upgrading help

Hi, currently i have this system:
- e8400 @ 3.93 ghz
- 9800gtx @ 820/2050/2400 (core/shader/mem)
- evga 780i mobo
- 4 gb corsair 800 mhz ram
- silverstone OP750 psu
- Seagate barracuda 500gb hard disk
- lite-on re-writable dvd drive

I want to upgrade my computer to play the next generation games at very high settings (especially crysis 2 that will come out). So far i have came up with 2 options: upgrade the processor to a q9650 (330$) and gpu to a gtx 480 (~500$) that will come out. The problem is that i don't know if the processor is fast enough to handle the new gpu. I don't want it to bottleneck it. The core 2 line up is also getting a little obsolete. Option 2, is that i could upgrade to a 5870 gpu, and get a new motherboard, ram, and a core i5 750 cpu. However, i don't know what motherboard or ram i should get. I am also unsure if my psu can handle the new hardware.
My budget is around 850$

so basically i am asking this:

1. should i just get the q9650 and gtx 480 (when it comes out), and keep the mobo and ram, or should i get the i5 750 and 5870?

2. if i get the i5, what mobo and ram should i get?

3. can my psu handle the new hardware well?

4. are there any better options available?

thanks

unless you "NEED" a 400series dont waste your money on it..it will be overpriced and need driver updates before its really stable.. not an ati fanboy, but they have the edge right and prices much easier on the pocket

your 2nd option is better imo

i5
4gb ddr3 ram 1600speed if mobo can handle
gigabyte/asus/evga 1156 mobo
your psu can handle it, but if its 3 or more yrs old you might want to upgrade it

for 850 youc an get an i5 rig for sure.. let some other folks weigh in, but thats your best bet as your socket is pretty much dead now that the new ones are out.

I'd suggest just upgrading your vidcard and keeping everything else for now. Get something modest like a 5850 and upgrade the rest of your system towards the end of this year or beginning of next.

Your PSU is fine for the next 3 years.

Do you think i could possibly get an i7 920? I would really want one, but i heard its not much better than the i5 750. It would also cost more since i would need a more expensive and different mobo and ram.

Thanks for the input.

Brian23 said:

Do you think i could possibly get an i7 920? I would really want one, but i heard its not much better than the i5 750. It would also cost more since i would need a more expensive and different mobo and ram.

Thanks for the input.

Click to expand...

Sure; it would just cost your close to $950.

Personally, unless you wanted to re-purpose your current rig for something else like an HTPC, I wouldn't upgrade anything but the vidcard. That just seems like the most economical option IMO. Get the most out of your current hardware before retiring it.

the 920 is overkill for gaming, there are statistics out there that the i7 on the 1156 platform has outgamed the i7 1366.. the 1366 shines for big multitasking, encoding movies, heavy photo editing etc

you can get alot of overclocking out of the i5, someone has posted up to 5ghz on air, though i wouldnt have tried it

i have a seagate barracuda hard drive and do you think it will bottleneck the new hardware?

the model # is: ST3500641AS-RK

It says it has:

- 16mb of cache
- 500gb of hard drive space
- SATA interface (don't know what specific version though)
- 3GB/s data rate

Is this a good hard drive, or should i think about also investing some money in a better one? I have decided i will wait a little bit and see if any prices go down for the motherboards, gpus, cpus, etc. to save some money. i probably won't be buying anything until summer.
Thanks.