Which computer part should I upgrade next? - Hardware & Software

So my computer has started to show its wear on a lot of games that I frequent. So I thought it would be around time to upgrade. Problem is, I don't really pay attention to the hardware news until I decide I need a new component in a particular place, so I don't really know for sure which parts of what are showing their age more than other parts. Hopefully if I provide a list of my computer parts, you guys can decide which seem good, and which could be improved. CPU: AMD Phenom II x4 955 ~3.2GHz (Upgraded to this last year if I remember correctly.) GPU: Asus EAH5770 1GB DDR5 Memory: 4GB (Recently upgraded from 2GB to 4GB on a higher clock tier. ~3-4 months.) Motherboard: Asus M3N78-VM HDD: 300GB main with a 1TB external. A couple things to note: My CPU fan has such a small diameter, that when I play demanding games, its revolution rate goes so high that I can hear it in other rooms downstairs. I nicknamed it 'The Jet Engine' because of that. This of course does not distract me from my games as I wear headphones, but I'm sure my family is losing sleep when I play past midnight. I am thinking the best upgradable component of my computer for performance would be my GPU. And since my motherboard only has one video card slot, I probably wouldn't be able to get another 5770 for crossfire. Because of this, I'm thinking that an Nvidia card would be the better option. As for the disk space, while it is annoying to juggle around game installs on my primary, the storage of my external is making up for most of the stress, so I don't think I'll need to get an upgrade in there for a while yet.

Do you know what model HDD you have? It might be helpful to upgrade it if it has slow read/write times. Maybe you could also upgrade your mobo and get another GPU

No I don't know what model HDD I have. It was a handmedown from a couple years back, so I'm sure that this thing is over 4-6 years old. As for the motherboard idea, I feel it may be too soon for that. Currently as it stands, any hardware that I don't use, gets handed down so nothing is wasted. While a new motherboard with crossfire would be nice, I feel that getting a new GPU could be more useful, as my 5770 could be sent to the other one that only has onboard video. Of course, if I need a new CPU, then my motherboard is almost certain to have to be replaced as AM2+ probably does not do it for the newer ones.

A 5770 isn't [i]too[/i] bad (although it could certainly be better) but a slow hard drive (yours sounds slow) can definitely affect performance. See if [url=http://www.piriform.com/speccy]Speccy[/url] can tell you what you have. [url=http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185]A new 1TB drive costs $75[/url] and will probably improve speeds overall. If you really want to upgrade the GPU, what PSU do you have? Take a look at the 560 Ti or 6950 (or the 6870 which is a little cheaper/lower performance)

[QUOTE=acidcj;29939443]A 5770 isn't [i]too[/i] bad (although it could certainly be better) but a slow hard drive (yours sounds slow) can definitely affect performance. See if [url=http://www.piriform.com/speccy]Speccy[/url] can tell you what you have. [url=http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185]A new 1TB drive costs $75[/url] and will probably improve speeds overall. [/QUOTE]Or this for less. 2x the space. [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?SID=u0t0f0fp51829dd0c0s701&AID=10440897&PID=1225267&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-cables-_-na-_-na&Item=N82E16822152245&Tpk=N82E16822152245[/url]

[QUOTE=ClaBrendon;29939586]Or this for less. 2x the space. [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?SID=u0t0f0fp51829dd0c0s701&AID=10440897&PID=1225267&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-cables-_-na-_-na&Item=N82E16822152245&Tpk=N82E16822152245[/url][/QUOTE] He's canadian, newegg.ca isn't offering that deal and it's cheaper because the drive is much slower

[QUOTE=acidcj;29939607]and it's cheaper because the drive is much slower[/QUOTE]Probably not by much. [editline]19th May 2011[/editline] It's actually pretty even in reviews, but it doesn't matter anyways.

[QUOTE=ClaBrendon;29939641]Probably not by much. [editline]19th May 2011[/editline] It's actually pretty even in reviews, but it doesn't matter anyways.[/QUOTE] 7200 RPM vs 5400 RPM is actually noticeable and reviews are mostly worthless, they're only good for warnings when a product is extremely low quality

[QUOTE=acidcj;29939705]7200 RPM vs 5400 RPM is actually noticeable and reviews are mostly worthless, they're only good for warnings when a product is extremely low quality[/QUOTE]Go read up. I've looked at muliple places. All say it's rather the same, if not just under it. Still 2Tb for less is rather appealing. It does show difference sometimes.

[QUOTE=ClaBrendon;29939739]Go read up. I've looked at muliple places. All say it's rather the same, if not just under it. Still 2Tb for less is rather appealing. It does show difference sometimes.[/QUOTE] Access time is the important thing. Don't even consider using a 5400RPM 'green' disk as a boot drive.

Alright. I installed Speccy and it says this about my HDD. 313GB Seagate ST3320620A ATA Device (PATA) but it doesn't say the RPM. After searching around, I found [url]http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/manuals/ata/100402369a.pdf[/url] which is dated at 2006 which sounds about right. Says the rate is 7,200 RPM. Complexities here: Manufacturer Seagate Form Factor 3.5" Cache Size 16MB Heads 16 Cylinders 16383 Device type Fixed ATA Standard ATA/ATAPI-7 48-bit LBA Supported Serial Number 5QF41FRC Interface PATA Capacity 313GB Real size 320,072,933,376 bytes

[QUOTE=Leintharien;29940331]Alright. I installed Speccy and it says this about my HDD. 313GB Seagate ST3320620A ATA Device (PATA) but it doesn't say the RPM. After searching around, I found [url]http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/manuals/ata/100402369a.pdf[/url] which is dated at 2006 which sounds about right. Says the rate is 7,200 RPM. -stuff-[/QUOTE] Here it is on newegg [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=22-148-139[/url] I'd recommend upgrading, if only to avoid hard drive failure and data loss The F3 has much improved seek times and and twice the cache, and the Seagate is IDE (not SATA)

I think I'll spring for that new hard drive. Thanks for the help. Oh also, when installing a new hard drive, would I have to plug it in, and have the Windows 7 install cd in my disk drive? Or would I have to go through some wizard beforehand?

[QUOTE=Leintharien;29940493]I think I'll spring for that new hard drive. Thanks for the help. Oh also, when installing a new hard drive, would I have to plug it in, and have the Windows 7 install cd in my disk drive? Or would I have to go through some wizard beforehand?[/QUOTE] Plug it in and it should be working, you can try booting to your old drive and you should be able to access the drive. But yeah, then just restart with the install CD and install it to the new drive.