upgrading a previously built PC

I already built my first PC last summer. The short specs are:

AMD Phenom 9550 (2.2ghz overclocked to ~2.5)
MSI K9N SLI V2 motherboard
4GB ddr2 800mhz
2x 8800GT (SLI)
500GB western digital HDD
600W PSU

to be honest, at the time i couldn't be assed to bother with proper research, etc, and i was keen on getting an AMD processor for some reason; otherwise i would've/should've just got a Q6600 like everyone else seemed to be getting. Oh well. Now I'd like to upgrade.

I'm thinking that for return/dollar, the best route to go is to get a new processor, RAM (i.e. DDR3), mobo (which supports DDR3 obv), and otherwise use my old components and case. The only other thing I think is a possibility is a 300GB velociraptor, but I'm not sure if performance increase there justifies the $230 price tag.

So....

a) Did I judge the situation right? (new CPU, mobo, RAM)
b) If not, what would you suggest would be the best way to upgrade?
c) If so, what combos for the three would you suggest? Is going to i7 worth it, or should I stick to Phenom/Core2Quad?

I'm not on a strict budget per se, but I'd like to keep it under $800.

thanks in advance.

a) Why do you think you need to upgrade? I can understand you wanting to upgrade for the hell of it, but I can see no "need" to. Yes, a q6600 would be marginally better than the Phenom (and only if you overclocked it too), but not enough to justify a change to it.

b) Again, I don't see the need to upgrade. That system should be able to run even Crysis at reasonable frame rates. What games do you play? Are you having issues with any of them?

c) If you really, really want to upgrade, the only worthwhile thing to do would be to go with a Core i7 (or the Phenom 2 maybe, when it comes out) with appropriate RAM and mobo.

Quaker, Phenom 2 is out.

Slap a PhenomII X4 940 in that thing. Put in a GTX280 card and a new PSU. You will see a nice performance pickup from those simple improvements. You can use one of your 8800GTs for PhysX processing as well, so you won't be throwing both away. If you want, you could then put in another GTX280 down the road if you really wanted.

GPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130365

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103471

PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817814013
(On sale for 169.99 = INCREDIBLE. ABS makes, hands down, the best PSUs on the planet)

and since we are STILL under budget, upgrade your RAM.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231166

That will feed the bandwidth hungry PhenomII, because of the boost in RAM speed. Plus, latencies are nice and low to make that IMC happy.

does it matter that my motherboard isn't rated to use 1066?

http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?f...d_no=1415#menu

Actually, that is an issue Mafaraxas... your board isn't actually an AM2+ board, it is just an AM2 socket (mention that ) It won't support Phenom II at all. Well, if that is the case, just leave the CPU alone. Boost your GPU performance and overclock the Phenom slightly (you do have AMD Overdrive and a Phenom Black Edition after all)

As for the RAM, yes it will work, but it wouldn't be worth it. Let's revise this a bit.

Scrap the above stuff and get this instead.

GPU (Order 2 of these for SLi):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130441

PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817814013

phenom 9550 isn't black edition (i just seem to keep disappointing you, don't i?). i've already got it as fast i can while still being stable (at 2.5ghz)

For simplicity let's just assume I buy the PSU and am down to $630 budget.

Is it still best to just focus on upgrading the GPU? Phenom II looks awfully appealing, and a new motherboard would probably just set me back $100-$200 or so, right?

Oh, a Phenom 9550... I am not doing well today. Thought it said 9950, but oh well.


Well, your best route would probably be a new setup then I suppose. The 9550 isn't exactly the peak of processor ability.

So, that being said.

Assuming after the PSU, you have 630 dollars left to spend:

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103471

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157134

GPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130434

That breaks the budget by 20 bucks? Overall, a huge upgrade. Plop your current RAM in there, it will be fine. Down the road, you can upgrade your RAM to 1066 and put in another GTX 260b card in there.

wow, just noticed they bumped up the price back up to $270 on the PSU, glad i bought when i did

Yeh, you got an absolutely WICKED deal on that Tagan BZ. They are, without a doubt, the best PSUs in the world.

Lol @ the house pic ,

This a nice combo deal :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.155903

But ill wait until those i7 Processors drop in price


<font color="FireBrick"></strong>Moderator Edit: </font></strong> Removed the link to that article, because it is so outdated, and might mislead people.