Looking to upgrade my computer

[Kamakazii101]

Within the next few months I plan on trying to upgrade my computer to play catch-up with a lot of the newer power hungry games. I am looking to max out my rig as best as possible, at this point I'm not too worried about price, I'm just looking for any suggestions. I'm looking for:

 

1. Improved graphics card (Is the GTX 260 the best you can get?)

2. A Dual processor that should be able to support any high end graphics card

3. A new Motherboard to accompany RAM and Video upgrades

4. At least 2 - 4 GBs of DDR2 or DDR3 RAM

5. Any good quality sound card

6. I'm looking into flat-screen monitors, but I want to know which would be the best you can get that has good screen quality for a decent price

7. Coolant and air-flow systems so it doesn't spontaneously combust while I'm playing

8. Power supply for energy hungry beasts (a bit overdramatic)

 

If anyone has any suggestions for any products to the list above, I would be happy to hear it. I know that a lot of it depends on system specs so if you need them, I'll have to post it some other time. My gaming computer is elsewhere....

 

Thanks! - Kamakazii101

[Ultramarine]

AMD Phenom II X4 955 3.2 GHz 239.99

MSI 790FX-GD70 AM3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard 169.99

OCZ Blade Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) 140.99

XFX HD-489A-ZDDC Radeon HD 4890 1GB XXX 256-bit GDDR5 229.99

HT | OMEGA STRIKER 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card 89.99

APEVIA X-SNIPER G-Type X-SNIPERG-AL Black / Silver SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 79.99

CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply 139.99

BELKIN BP112230-08 8 ft. 12 Outlets 4320 Joules Pivot-Plug Surge Protector 34.99

2 Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive 59.99 each, 119.98

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner 26.99

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit 99.99

KASPERSKY lab Anti-Virus Home Edition 2009 US Edition 51.99

[Guy]

monitor: http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&sku=320-7438&redirect=1

 

can't beat the price/quality.

 

best graphics card on newegg.com: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130504

 

can't WIN that price

[Coffee Crisp]

If you're willing to burn a hole through your wallet, pants, underwear, and skin then...

 

-A X4 processor would probably be better if you're keeping that computer for a long time. A Intel 3.2GHz Core i7 975 Extreme or AMD Phenom X4 940 depending on your motherboard. Intel reigns supreme regarding performance right now though.

-MSI Eclipse SLI Motherboard if you're using an i7 processor.

-Get a Nvidia Geforce GTX 295

-Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1.5TB for capacity.

-Western Digital Velociraptor 300GB for performance.

-The Gateway XHD3000 is probably the best 30inch monitor you could get right now.

- For the cooler you could with a Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme.

- For the ram you could easily find great sticks at corsair, kingston, ocz, patriot, mushkin, crucial.

- Corsair HX1000W is a nice power supply.

 

and for the sound card, a X-Fi Titanium would suffice.

 

*If I had enough money I would buy that :-) but alas, only a person like me can dream of having PCs like these.

[Kamakazii101]

Thank you for your suggestions I will definitely look into these.

[Ultramarine]

Thank you for your suggestions I will definitely look into these.

 

But, if you are going to get an AMD cpu and DDR3 RAM, The AMD CPU HAS to be Socket AM3, the Phenom IIx4 940 does NOT support DDR3 RAM, it using the AM2+ socket. make certain to see what socket that CPU is before you buy it.

 

Those Intel Core i7's are beasts, both in performance AND price. if you dont mind dishing out the money for one, then i say go for it. just make certain you buy the correct MoBo, and not the one i listed (the mobo ilisted is for the AMD Phenom II's)

[Wrathek]

i agree with andre for the most part as always.

 

I cannot, in good faith, suggest the 975 extreme. its not that much better than the one below it that is VASTLY cheaper. the price is outrageous just because it has an unlocked multiplier. I seriously doubt you would want to OC that badly anyway.

[Shadowex3]

I'm with andre except for three things:

 

1. GTX 275 is better bang for your buck graphics card wise, you'll be able to afford to upgrade again every other year or so (if you've got a steady job, not hard for money etc).

2. Asus mobos are the best imho, followed by gigabyte. SLI is a gimmick and nvidia's chipsets are terrible.

3. I'm a CRT fanatic, I'd buy a 60lb 21" trinitron and run 1600x1200@85hz before any flatpanel.

 

Other than that Andre's on the money. Good ram brands when you add in g.skill, corsair's still honestly one of the best power supplies you can buy although the hx1000 is way overkill and you'll never need more than a 700watter if you don't go SLI, and whatever any fanboys say the AMD processors just cannot hold a candle to even the less expensive intel processors.

 

You can easily trim Andre's suggestions down to about $1100-1200.

[Wrathek]

most asus mobos use nvida's chipsets lol (but i agree about the quality of asus)

 

and meh@ crts. honestly, there is nothing that a crt can do better than an lcd now, you want refresh rates? they make them in 120 now.

[Akaru]

What is the current specs of your computer. Some of these parts might not even work in your current computer. If you are going to get a GTX 200 series card, you will need a big computer case and a bigger PSU. DDR2 RAM is not backwards compatible with DDR3 RAM, your motherboard only supports one type. Then the motherboard you get only supports 1 processor socket. AMD processors wull not work in a motherboard designed for Intel and vice versa.