Spring RTS Engine

Currently running:

(Newer parts)
- Phenom x4 (quadcore) 3.2 ghz
- 4gb of ram
- Asus M4A79XTD evo

(Ancient parts)
- 8600GT
- 192gb hd
- Some psu without brand or power sticker

Would this be a good upgrade? I'm obviously trying to get as much value for my money as possible.

Well, I don't know the going price for things in Europe, but it seems like you're paying a bit too much for the GTX 460. You can get one hereabouts for about $100.

The SSD is a nice choice, but you'd do fine with a 60 or 90gb one, too. That said, it looks like you're getting a killer deal on that one, and more space never hurts!

Consider investing in a 7,200 RPM hard disk. Even for data storage, the extra speed makes a difference. I'd personally be happier owning a 7200 RPM 1TB drive than a 5400 RPM 2TB one.

MidKnight wrote: Consider investing in a 7,200 RPM hard disk. Even for data storage, the extra speed makes a difference. I'd personally be happier owning a 7200 RPM 1TB drive than a 5400 RPM 2TB one.

I would prefer the 5400 rpm drive because its more silent. But it depends on your personal taste and usage if you prioritize silence over data transfer rate. For example you will only be able to take advantage of a high transfer rate if you copy regularly to a similar fast device (e.g. not a network storage).

Regarding the SSD, since I am reading a lot about them recently (cause I want to replace my 80GB Intel G2 with a 120GB drive): I would go for a Crucial RealSSD C300 if your Mobo supports SATA6G or go for an Intel320 if you have SATA2 only.
They say OCZ performs well in sythentic benchmarks but loses perfomance and has problems in long term usage. While the Intel320 is too new to have long term experience for it, Intel's SSDs generally are well known for their stable and superior firmware and reliable drives.

But you can probably ask 10 people about their opinions and get 10 different answers. This is just mine.

EDIT:
I dont think you will need a 600W PSU ever if you dont plan to buy a 300W-GPU. You will probably be fine with a 450W PSU. It will be more silent and also more efficient (->less power consumption). Maybe a "be quiet! Straight Power E8 450W"?

MidKnight wrote:Well, I don't know the going price for things in Europe, but it seems like you're paying a bit too much for the GTX 460. You can get one hereabouts for about $100.

It's a 1GB (the 768MB are slower!) & SuperSuperClocked: 850MHz instead 675MHz.
So for MHz/Costs it does very well: 850/160 = 5.30.. versus e.g. 715/(135~140) = 5.1~5.29.

btw GTX460 covers nearly the whole 100-175euros range, the next better cards are GTX470 & GTX560Ti which start around ~180euros.

You're getting a fan fucking tastic deal on that ssd. For SSD, 1 dollar/euro per gb is fucking cheap.

Also 460gtx? Yeha, you'll be playing zerok, gundam and evorts in no time

My advice is put less money on the rest and more money on the graphics card.

My advice is to wait until AMD's new CPU line ("Bulldozer") is available. It will be a few months but you'll either get a better product or a ton of price pressure on existing ones.

Speaking of AMD, exactly the same as above can be said of Radeon 7xxx series. It's what the 6xxx series was intended to be, but due to some special level of FUBAR at their chip fab they were unable to make. Due in a few months - probably in line with Bulldozer's release so they can call it their new flagship platform.

Also, I'm sorry to say it but that 120 GB hard drive might be too small, it's right on the edge of useful for a typical user, let alone a gamer or anyone who uses much professional software. Windows and everything that goes with it is around 5 GB, your swap file will be 8 GB, a typical game is 2-15 GB... May I suggest buying two 90s and putting them in a RAID0 configuration? This is what I did, it gets you 50% more capacity and ~70% better performance for around 40% more money. Even with 180 GB I'm limited to about 10 games installed at a time because I need Adobe Creative Suite, Max, Office, etc.

What brand is the hard drive? If it's Seagate, pick a different one. WD or Samsung are safer bets.

To save money you might even want to try just going with a single 1-2 TB Western Digital Black drive, they're very good.

Caydr wrote:My advice is to wait until AMD's new CPU line ("Bulldozer") is available. It will be a few months but you'll either get a better product or a ton of price pressure on existing ones.

Speaking of AMD, exactly the same as above can be said of Radeon 7xxx series. It's what the 6xxx series was intended to be, but due to some special level of FUBAR at their chip fab they were unable to make. Due in a few months - probably in line with Bulldozer's release so they can call it their new flagship platform.

Also, I'm sorry to say it but that 120 GB hard drive might be too small, it's right on the edge of useful for a typical user, let alone a gamer or anyone who uses much professional software. Windows and everything that goes with it is around 5 GB, your swap file will be 8 GB, a typical game is 2-15 GB... May I suggest buying two 90s and putting them in a RAID0 configuration? This is what I did, it gets you 50% more capacity and ~70% better performance for around 40% more money. Even with 180 GB I'm limited to about 10 games installed at a time because I need Adobe Creative Suite, Max, Office, etc.

What brand is the hard drive? If it's Seagate, pick a different one. WD or Samsung are safer bets.

To save money you might even want to try just going with a single 1-2 TB Western Digital Black drive, they're very good.

The 120gb one is an ssd, not a regular hd. It's going to be very useful for windows, photoshop, 3ds max, chrome and all those other programs.

The bigger hd I'm buying is not a seagate, it's a 2tb samsung but I found a better deal from a different manufacturer.

I'm not upgrading my cpu, it's one of the best parts in my computer at the moment. I'm just upgrading the really really bad parts. About AMD video cards, I'm not really a fan. The openGL support is really bad. Nvidia recently dropped the price on the 460gtx so I think it's a good deal, I doubt they're going to make it even cheaper anytime soon.

But, maybe prices are dropping in a few months, I'll check for that. Thanks :)

oh motherfuck, I thought that 120 was a 160. Ok, so for the ssd it's headed into ripoff territory, but you, like so many, probably have a slobbering hardon for ssd, so at least you are getting a decently sized one.

Forboding Angel wrote:oh motherfuck, I thought that 120 was a 160. Ok, so for the ssd it's headed into ripoff territory, but you, like so many, probably have a slobbering hardon for ssd, so at least you are getting a decently sized one.

Well I just found a way to get a vertex 3 120gb for the same price as the vertex 2 version. Read/write speeds 2x higher than the vertex 2, at 550/500. My mobo supports sata 3 (or sata 600) so I'll be able to use it to the max.