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$200 (US) for new toys. What to get...

harvestharvest By birthright,a stupendous badass.Registered User regular
edited November 2009 in Moe's Stupid Technology Tavern
I love new shinies. This week I received an unexpected extra $200 that I can spend on whatever, so I thought I'd put it towards more shinies for my PC :) But, basically I haven't kept up with hardware trends for a couple years and I no longer know what's good. :P

I implore your wisdom regarding what kind of toy(s) I should get.

Currently, my system is as follows:

22" Acer LCD @ 1680x1050
E6300 Core 2 Duo (1.86ghz)
4gb ram
ATI 4770 512mb video card
Gigabyte DS3LR motherboard
320gb SATA2 drive, 80gb IDE drive
Some crap analog 5.1 speakers that don't seem to really work
Some crap analog 5.1 headphones that don't seem to really work

I use the system for heavy gaming and normal internet buttfuckery. From where I see things, I can upgrade/add to any component except the motherboard or video card for $200, but I can't really decide what to do.

The processor seems like an obviously weak component in an otherwise decent rig, but I'm not sure where to go from here. Q8300/8400? I don't know.

Another pair of 2gb sticks of memory?

I'm kind of leaning toward doing something about my sound situation but I am pretty lost when looking at speakers and headphones. I can't set the computer at the middle of any wall in the room it's in, so surround sound is unbalanced to the left or right. I'm not sure my current rear speakers are doing their jobs properly, either. (It's some 5 year old cheap Logitech set.)

Any idea if there is or will be a decent SSD around the $200 price point? One big enough to install my OS would probably be awesome for performance, but I hear a lot of SSDs are shit or basically stillborn and I'm not sure how to tell which ones aren't.

If you had $200 to upgrade my machine what would you spend it on?

B6yM5w2.gif
harvest on

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    Darth NathanDarth Nathan Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Depending on your situation (if you live with someone, they're telling you to turn down the racket, that sort of thing), then I'd spring for a good pair of headphones. If you don't want to break the bank, but still want some stunning sound quality, I recommend a pair of HD 485s. Been using them for a year now, and they are staggeringly good. I'm hearing things in my music I've never heard before, and Dead Space makes me shit myself. Plus they're comfy to wear for 10 hours a day, 7 days a week.

    I'd steer away from SSDs for now, a lot of people will tell you to go for the gusto with them, but I've yet to see any decent evidence that they provide a solid performance gain with the products currently on the market.

    Don't worry about RAM, you've got enough. Besides, shoving extra RAM into your system that may or may not match what you have is a nightmare you don't want to deal with.

    Processor is a weak point there, but I'd be hesitant to recommend something that isn't an i5/7. I'd say go with the headphones. That or speakers, but they're kind of verboten at my place, so I can't help you on recommendations for those.

    Darth Nathan on
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    RynaRyna Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    forget about RAM and solid state drives my good man, and look at the latest firmware update for your motherboard to see what newer CPUs you could shove into that slot.

    Ryna on
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    1ddqd1ddqd Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Your mobo is LGA775 and supports up to 45nm processors...

    ...so get rid of that underpowered chip and grab one of these beefy boys

    1ddqd on
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    lowlylowlycooklowlylowlycook Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Well SSD's do offer good performance improvements but they are pretty expensive.

    If you use your PC mostly for gaming and general use you won't see much improvement by going to a quad core CPU.

    I certainly wouldn't recommend spending nearly $200 on a CPU that is basically obsolete (That's the cost of an i5 750 which is way more powerful than a core 2 quad).

    I dunno, maybe buy this and spend the rest on some headphones? Or you could buy a new heatsink and overclock your CPU and spend even more on your audio.

    Dunno.

    lowlylowlycook on
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    (Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
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    CreamstoutCreamstout What you think I program for, to push a fuckin' quad-core? Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    I'm going to go a different way, I'd go dual monitor if you have the space.

    Creamstout on
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    OremLKOremLK Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    kindlehand.jpg

    OremLK on
    My zombie survival life simulator They Don't Sleep is out now on Steam if you want to check it out.
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    DehumanizedDehumanized Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    I have those Sennheiser HD 485s and can attest to how great they are. It looks like they're getting hard to find, unfortunately. I think I picked up mine for something like $60 shipped - a total steal.

    Dehumanized on
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    1ddqd1ddqd Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    lowlylowlycook wrote: »
    (That's the cost of an i5 750 which is way more powerful than a core 2 quad).
    Which is why I didn't mention the upgrade, which would involve a mobo, ram, annnnnnd CPU.

    Headphones/headset upgrades are always good - Razer has a new headset that looks awesome and feels amazing. The surround positioning is superb as well.

    1ddqd on
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    RynaRyna Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    1ddqd wrote: »
    lowlylowlycook wrote: »
    (That's the cost of an i5 750 which is way more powerful than a core 2 quad).
    Which is why I didn't mention the upgrade, which would involve a mobo, ram, annnnnnd CPU.

    Well .. he can save his money for a full upgrade!

    I can't believe how boring that sounded...

    Ryna on
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    gneGnegneGne Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Use it on better sound or save it! Your rig is capable of playing most new games I think!

    gneGne on
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    AuburnTigerAuburnTiger Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    OremLK wrote: »
    kindlehand.jpg

    Hear hear! :mrgreen:

    AuburnTiger on
    XBL: Flex MythoMass
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    Goose!Goose! That's me, honey Show me the way home, honeyRegistered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Get a droid.

    Goose! on
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    harvestharvest By birthright, a stupendous badass.Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    You guys are awesome. Both sets of linked headphones are pretty interesting.

    Any opinions about a 2.1 or surround setup?

    harvest on
    B6yM5w2.gif
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    Darth NathanDarth Nathan Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Well there's a lot of hooplah about the fact that surround sound (i.e. 5.1 or greater) is pretty much pointless, as you only have two ears, and proper surround sound is more to do with how the sound source is made, rather than how many speakers you have. Here's an example; listen to the following with headphones;

    Love this thing

    I only ever use 2.1 setups, and you're better off spending 200 bucks on an amazing 2.1 set than the same amount on an average 5.1 set.

    Darth Nathan on
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    gneGnegneGne Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    If you wanna be really cool you could get Swan speakers ;).

    gneGne on
    pasigcopyox6.jpg
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