What would you do next?

[JordanCormack]

Here is my mid-range gaming setup. I am pleased with the performance but want to know what others think and what everyone would upgrade next.

 

Case:                   Corsair Vengrance C70 Military Green (replaces Zalman Z7 Plus)

Motherboard:       Gigabyte HA65M-D2H-B3

CPU:                     Intel i5-2500K (@ stock clock)

Cooler:                 Akasa Venom

RAM:                    Corsair xms3 4GB

GPU:                    Nvidia EVGA GTX560

SSD:                    Sandisk Ultra 120GB

HDD:                    Seagate Barracuda 1TB

PSU:                    Xclio Goodpower 550W

ODD:                   Samsung Bluray drive (can't remember exact model number)

[joelthezombie15]

Graphics card. GTX760 or better. 

 

And a good PSU

[wtfxmitchell]

i bigger mobo, such a small thing looks just funny in that case xD

[Elbstrand]

Get a decent Z77 mainboard and more ram, 4GB really really small... After that maybe get a faster Graphicscard. Maybe look into your PSU? It looks scary cheap made. Could be wrong, tho

[Bramm17]

GPU and possibly RAM would be my upgrade... Mobo looks too small and color doesnt really match but if you dont mind that as I said go with GPU and RAM that will give you performance increase :) Dif Mobo wont give improvements in gaming like a new GPU would ... 

[TheDigitalRealm]

I'm not sure why you spent so much on a case, when your motherboard is clearly not the size the case was built for. If I were you I would have saved on the case.

 

Anyway, your PSU looks way too cheap to rely on, and if it breaks it could make your whole system a giant paperweight. I'd sort that out first. Most of Corsair's power supplies are pretty reliable, so are XFX and Seasonic. Next, I'd get another 4GB of ram to bring it up to 8GB. (8GB is really the standard for most AAA titles.)

 

If your happy with the gaming performance of your GPU then don't change it, but if you have the money, upgrade to something like a GTX 760. It will give you a minimum of 50% increase in performance.

[Qpm5]

I would get a better gpu, psu, and get more ram.

[MWildd]

From your specs this is the ordered list i would go in:

 

1. Motherboard and CPU (haswell or ivybridge)

2. PSU

3. Graphics Card (760 upwards or 7950 up)

4. RAM

 

id also find the removed 5.25" bay cover and stealth that drive! looks nasty up front! 

 

also reason i say psu before gpu is because risking a new £300+ gpu with a 550W cheap psu would be a crazy risk 

[JordanCormack]

Thanks for all the replies! I'm not bothered much about the size/colour of the motherboard as it does the job at the moment. I bought the PSU before knowing what to look for so it has an external modular block that I stuck to the back. It is far from ideal and not the best quality, thanks again!

[Breakdown]

I'd get a better PSU, for sure. Plus, get more RAM (8 gb seems good) and better GPU (something like a 760 or 7950)

 

Some time later, I'd change the MB and CPU together.

[understaticpressure]

Firstly, changing just a motherboard is a real b**** as your hdd already has the drivers installed, and a new mobo just freaks it out. Secondly, upgrade the RAM to 8GB, even though with just dual channel it can be annoying as you can't add to, you can only replace.

[Jumper118]

i like how he has a fan to cool the psu cables at the bottom there  :P first thing i would do is overclock the gtx 560 because that is free and will increase performance by 10-20%. then get a z77 board and oc that 2500k to 4.4ghz and put the 4cpu cooler the right way round (so the fan is pulling air from the front of the case and through the heatsink to the back, so it is not sucking hot air from the top of the gpu). Then get a xfx 550w psu or corsair cx500m if you want a modular one. then that would do for a while maybe get a better gpu if you want to play games on higher settings

[DJ46]

4GB of RAM is enough for a budget build like this. Get a new PSU and upgrade your board so you can overclock. While changing the board, rotate that CPU cooler 90 degrees anti-clockwise so it looks normal. GTX560 is still a good card, mine runs games no problem.

[SpamBrie]

New CPU and mobo I would recommend Ivy Bridge. 760 for graphics card. Get 8gbs of 1600MHz ram

[Jumper118]

New CPU and mobo I would recommend Ivy Bridge. 760 for graphics card. Get 8gbs of 1600MHz ram

 

 

From your specs this is the ordered list i would go in:

 

1. Motherboard and CPU (haswell or ivybridge)

2. PSU

3. Graphics Card (760 upwards or 7950 up)

4. RAM

 

id also find the removed 5.25" bay cover and stealth that drive! looks nasty up front! 

 

also reason i say psu before gpu is because risking a new £300+ gpu with a 550W cheap psu would be a crazy risk 

i don't see why people are recommending a new cpu a 2500k would be fine paired with a couple of titans and it overclocks like a beast. a new board is £70-80 and once oc'ed to 4.4ghz will give nearly 30% performance boost. a new cpu like haswell or ivy would cost 180+80=£260 and you would be getting 40-45% increase but that last 10-15% cost twice as much as the first 30%

[MWildd]

i don't see why people are recommending a new cpu a 2500k would be fine paired with a couple of titans and it overclocks like a beast. a new board is £70-80 and once oc'ed to 4.4ghz will give nearly 30% performance boost. a new cpu like haswell or ivy would cost 180+80=£260 and you would be getting 40-45% increase but that last 10-15% cost twice as much as the first 30%

its just what i would do! if your upgrading your board why not go the whole hog and save for a new cpu too?

[Jumper118]

its just what i would do! if your upgrading your board why not go the whole hog and save for a new cpu too?

because it cost 200% more to get 15% more performance its not good value for money at all and it would be better spent on other thing to make the rig more balanced

[liveturbo24]

I have a new 760 for sale never removed from box.