Looking for Recommendations

[Robin Cardinal]

Hi,

First time poster, so if I'm missing something, please, go easy on me.

I have an ok gaming system and want to upgrade motherboard, processor, and RAM. Willing to spend around $1000.00 (Canadian). I like to get parts from tigerdirect.ca, if that helps.

I would post a dxdiag, but they put me way over the character limit.

Here's what I have:

Vista 32 Bit
680i SLi ATX Motherboard
Intel E6850 3Ghz Processor
Seagate ST350032 500Gb Hard Drive
2Gb OCZ RAM
EVGA GTX 260 Superclocked
SB X-Fi Xtreme Gamer
Corsair 850W PSU

I was looking at an Intel i7 920 processor ($300) and EVGA X58 ($500.00). Are these smart choices? As for RAM, I'm lost. How do I identify the exact RAM type and amount already in my case?

I'm also looking at a new LCD. Does 2ms really make a diffference over 5ms?

Hope these questions aren't too innane.

robin

 

[philbar71]

some good ram for the X58 mobo (i assume you are talking about the EVGA classified)

Newegg.ca - G.SKILL Trident 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-16000CL9T-6GBTD - Desktop Memory

good choices on the i7 920 and EVGA mobo.

as far as LCD's go if you are really picky then you can notice a difference between a 8ms monitor and a 5ms monitor, but the difference (for most people) is negligble between a 5ms response time and 2ms.

good monitor,

Newegg.ca - ASUS VH236H Black 23" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen Full HD 1080P LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 20000 :1 (ASCR) Built in Speakers - LCD Monitors

 

[jfenwick]

Also, if you're Canadian you can stretch that budget by NOT shopping at Tigerdirect.ca. Instead, once you finalize your build, go to shopbot.ca to get the cheapest price for each item and then purchase them from ncix.com. They are a Canadian shop out in BC and they have a price match guarantee. They also have the best customer care of all the online computer stores, way better than Tigerdirect.ca. Another bonus is if you are shopping out of province you don't pay the pst, that will more than cover the shipping costs.

NCIX.com also has pretty decent sales every Wednesday nights so check them out around 10pm each wednesday for what you're looking for and you may get lucky. The sales are usually limited by quantity and the best deals are usually gone by Thursday.

Happy shopping!

 

[Slaymate]

Unless your planning on doing some extreme overclocking you won't need the EVGA Classified, the EVGA E758-A1 is a good mobo and it will save you a few dollars. I've used both of them

Buy the EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard at TigerDirect.ca

NCIX.com - Buy EVGA X58 ATX LGA1366 DDR3 3PCIE-16 PCI-E1 2PCI SLI SATA2 eSATA Dual GBLAN Motherboard - 132-BL-E758-A1 In Canada.

Newegg.ca - EVGA E758-A1 3-Way SLI (x16/x16/x8) LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

 

[Nubbleet]

+1 to the E758 if you're not trying to hit 5GHz. Slay had it to 4.949 until he boomed it

 

[patonb]

Pljus 2 for ncix, tigers a tad pricey, and you save the pst as its from BC.. unless your in BC... or alberta.

 

[Robin Cardinal]

Thanks for the recommendations so far.

I will certainly check out NCIX. I will not be overclocking so the less expensive mobo is fine with me.

Considering I was just playing Fallout 3 at around 60fps, will these upgrades really be worth it? I will be picking up Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising at the end of October and, well, I will want to run it at highest settings with awesome framerates. I can play Crysis with good framerates, but not at highest settings. So, go with the upgrades or not? Will the eye candy be worth it?

 

[Robin Cardinal]

I know that "worth it" is subjective. I won't hold you to it. Just looking for some input, or enabling advice.

 

[Fat.Clown]

I really think your computer should still be able to hold it's own

maybe overclock your processor a little bit, upgrade to 4 GB of RAM

and if that's still not enough for you, grab the ATi HD 5870 graphic card

but hey, that's just me

 

[patonb]

Unfortunately the 680i doesn't do 45nm quads... So if you real just want a better gaming rig, get a 45nm dual core, for now, then when prices drop abit, grab an i5 or i7 and ddr3 ram.