking that little i5. Capable of 4GHz easy.

Since you don't and overclocking gains would be small from the board I too say SSD. The SSD will bring the best improvements to loading your programs. Just make sure it's plugged into a SATA3 port (should be the white ones).

 

[PP Mguire]

Ok so I did a bit of Google, apparently that board can overclocking decent but I see your clocks are already at 3.1 due to a mild overclock. I'd say this board with some heatsinks on the VRM can push the i5. I own an i5 750 and they're still good chips. That and the 955BE still do very well granted the parts around them are good too.

I still say SSD, it'll get the best performance (not FPS) upgrade for the whole rig for the other stuff you do. You could get a CM 212 EVO and probably do 3.8GHz easily though for 30 bucks.

 

[amirgelman]

okay everybody,
hope anyone reads this.
first of all - thanks for the comments. bought an SSD EVO by Samsung 500gb.
now it says something about the port.... can anyone tell me if i'm suppost to buy a new motherboard or is it just the cable??
current status:

 

[carnageX]

According to your board specs, you only have SATA2 ports.

 

[amirgelman]

According to your board specs, you only have SATA2 ports.

Bummer :/
Any suggestions for the cheapest motherboard that will do the job and get the best of my ssd??

 

[PP Mguire]

No he has SATA3 like I said, the white ports.

 

[carnageX]

No he has SATA3 like I said, the white ports.

Gigabyte's specs say they're all SATA2.

Chipset:
5 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (SATA2_0, SATA2_1, SATA2_2, SATA2_3, SATA2_4) supporting up to 5 SATA 3Gb/s devices

GIGABYTE SATA2 chip:
2 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (GSATA2_5, GSATA2_6) supporting up to 2 SATA 3Gb/s devices