Need advice on updating my video card/processor

[Manwë Súlimo]

My nVidia 8800GT has been a charm; but it's starting to show it's age along with my processor. I want something near top-of-the-line (but not extremely expensive) so that I can stay with the new card/processor for awhile before I have to upgrade again and something with DirectX 11 capability. Here's some computer specs:

• PROCESSOR: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.5GHz
• PSU: OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI 700W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active
• PFC Power Supply
• MOTHERBOARD: MSI P7N SLI Platinum LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
• RAM: 4GB
• VIDEO CARD: nVidia 8800GT
• OS: Windows Vista 64 bit

I want to upgrade because I love to play video games.

[Chaotic Void]

My nVidia 8800GT has been a charm; but it's starting to show it's age along with my processor. I want something near top-of-the-line (but not extremely expensive) so that I can stay with the new card/processor for awhile before I have to upgrade again and something with DirectX 11 capability. Here's some computer specs:

• PROCESSOR: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.5GHz
• PSU: OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI 700W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active
• PFC Power Supply
• MOTHERBOARD: MSI P7N SLI Platinum LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
• RAM: 4GB
• VIDEO CARD: nVidia 8800GT
• OS: Windows Vista 64 bit

I want to upgrade because I love to play video games.

Couple pointers from experience:
-CPU: I went AMD with my rig, so I can't really comment on Intel's performance in contrast. I've however heard that AMD is "80-90% of Intel's performance for 25% of their price." Don't know how true that is, but my current processor hasn't steered me wrong so far.
-GPU: I went Radeon for my rig. They're pretty solid, but Nvidia has their PhysX engine. If you go Nvidia, get at least a GTX 560Ti ($294*). If you go Radeon, shoot for a 6900 card ($270-$360*).
-Computer Case: I can't stress this enough, but get a Full Tower case if you do not have one already. Not only will this provide better airflow for your parts, but it's a heckuva lot easier to arrange the parts when you put them in. When I put my new Video Card in, I had to move my hard drive down a couple slots just so it would fit (I have a mid-tower case).

My Rig (just for Reference, though I plan to make a few upgrades in the future)
-AMD Phenom II X6 1075T 3.0Ghz
-AMD RadeonHD 6870 Vapor-X edition (from Sapphire)
-Antec 550W Modular PSU
-Antec Illusion 300 Mid-Tower Case
-Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 AM3 Motherboard
-8 GB Kingston RAM


*Yes, these prices are in Monopoly Canadian Currency.

[Ansgar Seraph]

I'm running an AMD Phenom II X4 945 quad-core at stock frequency and I've just recently switched over from an AMD 4850 to a nVidia 550Ti DX11 card — both cards + processor ran Skyrim great without any hiccups. Whatever decent processor and DX 11 card you get will probably run well into the next cycle of video game performance (the graphics/processor race has really slowed down with the dominance of console gaming).

If you're going to update your mainboard anyway, I'd say go with an AMD processor. Tom's Hardware always has some great comparisons for parts:

Tom's Hardware: Best Graphics Cards for the Money, Jan. 2012

Tom's Hardware: AMD Motherboard Comparison (Nov. 2011)

Tom's Hardware: RAM comparison for AMD mainboards

A big factor in gaming that gets overlooked is your hard drive speed. If you skimp a bit on the processor and video card (by not going over $150 for either, for example), you might be able to fit a decent SSD hard drive into your budget. I'd get a 128GB SSD, if possible, and set it as a system/games partition and then move all of your data and media onto the old platter drive.

And for the love of all that's holy, ditch Windows Vista as soon as possible. If it means grabbing a Windows 7 retail disc, wait for Windows 8 to go beta later this year but if you can get Windows 7 discounted, that will be a much more pleasurable experience.

—Sam

[Chrawnus]

And for the love of all that's holy, ditch Windows Vista as soon as possible. If it means grabbing a Windows 7 retail disc, wait for Windows 8 to go beta later this year but if you can get Windows 7 discounted, that will be a much more pleasurable experience.

—Sam

I probably won't be able to give you much advice on the technical mumbo-jumbo, like graphics cards and such (I usually go with intuition when building my computer), but this I can wholeheartedly agree with.