Need advice - upgrade or wait?

O

oint

Hello all,

First time posting here, and hoping I could get some clarity back to my options of upgrading my current computer. I've read way to much and am getting mixed up on what I could possibly do with my system. In a nutshell, while this sounds like a terrible comparable choice, I'm trying to decide to upgrade my computer or shell out for an X-Box 360.

I'm also interested in upgrading to Windows 7 64-bit. I'm pretty sure my system can do that, but not positive.

So my price range is $300.00 because of that, although you can convince me to go $400.00.
I play games on this computer: WoW, Crysis (all low settings :p), Half-Life 2, Torchlight.
And I want to be able to play some future games: Civilization 5, Diablo 3, CoD:MW2 or Black Ops, X-COM (the upcoming FPS one) on some more decent settings.
I won't be overclocking anything (unless it's an incredibly easy minor tweak without needing a bigger cooling unit).
I can buy online, I'm in the St. Louis, MO area.

Board: ASUSTeK Computer INC. P5N-E SLI 1.XX
Bus Clock: 333 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD ASUS P5N-E SLI ACPI BIOS Revision 0901 02/01/2008
Processor: 2.33 gigahertz Intel Core2 Duo E6550
Memory: 2x - 1G DDR2 PC6400 (PQI brand), & 1x - 2G DDR2 PC6400 (PNY brand)
Video Card: EVGA Geforce 8400 GS 512MB PCI-E
Power Supply - Turbolink - Switching PS - Mo. # ATX-CW 420W - 12V
Box: Raidmax Sagitta II
Hard Drive: 250Gb SATA II 7200rpm
Sound: Onboard sound
OS: Windows XP Home SP3
Wireless Card: Zonet 802.11G 54MBP PCI Wireless

Added:
Monitor: 22" LG LCD


My initial thought is buy the upgrade copy of Win7 64-bit and the new Nvidia 460GTX 1G, but I'm pretty sure that's the wrong move...maybe not.

Thank you for taking a look at this!
 
I'll second HK.

Get an aftermarket HSF too. It'll help you push the overclock a little higher.
 
Thanks for the responses.

Any reason to not get the larger 1GB 460 instead of the 768Mb one?

Down the road further, would it be worth getting an even larger Power Supply now, then adding a 2nd 460? From my understanding this board converts an SLI setup to just 8x instead of 16x, but that the difference is minimal. (although that was at the time of the board's review on this site)

Should I not mess with upgrading to Win 7 64-bit?
 
2x GTX 460 in SLI would indeed be excellent.

However, your current CPU will in all probability bottleneck 2 GTX 460s in SLI. So you should look to upgrade the processor later when you get a second card.
 
However, your current CPU will in all probability bottleneck 2 GTX 460s in SLI. So you should look to upgrade the processor later when you get a second card.
Click to expand...
Yeah and you'll have to upgrade your motherboard too though, so...

Should I not mess with upgrading to Win 7 64-bit?
Click to expand...
Doesn't matter, why not.
 
So Corsair seems to be the ideal Power Supply brand to go for. Down the road I would likely move the PS I buy into the next system I get, and with that I would like to at least have the option to put in a 2nd Nvidia 460GTX into it. So how large of a PS would be needed to run 2?

I've gotten responses on another site saying the ATI 5770 is a good card to go for as well, but as long as I could get the 460GTX 1GB solo and it not be bottlenecked I'd prefer it since that seems to be the card of choice for the next couple years.

I've also been suggested to upgrade the CPU to an E8300, and also to buy a aftermarket heatsink and Overclock the system, which I'm reluctant to do. (unless I felt comfortable with a dummy guide)

So main upgrades now are:
Corsair 450W PS now or higher for future SLI in larger Mobo.
Nvidia 1Gb 460GTX
 
hellokitty said:
Yeah and you'll have to upgrade your motherboard too though, so...
Click to expand...

Do you think the E8600(well OC'd) will bottleneck a GTX460 SLI? The OP's current mobo supports up to the E8600 CPU according to ASUS.

So how large of a PS would be needed to run 2?
Click to expand...

A good 650W PSU should cut it.

I've gotten responses on another site saying the ATI 5770 is a good card to go for as well, but as long as I could get the 460GTX 1GB solo and it not be bottlenecked I'd prefer it since that seems to be the card of choice for the next couple years.
Click to expand...

The GTX 460 (both single and SLI) would give much better performance than the HD 5770. However, even an HD 5770 CF setup will be able to handle all games at their highest settings without any problems for quite some time to come. (But to get 2 HD 5770 you'll definitely need to change your board as it only supports SLI).

I've also been suggested to upgrade the CPU to an E8300, and also to buy a aftermarket heatsink and Overclock the system, which I'm reluctant to do.
Click to expand...

The E8400 would be a better bet then the E8300. Overclocking should not be too much of a problem. If you require a CPU upgrade without changing the mobo then the E8400 is a good buy. It can easily be clocked to about 4 GHz on good air cooling.
 
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