Buy a new computer or just upgrade what i got...Help me decide.

[ferdy30]

So I am finishing up my school/training and one of the things I have always wanted was a gaming computer. Once I finish I will have enough money to drop about 2500 or so on a new computer if I want to so I am trying to decide if I should or just upgrade what I have.

here is a link to the computer that I am wanting to purchase from cyberpower.
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/saved/1E4K7B
and here are the specs

Extra Case Fan Upgrade: Maximum 120MM Case Cooling Fans for your selected case [+9]
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-3930K Six-Core 3.20 GHz 12MB Intel Smart Cache LGA2011
Venom Boost Fast And Efficient Factory Overclocking: Extreme OC (Extreme Overclock 20% or more)
Overclock Monitoring and Media Server Station or Overclocking Media Server Station: None
Cooling Fan: CyberPower Xtreme Hydro Liquid Cooling Kit 360MM w/ Triple Fan(CPU & GPU Liquid Cool Capable, Extreme Overclocking Performance + Extreme Silent at 18dBA)
Coolant for Cyberpower Xtreme Hydro Water Cooling Kits: Standard Coolant
Additional Liquid Reservoir: None
Motherboard: (SLI/CrossFireX) Asus P9X79 Intel X79 Chipset Quad Channel DDR3 ATX w/ UEFI BIOS, 7.1 HD Audio, Intel GbLAN, USB3.0, SATA-III RAID, 3 Gen3 PCIe X16, 2 PCIe X1 & 1 PCI
Memory: 16GB (4GBx4) DDR3/1600MHz Quad Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)
Video Card: AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB 16X PCIe 3.0 Video Card (Major Brand Powered by AMD)
Power Supply Upgrade: 1,000 Watts - Standard Power Supply - SLI/CrossFireX Ready
Hard Drive: 1TB SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 32MB Cache 7200RPM HDD (Single Drive)
Hard Drive Cooling Fan: Vigor iSURF II Hard Disk Drive Cooling System [+21] (1 x System)
Optical Drive: LG UH12LS28K 12X Blu-Ray Player & DVDRW Combo Drive (BLACK COLOR)
Sound: * Asus Xonar DX 7.1 Channels PCIe Sound Card [+89]


This is roughly what I have now:
Dell Inspiron 580
Intel core i3 dual core 550
NVIDIA Geoforce GT 240
6 GB RAM

Any advice would be helpful and appreciated.

Ferdy

[Fetzie]

If all you are doing is gaming, you do not need LGA 2011. Get a 2500K or a 3570K on a Z77 motherboard. You will have about 98% of the gaming performance for a lot less money.

For example here:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100 92.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($144.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($86.98 @ NCIX US)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Hard Drive: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card (CrossFire) ($507.55 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card (CrossFire) ($507.55 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Switch 810 (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair 1000W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($79.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (64-bit) ($138.99 @ B&H)
Total: $2280.98
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-04-29 11:34 EDT-0400)

We have two 7970s, but are 300 below the x79 system you linked because we went for an i5 2500K/3570K and a Z77 motherboard.

Unless you have a kick-ass audio system, you don't need a discrete sound card. Not to mention it probably not fitting on the motherboard with two dual slot cards taking up 6 of the 7 expansion slots you get with a standard ATX motherboard and case (the top slot is usually a 1x, then you have a 16x, then you have the next slot covered by the gpu cooler, then you have a free slot to let the top card breath, then you have two slots taken up by the second card.

Of course, you don't necessarily have to spend all $2500. Take out a 7970, drop down to a 700W power supply instead of the 1000 and you'll be at around $1600. Budgets are meant to be an upper limit, not a target

[ferdy30]

For gaming does a 6 core CPU perform better than a quad core?

[Rennadrel]

Why would you waste your money on a dead socket type? Socket 2011 is dead and has no future, with socket 1155 supporting both Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge processors, there is no reason to ever buy a 2011 board.

And no, there is no gaming performance improvement in having a 6 core i7 over a quad.

[Tschus]

If all you are doing is gaming, you do not need LGA 2011. Get a 2500K or a 3570K on a Z77 motherboard. You will have about 98% of the gaming performance for a lot less money.
Of course, you don't necessarily have to spend all $2500. Take out a 7970, drop down to a 700W power supply instead of the 1000 and you'll be at around $1600. Budgets are meant to be an upper limit, not a target

Nice suggestions, and I bet that using a 2400 won't make any noticeable differences. :P (If you're not overclocking of course.)

If I have the budget, I'll spend ~$1500 for a PC and use the rest of the money on the monitor(s), keyboard, mouse and speakers. Maybe a good desk or chair. Instead of adding the $1000 budget to get a minor performance boost, you will get a lot better gaming experience by spending money on the peripherals.

[ferdy30]

I'm defiently looking at getting dual monitors for sure, I already have a gaming mouse and nice headset, a new desk wouldnt be a bad idea I hate the cheap Wal-Mart one that I have now.

If you were going to spend about 1500 on one pre-made where would you go to, I have looked at cyberpower mainly and can get one for that price there, and for gaming what are the main things that I need, I mostly play Blizzard games but sometimes will play other ones to.

For that matter would it be almost as good to just keep mine, upgrade my power supply, RAM, and videocard?

[Rennadrel]

If you have the budget for LGA 2011, then just go for a 1155 build with an 3770K Ivy Bridge, Asus Maximus V motherboard and either a GTX 680 or an HD 7970, 16GB of G.Skill DDR3 1600Mhz memory and get a couple of 24 inch IPS panel monitors.

[Tschus]

I'm defiently looking at getting dual monitors for sure, I already have a gaming mouse and nice headset, a new desk wouldnt be a bad idea I hate the cheap Wal-Mart one that I have now.

If you were going to spend about 1500 on one pre-made where would you go to, I have looked at cyberpower mainly and can get one for that price there, and for gaming what are the main things that I need, I mostly play Blizzard games but sometimes will play other ones to.

For that matter would it be almost as good to just keep mine, upgrade my power supply, RAM, and videocard?

Well I'll say go for a new set. i3-550 can handle blizzard games under normal circumstances. But if you're going to go with 2 monitors and maximum settings I think you'll need a better CPU.

If you don't want to bother about computer problems, I think digital storm may be a good choice. The parts they choose are quite good and they have a good reputation on customer support and warranty. But, it's kinda pricey.

[plushy]

just get yourself a decent graphics card ( maybe the new kepler series ) and an i5 2500k and you should be fine