$1000 NZD upgrade

[cyrax]

Just wanted to get a few opinions of the following upgrades here for the system that's in my sig:

Motherboard, ($137.31)
Gigabyte GA-EP41-UD3L ATX LGA775
Gigabyte GA-EP41-UD3L ATX LGA775 [dv-MGI100] - $122.05 : UEC Digital Store, The Art of E-commerce

Graphics card, ($305.00)
XFX Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16
XFX Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 XFX Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 [VIXFX48701GB] - NZ$305.00 : PC Force Ltd, Computer Superstore

RAM, ($102.17)
Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C5 4GB (2x XMS2 2GB) PC-6400 (800MHz) DDR
OC Zone(NZ) Limited

CPU,($194.49)
Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 2.93GHz Processor with Original Fan and Heatsink
PCOnlineShop.co.nz - $172.85+GST Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 2.93GHz Processor with Original Fan and Heatsink

~$738.97 total


For a monitor, it's between these two:

Monitor, ($342.34)
Viewsonic VX2423W 24 1920x1080 5ms DVI 20000:1 LCD
Welcome to pcpacific Online

($260.00)
BENQ T2200HD 22" Wide LCD Gloss Black DVI Full HD 1080P 5ms 16:9
ETC Computers::New Zealand Computer Store with Top Quality at The Best Prices

Main reason I'd think about going with the BenQ is because of a friend's recommendation, but also the price difference there. But if I got a good recommendation for the Viewsonic, I'd really prefer going with a 24" to be honest.

Only issue I could think of with these main parts though would be my PSU. Do you think 550W is enough? The 4870 supposedly only needs 450W, so do you think I should be okay? Would really like to not have to upgrade my PSU, as that would put a $200+ dent in my budget of $1000. Also, sorry about all the random sites, wish we had a New Zealand equivalent of Newegg, but sadly not. If you have ideas to change something out in my build, just check out pricespy.co.nz if you're keen to help me out.

Thanks a lot.

EDIT: Also, been out of keeping up with tech here for awhile, just wondering if there's any future advances right around the corner I should know about before upgrading? Only asking, because when I built my original rig 3 or so years ago, I did it just as Core 2 Duos came out and yea.. wasn't very happy, haha.

 

[Yami]

~$738.97 total

Good choices on parts, however an E8400 would probably be a better idea than E7500. I don't know anything abgout what price difference there might be, though.

Only issue I could think of with these main parts though would be my PSU. Do you think 550W is enough? The 4870 supposedly only needs 450W, so do you think I should be okay? Would really like to not have to upgrade my PSU, as that would put a $200+ dent in my budget of $1000.

Wattage is not the only factor you need to consider, but brand and amperage are very important also. 500W+ will probably be fine, but make sure it has at least 30A on the 12v. And make sure to buy a good brand (corsair are among the best, but have the expected premium), otherwise you get problem with bad build quality (and when the part in question is responisble for powering everything in your system at a suitable voltage/etc., you don't want it to die on you and take other parts with it).

EDIT: Also, been out of keeping up with tech here for awhile, just wondering if there's any future advances right around the corner I should know about before upgrading? Only asking, because when I built my original rig 3 or so years ago, I did it just as Core 2 Duos came out and yea.. wasn't very happy, haha.

Not really, no. Except perhaps SSDs, but with your budget probably wouldn't allow for one.

 

[cyrax]

Good choices on parts, however an E8400 would probably be a better idea than E7500. I don't know anything abgout what price difference there might be, though.

Yea, unfortunately my budget doesn't allow for it. Being a student ftl.

Wattage is not the only factor you need to consider, but brand and amperage are very important also. 500W+ will probably be fine, but make sure it has at least 30A on the 12v.

Found a video review of my particular PSU, and the newegg page for it here: Newegg.com - ENERMAX Whisper II EG565P-VE FMA(24P) 535W ATX12V Ver 2.0 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Power Supply - Power Supplies. The video review mentioned it having two 12V rails at 18A each. I really don't know much about the inner workings of a power supply, so would this be okay?

Not really, no. Except perhaps SSDs, but with your budget probably wouldn't allow for one.

Just for future reference, what are SSDs?