Hey guys, i'm looking to upgrade my parent's older computer- but i'm having a lot of trouble finding a reliable dealer for a few of the parts.
1. Which parts, if any, will significantly increase performance to the machine?
2. Is it more cost effective to start from scratch? (new mobo)
3. Where can I get older parts without getting scammed?
Details:
KT-600 motherboard (462 socket) supports: Athlon XP processors, ?
current processor: Athlon XP 2600+
Compatible ram: DDR SDRAM 266,333,400mhz. Up to 2gb of the 400mhz, 4gb of slower ram
Current ram: 512mb of DDR 333mhz
Compatible Video Cards: ? It has an 8x AGP slot, are there any of these cards that can do shader model 2.0?
Current video card: Radeon 7000 series
I'm looking to keep it under $200 for upgrades, but upgrading to 2gb ram is already at about $90 at the local shop.
You're going to get basically scammed no matter what you do. Older parts, which you need to upgrade anything, cost more in general. AGP cards are more then PCI-e cards, DDR is more than DDR2, good luck finding a new CPU really worth it.
I don't mean to be not-helpful, but you'd probably be better off saving up and buying cheapish all new stuff for $400-$450 if that's an option at all.
But as for the video card anything would be an upgrade compared to a 7000...anything on this page practically. A HD 4670 would most likely run for sure, what's your power supply?
Xeddicus on
"For no one - no one in this world can you trust. Not men. Not women. Not beasts...this you can trust."
it's 350W, and has a 4-pin connection. shouldn't be an issue with this hardware.
Then yeah, a 4670 would work well most likely. Then your CPU would be the problem. But if upgrading is the only option, get the card, the ram, and start saving is my advice if you HAVE to get better now. If you can wait, new everything minus a monitor would work out very well.
Xeddicus on
"For no one - no one in this world can you trust. Not men. Not women. Not beasts...this you can trust."
ah, it's not essential. thanks for the help, if i'm breaking $200 on these upgrades it'll be better to just let this thing sit for a few years and buy a new system for $800 or whatever it'll be.
This is well within my budget. So well in fact that I might consider some slightly more expensive alternatives. There are a few concerns however, most of which have been raised by a friend of mine. Something that he has been pretty adamant about is processor/graphics card synergy. He says that to optimize my computer I should really consider getting an AMD processor. That is to say, something along the lines of AMD Phenom II X4 810 2,6GHz / 6MB / 4,0GHz HT Socket AM3 1595 kr
The other alternative would of course be to get a nVidia graphics card to go with the Intel processor, which is tempting in more ways than one. All right, just one, I really like the idea of nVidia 3d vision. It is hard for me to get a good idea of how much worse off I would be with a nVidia card once the ATI DX11 ones hit the market though.
The second concern is about power, mostly in relation with upgradeability. If I were to upgrade my build with a second graphics card and go up to three hard drives, would 500 W still handily be able to manage the power drain? One alternative might be:
This is well within my budget. So well in fact that I might consider some slightly more expensive alternatives. There are a few concerns however, most of which have been raised by a friend of mine. Something that he has been pretty adamant about is processor/graphics card synergy. He says that to optimize my computer I should really consider getting an AMD processor. That is to say, something along the lines of AMD Phenom II X4 810 2,6GHz / 6MB / 4,0GHz HT Socket AM3 1595 kr
The other alternative would of course be to get a nVidia graphics card to go with the Intel processor, which is tempting in more ways than one. All right, just one, I really like the idea of nVidia 3d vision. It is hard for me to get a good idea of how much worse off I would be with a nVidia card once the ATI DX11 ones hit the market though.
*snip*
To put it simply: Ignore your friend and this "synergy" between the CPU and GPU. The only synergy that matters is if one isn't slowing your system down waiting for the other. The fact 1 is AMD/ATI or Intel/Nvidia is irrelevant basically.
If you start doing SLI or Crossfire I'd get a better PSU, yeah.
Xeddicus on
"For no one - no one in this world can you trust. Not men. Not women. Not beasts...this you can trust."
ah, it's not essential. thanks for the help, if i'm breaking $200 on these upgrades it'll be better to just let this thing sit for a few years and buy a new system for $800 or whatever it'll be.
edit- that graphics card is tempting...
What are you trying to get out of upgrading? What are you trying to do with the system that it feels lacking? That system should be fine for general web, office, video watching, etc. Kicking it up to 1gb of ram might be worthwhile if you can find the memory on clearance or someone parting out an old system, but anything else wouldn't be worthwhile for the most part. Any money you put into this system won't be transferable to a new system unless you are looking at getting a new hdd or optical drive. Any upgrade based on wanting to game on this system would be a waste because nothing is going to play very well no matter how far you take the upgrades.
What would be really helpful to me is one or a few specific nVidia graphics card that could stand as alternatives to the coming ATI 5770, and how they are expected to compare when it comes to performance and price. I have tried to research this myself but haven't been able to get a concise answer.
As far as I have been able to gather, the GFX 260 cards perform slightly better than the ATI 4870 1gb ones, which I assume means they are roughly equivalent to the 5770 cards. Price-wise they seem to cost around 1700-2000 kr, putting them maybe 300-600 swedish crowns above the expected launch price of the 5770.
Were the prices to drop as to make the GFX 260 cards equivalent in price with the 5770, would that make them a good alternative? How big a deal is DX11?
Apologies in advance if these questions seem repetitive or stupid, but I feel like I am swimming in deep water here and your input would be most appreciated.
ah, it's not essential. thanks for the help, if i'm breaking $200 on these upgrades it'll be better to just let this thing sit for a few years and buy a new system for $800 or whatever it'll be.
edit- that graphics card is tempting...
What are you trying to get out of upgrading? What are you trying to do with the system that it feels lacking? That system should be fine for general web, office, video watching, etc. Kicking it up to 1gb of ram might be worthwhile if you can find the memory on clearance or someone parting out an old system, but anything else wouldn't be worthwhile for the most part. Any money you put into this system won't be transferable to a new system unless you are looking at getting a new hdd or optical drive. Any upgrade based on wanting to game on this system would be a waste because nothing is going to play very well no matter how far you take the upgrades.
I had two main goals for upgrading the system, first to increase performance for adobe lightroom and photoshop as my father is starting to pick up image editing and the programs lag a bit. The second is a barebones eve online system I can play/switch skills when i'm down visiting or working at the farm.
I am looking at $50 to upgrade the ram to 1gb, $90 to 2gb, and ~$100-130 for an agp graphics card that meets minimum requirements.
What would be really helpful to me is one or a few specific nVidia graphics card that could stand as alternatives to the coming ATI 5770, and how they are expected to compare when it comes to performance and price. I have tried to research this myself but haven't been able to get a concise answer.
As far as I have been able to gather, the GFX 260 cards perform slightly better than the ATI 4870 1gb ones, which I assume means they are roughly equivalent to the 5770 cards. Price-wise they seem to cost around 1700-2000 kr, putting them maybe 300-600 swedish crowns above the expected launch price of the 5770.
Were the prices to drop as to make the GFX 260 cards equivalent in price with the 5770, would that make them a good alternative? How big a deal is DX11?
Apologies in advance if these questions seem repetitive or stupid, but I feel like I am swimming in deep water here and your input would be most appreciated.
Those questions are far from stupid, especially the one about DX11. We won't know that for a while yet.
But things will be a bit clearer after there are a good number of reviews/benchmarks of the 57XX cards so maybe just wait a few days then we can revisit them. Also, we don't really know how much NVidia will lower prices since they might not be able to sell them at a profit at the prices they would have to reach to really be competitive.
lowlylowlycook on
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
This is well within my budget. So well in fact that I might consider some slightly more expensive alternatives. There are a few concerns however, most of which have been raised by a friend of mine. Something that he has been pretty adamant about is processor/graphics card synergy. He says that to optimize my computer I should really consider getting an AMD processor. That is to say, something along the lines of AMD Phenom II X4 810 2,6GHz / 6MB / 4,0GHz HT Socket AM3 1595 kr
The other alternative would of course be to get a nVidia graphics card to go with the Intel processor, which is tempting in more ways than one. All right, just one, I really like the idea of nVidia 3d vision. It is hard for me to get a good idea of how much worse off I would be with a nVidia card once the ATI DX11 ones hit the market though.
The second concern is about power, mostly in relation with upgradeability. If I were to upgrade my build with a second graphics card and go up to three hard drives, would 500 W still handily be able to manage the power drain? One alternative might be:
Which is 300 kr higher than the combo above, but quite frankly a beautiful chassi.
I'll repeat what lowlycook said about the synergy thing: Your friend has no idea what he's talking about. There is no such thing as CPU/GPU synergy based on brands.
I think your build looks great. My last desktop was built with the original Antec Sonata, I like the case very much. Hopefully the Sonata III is even better
I think your price estimate for the 5770 is a bit low. I'd guess 1700 kr at launch and prices around 1400-1500 kr once they start becoming widely available. A 4870 will probably be very competitive at 1350- 1500 kr even after the 5770 is launched. One of the cheaper GTX 260s in the 1500- 1700 kr range should be pretty good value if you prefer NVidia.
If you plan on gaming on your computer, extra money in your budget is well spent on a better GPU. I'm not a fan of Crossfire/SLI, the price/performance is just too low (especially considering the unreliable performance scaling of two or more GPUs). In my opinion, it's always better to buy a card with good price/performance now, and then buy a new GPU a few years down the line if you feel like the system needs a performance boost.
I was thinking the same thing because I really want an SSD but I am trying really hard to keep my expenses in line. If you don't need the case or it is crap, you can always CL it to get some money back. The newegg shellshocker is currently just the x25-m drive at the same price so it wouldn't hurt to get the case too.
I was thinking the same thing because I really want an SSD but I am trying really hard to keep my expenses in line. If you don't need the case or it is crap, you can always CL it to get some money back. The newegg shellshocker is currently just the x25-m drive at the same price so it wouldn't hurt to get the case too.
I just wish the huge HD rack came out in two pieces so I'd be sure to be able to fit any sized video card in there.
lowlylowlycook on
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Thoughts? Something tells me that I will be sacrificing quality with this purchase, but I know moot about monitors.
mechaThor on
"I sent an e-mail asking why wood elves get +2 Str when other dwarves did not. My response from customer service consisted of five words: 'Wood elves are really strong.' "
I would advise not going too cheap on monitors unless you can see it in person. I got an acer or asus, forget which, and it is alright. Just alright. For what I paid I am happy, but I get light bleed on the top and bottom when the screen is dark or letterboxed and that gets real annoying.
I had two main goals for upgrading the system, first to increase performance for adobe lightroom and photoshop as my father is starting to pick up image editing and the programs lag a bit. The second is a barebones eve online system I can play/switch skills when i'm down visiting or working at the farm.
I am looking at $50 to upgrade the ram to 1gb, $90 to 2gb, and ~$100-130 for an agp graphics card that meets minimum requirements.
If it were me, I wouldn't spend the money on upgrades short of the jump to 1gb to help the thing last another 6-12mo, but only if I could find a stick used for like $20. Anything more is really wasted money that could be better spent towards a new system sooner. Between this thread and a host of other tech websites giving out build suggestions that $200 is 25-50% of the way towards a new PC.
So, I'm beginning the long trek to building my own computer, as my current one is on it's last legs. It still runs programs alright, but what I really need is a fresh start, with a new case and mobo and all the rest. All I am considering using from this computer is a Nvidia 260 Black video card, and replacing everything else.
I've never built a computer before, I've just ordered custom ones off the internet and such. What I'm really worried about is getting conflicting parts, like RAM and a motherboard that don't work together, etc (does this even happen? I don't know!) . Also, I've had a real problem with overheating, which is one of the reasons why I want a new case. On top of it being poorly laid out, the room I have the computer in is not very well air conditioned, so the ambient temperature stays a little warmer than normal.
Since I'm putting this thing together one piece at a time, price isn't that big of a deal, as I can save up for each part and then wait again. I'm hoping to grab sales off of newegg as they come along.
I guess what I really want from this computer is a killer game machine, but one that will run cooler than my current machine. It doesn't matter if my card can run crysis if it overheats 10 minutes in. I also want it to have room to expand inside, if I decide to add to it later.
So, I need
Case (One with lots of expansion slots, space, and usb ports)
RAM (I'd like to run 4 gb)
Power Supply
Processor
Motherboard
Sound Card
Hard Drive (thinking of 1tb)
Optical Drive
Cooling system (are they useful, which are good?)
Fans
Like I said, price isn't too big of a deal. I want the computer to last a long time, but I'm also not looking to buy the most Xtreme radicular product right off the shelf, either.
So, the Swedish price of the 5770 has been revealed as 1599 kr. As for alternatives, I have tried to look through the GTX 260 options and found that the BFG NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 that seemed good is pretty impossible to get here in Sweden. That left me with one card with a price almost identical to the ATI 5770, ASUS GeForce GTX 260 896MB PhysX CUDA for 1626 kr along with tons of other slightly different variants that I have difficulty separating, including for example EVGA GeForce GTX 260 896MB PhysX CUDA for 1899 kr. Seems like I will lose out either way, the question is by how much.
Vic on
0
TrippyJingMoses supposes his toeses are roses.But Moses supposes erroneously.Registered Userregular
edited October 2009
The 5770s on Newegg have some pretty good combo deals with some Antec PSUs.
The whole heat/power aspect to the 5770 is a pretty big plus to me over the 4870. I do kind of hope AMD will put something that bridges the gap between the 5770 and 5850, so I can have the heat/power benefits of the 5000 series, but a bit higher performance than the 5770.
If the GTX 290 (and all NVIDIA cards) are better than their ATI equivalents according to these graphs that keep coming up, why does everyone here buy ATI?
If the GTX 290 (and all NVIDIA cards) are better than their ATI equivalents according to these graphs that keep coming up, why does everyone here buy ATI?
Price/Performance ratio.
bobmyknob on
0
TrippyJingMoses supposes his toeses are roses.But Moses supposes erroneously.Registered Userregular
The 5770s on Newegg have some pretty good combo deals with some Antec PSUs.
Yeah but something like:
Antec TruePower New TP-750 750W
would only be needed for a computer running 4 5770 most likely.
I'm looking at the one with the 650W, actually.
P.S. Why is the XFX 5770 more expensive than the others? And how long to Newegg deals last? I finally set up a final build, but two-thirds of it is made up of combos. I'd like to have an idea of how much time I have to make the purchase.
If the GTX 290 (and all NVIDIA cards) are better than their ATI equivalents according to these graphs that keep coming up, why does everyone here buy ATI?
What do you mean when you say "better" than? Many of the new ATI cards have many features that nVidia cards do not. I'm not just talking DX11 & Shader 5.0 but DX10.1 & Shader 4.1 as well. Not to mention the fact that the nVidia cards do not have as much memory or as many processing streams despite the GTX series having duel GPUs.
And seriously the ATI cards beat the nVidia cards in performance if they're running in crossfire or an X2 card. And then there is the issue of power usage. The ATI cards use a fraction of the power of nVidia cards so you can use a 500-750 watt PSU instead of requiring an 850watt or great.
AMD Phenom II X4 3.0GHz AM3 - $169.99
Asus M4A78T-E AM3 790GX - $129.99
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 - $85.99
Asus Radeon HD 5770 - $159.99
Antec 550W PSU - $69.99
Antec 300 Case - $54.95
Total: $670
Thoughts? Should I go for a cheaper motherboard and DDR2 RAM? Do you think this setup will hang with games for about the next two years? Will it be upgradeable in two years, or would I be better off getting something slightly cheaper and just replacing more components later?
I am considering getting a 5770 in the future. I currently have a 8800 GTX and am doing good on most games but there are some that I cannot put as high as I would like. Would the 5770 be much of an improvement?
I need some help picking out a new graphics card. My current one is an old 8800GT that's noisy as hell, and at the end of the line.
I've been told my computer is pretty scalable, with a Core Quad, and 4 gigs of RAM, so what should I be looking out for in terms of model? Ideally, I want to stick with Nvidia, so I'm thinking about a GTX 275, since it's in an affordable range. Is there any specific manufacturer I should go for? Or an entirely different line?
Cherrn on
All creature will die and all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai.
Posts
You're going to get basically scammed no matter what you do. Older parts, which you need to upgrade anything, cost more in general. AGP cards are more then PCI-e cards, DDR is more than DDR2, good luck finding a new CPU really worth it.
I don't mean to be not-helpful, but you'd probably be better off saving up and buying cheapish all new stuff for $400-$450 if that's an option at all.
But as for the video card anything would be an upgrade compared to a 7000...anything on this page practically. A HD 4670 would most likely run for sure, what's your power supply?
Then yeah, a 4670 would work well most likely. Then your CPU would be the problem. But if upgrading is the only option, get the card, the ram, and start saving is my advice if you HAVE to get better now. If you can wait, new everything minus a monitor would work out very well.
edit- that graphics card is tempting...
Processor: Intel Core™ i5 Quad Processor i5-750 1795 kr
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3, P55, Socket-1156 1199 kr
Memory: Corsair XMS3 4096MB DDR3 PC3-10666 1333MHz (2X2048MB) 949 kr
Chassi/PSU: Antec Chassi Sonata III Mid Tower - Svart (500w) 1279 kr
HD: Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA2 739 kr
Graphics card: ATI 5770 1300 kr?
Total: 7261/10 000 kr
This is well within my budget. So well in fact that I might consider some slightly more expensive alternatives. There are a few concerns however, most of which have been raised by a friend of mine. Something that he has been pretty adamant about is processor/graphics card synergy. He says that to optimize my computer I should really consider getting an AMD processor. That is to say, something along the lines of
AMD Phenom II X4 810 2,6GHz / 6MB / 4,0GHz HT Socket AM3 1595 kr
The other alternative would of course be to get a nVidia graphics card to go with the Intel processor, which is tempting in more ways than one. All right, just one, I really like the idea of nVidia 3d vision. It is hard for me to get a good idea of how much worse off I would be with a nVidia card once the ATI DX11 ones hit the market though.
The second concern is about power, mostly in relation with upgradeability. If I were to upgrade my build with a second graphics card and go up to three hard drives, would 500 W still handily be able to manage the power drain? One alternative might be:
Chassi: Fractal DesignDefine R2 - Svart 695 kr
PSU: Corsair TX 650W PSU 925 kr
Which is 300 kr higher than the combo above, but quite frankly a beautiful chassi.
To put it simply: Ignore your friend and this "synergy" between the CPU and GPU. The only synergy that matters is if one isn't slowing your system down waiting for the other. The fact 1 is AMD/ATI or Intel/Nvidia is irrelevant basically.
If you start doing SLI or Crossfire I'd get a better PSU, yeah.
What are you trying to get out of upgrading? What are you trying to do with the system that it feels lacking? That system should be fine for general web, office, video watching, etc. Kicking it up to 1gb of ram might be worthwhile if you can find the memory on clearance or someone parting out an old system, but anything else wouldn't be worthwhile for the most part. Any money you put into this system won't be transferable to a new system unless you are looking at getting a new hdd or optical drive. Any upgrade based on wanting to game on this system would be a waste because nothing is going to play very well no matter how far you take the upgrades.
As far as I have been able to gather, the GFX 260 cards perform slightly better than the ATI 4870 1gb ones, which I assume means they are roughly equivalent to the 5770 cards. Price-wise they seem to cost around 1700-2000 kr, putting them maybe 300-600 swedish crowns above the expected launch price of the 5770.
Were the prices to drop as to make the GFX 260 cards equivalent in price with the 5770, would that make them a good alternative? How big a deal is DX11?
Apologies in advance if these questions seem repetitive or stupid, but I feel like I am swimming in deep water here and your input would be most appreciated.
I had two main goals for upgrading the system, first to increase performance for adobe lightroom and photoshop as my father is starting to pick up image editing and the programs lag a bit. The second is a barebones eve online system I can play/switch skills when i'm down visiting or working at the farm.
I am looking at $50 to upgrade the ram to 1gb, $90 to 2gb, and ~$100-130 for an agp graphics card that meets minimum requirements.
Those questions are far from stupid, especially the one about DX11. We won't know that for a while yet.
But things will be a bit clearer after there are a good number of reviews/benchmarks of the 57XX cards so maybe just wait a few days then we can revisit them. Also, we don't really know how much NVidia will lower prices since they might not be able to sell them at a profit at the prices they would have to reach to really be competitive.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
I'll repeat what lowlycook said about the synergy thing: Your friend has no idea what he's talking about. There is no such thing as CPU/GPU synergy based on brands.
I think your build looks great. My last desktop was built with the original Antec Sonata, I like the case very much. Hopefully the Sonata III is even better
I think your price estimate for the 5770 is a bit low. I'd guess 1700 kr at launch and prices around 1400-1500 kr once they start becoming widely available. A 4870 will probably be very competitive at 1350- 1500 kr even after the 5770 is launched. One of the cheaper GTX 260s in the 1500- 1700 kr range should be pretty good value if you prefer NVidia.
If you plan on gaming on your computer, extra money in your budget is well spent on a better GPU. I'm not a fan of Crossfire/SLI, the price/performance is just too low (especially considering the unreliable performance scaling of two or more GPUs). In my opinion, it's always better to buy a card with good price/performance now, and then buy a new GPU a few years down the line if you feel like the system needs a performance boost.
Anyone have an opinion about that case?
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
It's very pretty.
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
I just wish the huge HD rack came out in two pieces so I'd be sure to be able to fit any sized video card in there.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Processor
with 6gb (soon to be 8) 1066 speed DDR2 ram.
I don't imagine it's the case, but nothings going to bottleneck me if I upgrade to a new 5870 when those suckers hit the market will it?
http://www.circuitcity.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=4938551&sku=H94-2502
Thoughts? Something tells me that I will be sacrificing quality with this purchase, but I know moot about monitors.
HAVE to, probably not. But it's a good idea anyway since your newer card will probably work better with newer drivers*.
*Unless, you know, it doesn't on the odd occasion. But not likely.
If it were me, I wouldn't spend the money on upgrades short of the jump to 1gb to help the thing last another 6-12mo, but only if I could find a stick used for like $20. Anything more is really wasted money that could be better spent towards a new system sooner. Between this thread and a host of other tech websites giving out build suggestions that $200 is 25-50% of the way towards a new PC.
Edit: updated link for 5750 because PowerCooler has one now as well so it's now a whole section.
5770 review: http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-5770-review-test/1
Anotherr review. Looks like ithe 5770 is not worth getting over the 4870.
I've never built a computer before, I've just ordered custom ones off the internet and such. What I'm really worried about is getting conflicting parts, like RAM and a motherboard that don't work together, etc (does this even happen? I don't know!) . Also, I've had a real problem with overheating, which is one of the reasons why I want a new case. On top of it being poorly laid out, the room I have the computer in is not very well air conditioned, so the ambient temperature stays a little warmer than normal.
Since I'm putting this thing together one piece at a time, price isn't that big of a deal, as I can save up for each part and then wait again. I'm hoping to grab sales off of newegg as they come along.
I guess what I really want from this computer is a killer game machine, but one that will run cooler than my current machine. It doesn't matter if my card can run crysis if it overheats 10 minutes in. I also want it to have room to expand inside, if I decide to add to it later.
So, I need
Case (One with lots of expansion slots, space, and usb ports)
RAM (I'd like to run 4 gb)
Power Supply
Processor
Motherboard
Sound Card
Hard Drive (thinking of 1tb)
Optical Drive
Cooling system (are they useful, which are good?)
Fans
Like I said, price isn't too big of a deal. I want the computer to last a long time, but I'm also not looking to buy the most Xtreme radicular product right off the shelf, either.
Thanks!
In theory, the DX11 cards might be more futureproof, but who knows if the 57xx cards have the horsepower to enable DX11 effects.
[edit]
On advantage the 5770 has over the 4870 is power consumption. You should be able to save a few buck on your PSU.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Yeah but something like: would only be needed for a computer running 4 5770 most likely.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Personally I'm waiting on an 5870 X2 or a 5870 with two gigs of ram. Which ever comes first unless the 5870 X2 has a seriously jacked up price point.
Price/Performance ratio.
I'm looking at the one with the 650W, actually.
P.S. Why is the XFX 5770 more expensive than the others? And how long to Newegg deals last? I finally set up a final build, but two-thirds of it is made up of combos. I'd like to have an idea of how much time I have to make the purchase.
You'll need to define "better". There wont be DX12 cards out for...ever...so you wont find anything better in that regard.
What do you mean when you say "better" than? Many of the new ATI cards have many features that nVidia cards do not. I'm not just talking DX11 & Shader 5.0 but DX10.1 & Shader 4.1 as well. Not to mention the fact that the nVidia cards do not have as much memory or as many processing streams despite the GTX series having duel GPUs.
And seriously the ATI cards beat the nVidia cards in performance if they're running in crossfire or an X2 card. And then there is the issue of power usage. The ATI cards use a fraction of the power of nVidia cards so you can use a 500-750 watt PSU instead of requiring an 850watt or great.
Asus M4A78T-E AM3 790GX - $129.99
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 - $85.99
Asus Radeon HD 5770 - $159.99
Antec 550W PSU - $69.99
Antec 300 Case - $54.95
Total: $670
Thoughts? Should I go for a cheaper motherboard and DDR2 RAM? Do you think this setup will hang with games for about the next two years? Will it be upgradeable in two years, or would I be better off getting something slightly cheaper and just replacing more components later?
I've been told my computer is pretty scalable, with a Core Quad, and 4 gigs of RAM, so what should I be looking out for in terms of model? Ideally, I want to stick with Nvidia, so I'm thinking about a GTX 275, since it's in an affordable range. Is there any specific manufacturer I should go for? Or an entirely different line?