So, with my old pc in the specs besides the post. i've ordered new cpu, motherboard, memory & cpu cooling, should arrive in 1-3 days. I5-2500K, planning to OC this to atleast 4.5ghz, possibly as high as 5.0ghz depending on the cpu i get and temps. ASUS P8P67 PRO Corsair Vengeance XMS3 1600MHz 8-8-8-24 1.5v Zalman CNPS9900 Max Now this 1st upgrade should take pretty well care of the main components, what im a bit interested in is the upgrade i'm planning to get after this. I'm a bit on the fence as to what parts really would need upgrading and if so what i should upgrade em with. 1. no doubt my GTS250 (bios flashed 9800gtx+) will need upgrading. but i cant really decide on a GPU to replace it with (although im heavily nvidia biased, i might consider an ati card with the right persuassion) I've always kind of liked nvidia's lower end series.. GTS250,GTX260.. but im just not sure i like the GTX460 atm, in a brand new pc set to last atleast 3 years.. is it new/good enough? and what about the slightly failed thermal charactheristics of the 400 series. Ofc a gtx560 might be just around the corner. but i might also consider just waiting for kepler aka. gtx600? said to launch mid2011. Seeing as my current gts250 is having no issues with playing BFBC2, wow, COD:BO, MNC, which would be my most played games atm. all playable on medium graphics setting at 1680x1050. What do you guys think here, is it worth it waiting kepler at the moment? 2. my PSU, it's a vx550w corsair . from everything i can see 550w will still be fine going into this upgrade. And even with a top or near-top of the line graphics card 550w should suffice shouldn't it ? As a possible replacement i've considered the Corsair AX750, modular 80+ gold rated 750w, reasons for this being the load should be closer to 50% on a 750w than a 550w psu, giving better efficiency, and the added gold over bronze rating should give another 5-10% efficiency, and its modular so i can get rid of some wiring. Thoughts on this? should i get the ax750 or just try and stick to my vx550, maybe spend the extras on a bigger gpu, or but it towards my 3rd plan. 3. my monitor. i got a fairly standard 22" 5000:1 5ms tn panel running 1680x1050. about 3 years old. and its served me well enough. but im now looked to replace this with a more highend monitor. I'm looking for ideas for a monitor with superb image quality, thats still good enough for gaming (doesn't have to be pro-gaming, just no visible ghosting etc). My thoughts are a VA or IPS panel, 1920x1200, led backlit. with preferably under 8ms g-t-g response. 22-24" (would prefer a 22" 1920x1200 if its possible, i like the lower dotpitch, but 24" is also ok) What i might also consider is a 120hz panel, although i consider the 3d vision a gimmick at best the added 120hz in gaming would be sweet, but i've looked around and i can't really find a 120hz that also fits within my requirement of awesome picture quality at the moment. This being said it could be up to 6 months before i buy this monitor, would have to come after or at the same time as the purchase of a new graphics card to drive the bigger resolution. Any other ideas for my 2nd upgrade, or things in my setup that i really should consider that i might've missed, also im hoping to get this upgrade done within 1-2 months if i don't end up waiting for parts to be released, like kepler or similar, please take the time to advice on all 3 parts.
You can get a Radeon HD 6950, unlock the extra cores and turn it into a 6970. It comes with 2 GB GDDR5 for a pretty nice price. Usually I don't recommend doing these BIOS hacks, but there's a huge number of successes and there's a backup BIOS on the GPU should the BIOS flash fails. So, I guess it's worth it. deltatux
OK, did ati get any better with their tessellation / computer performance on the 6950/70? (edit: from what i see they still fall behind in that regard, so i think i still slightly prefer the gtx570) And been looking at monitors, so far i've found this Dell U2410 http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...etail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=320-8277 its slightly pricey and i havent yet had time to find a review that focused on gaming on this monitor. alternatives on this one? thoughts?
Not sure, maybe try and look at Guru3D reviews, Anandtech and etc. Personally, if it doesn't affect the framerate, I don't really care about tessellation. So it's best to go through the reviews. deltatux
