Media PC and Gaming Rig.

[ScionRay]

Hello and ok here is my plan, 

 

I have an old lol Gateway LX-6810  and it has been great for school but has just been kinda sitting around and I love the front 2 expansion bays. I want to upgrade this system for living room use and some gaming also going to be watching movies on it.  This is what I already have in the system 

 

Monitors: 2x Asus  VE245 1080p at 75hz

TV: Sony HD 1080p at 60hz

 

GateWay LX-6810

Stock Mobo

Intel core 2 Quad Q8400 2.6Ghz water cooled w/Corsair H80i

8gb G.Skill DDR2 8500, 1066

XFX DD HD Radeon 6870 1gb 

LG/blu-ray Drive

Crucial M4 128ssd boot drive

WD blue 320gb 7200rpm pictures, notes, things 

Segate   320gb 7200rpm Downloads, zip files

Segate   600gb 7200rpm games 

WD blue   1tb    7200rpm movies

PS3 wired controller

Xbox 360 HD DVD drive 

xbox 360 wireless adaptor

logitech S510 keyboard 

logitech M510 mouse

 

This system plays all my games now at high settings at 50 - 60fps  because my HD TV is set at 60hz so I don't really know how to check if I get more FPS? when I run Fraps it just stays at 60fps and only Crysis 3 makes it dip down to 28 from time to time but it doesn't stay there long and it doesn't hurt the game any? 

 

OK I want to upgrade this with a Nvidia GPU but I love this Amd Radeon and how it's working I run all 3 monitors at the same time with my Sony being the middle monitor and the one I game on. This system came originally with an GTX 120 and it has an Nvidia chipset on the mobo so thought maybe it would work better with an Nvidia Card? Anyway back to this media / gaming pc to take over my console in the living room?  

 

I have found on ebay some nice QX9650 cpus for under or around a 100 dollars, and I just found an QX9770 ES for 150.  I know I have a stock mobo which Gateway says that any LGA 775 socket cpu will fit but,??? my mobo has a FSB of 1333 and the QX9770 is at 1600. So was wondering if that would be an issue.

I also found an HD 6970 for around a 100 dollars locally in town, but what type of Nvidia GPU would be around or better in performance for around 200 dollars?  

 

Also, I'm looking at only trying to spend as much as a new console would cost, I have a ps3 and a 360 but with the news of the next consoles on the way I started looking into upgrading my PC. I already see the difference in PC gaming since I bought Diablo 3 and bought Gears of war on PC it blow away my Gears of war Judgement and the original Gears of War on the 360.  So I bought more games, and made a steam account and an origin account lol.  I'm stuck in SWTOR loving that game!!!! Also  I am loving playing games that I already played and beat on my consoles on the PC they look so so so so much more interesting and just overall better.    

 

OK so let me know what you guys think? it's just an upgrade I don't see why I should scrap this PC when it's doing everything already? I know with the budget I'm going to say people will say just build a new PC, But I will be building An extreme PC some time next year.  So with that in mind

 

Budget around: Xbox one is 500 dollars plus another controller 70 dollars and a game is 70 dollars?

 

upgrade budget $800  

lets really try to do it with $400?   

Thanks 

[WoodenMarker]

Dipping down in fps will not affect the game as long as you don't mind it.

Having an Nvidia chipset on the mobo doesn't affect whether ti would work better with amd or nvidia.

It's not worth upgrading to a cpu of the same socket--you're better off getting a better socket/mobo if you need more cpu power.

You should pay a bit more for a 7850/7870/7950 instead of a 6970. Wait for the new AMD cards to hit the market so the old ones should get cheaper.

Nvidia doesn't really have good competing prices with AMD cards right now on the lower end.

Do you feel you need to upgrade?

[ScionRay]

Well I don't really think I need to, but wasn't sure how like BF4 would play on this system. I can BF3 just fine but if I could spend around 400 to make it a bit stronger then I was.  I have seen the 7950 for under 250 so if it can drop under 200 I would get that and It's  I was told that my cpu is not that great to overclock so instead of getting a new mobo for it, I was just going to get a new cpu. Like I stated up above it's only 150 and the most so with that I hit my 400 dollar mark so I think yeah I will do that, Thanks 

[WoodenMarker]

Well I don't really think I need to, but wasn't sure how like BF4 would play on this system. I can BF3 just fine but if I could spend around 400 to make it a bit stronger then I was.  I have seen the 7950 for under 250 so if it can drop under 200 I would get that and It's  I was told that my cpu is not that great to overclock so instead of getting a new mobo for it, I was just going to get a new cpu. Like I stated up above it's only 150 and the most so with that I hit my 400 dollar mark so I think yeah I will do that, Thanks 

If BF3 runs fine, I'm guessing BF4 will as well. Best bet is to wait for benchmarks.

7950's are as low as $200 right now. I'm personally waiting for Black/Friday/Cyber Monday sales or when the new AMD cards and hopefully nabbing one for ~$150.

Fyi, you need to quote a post or tag a member or else they won't get a notification you replied to them.

[ScionRay]

If BF3 runs fine, I'm guessing BF4 will as well. Best bet is to wait for benchmarks.

7950's are as low as $200 right now. I'm personally waiting for Black/Friday/Cyber Monday sales or when the new AMD cards and hopefully nabbing one for ~$150.

Fyi, you need to quote a post or tag a member or else they won't get a notification you replied to them.

hey thanks for the fyi, I'm still new to this forum so still learning how it works.  I never thought about black Friday. That is coming up so I might wait till then I ordered my cpu, I got a QX9650 at 3.0ghz  for 135 with shipping should be this Wednesday Oct 9.  So looking forward to that.  Maybe you can help me with something else? I was trying to find more information on the new intel cpu's that may or may not drop next summer in 2014. I can't think of the code name right now off the top of my head but they are rumored to have a full 8 cores and 16 threads and are not xeon cpu's.  I want to build an extreme computer which would be my personal gaming rig/ where I edit home movies / and do some music type things also I want to use it to back up all my blu-rays and HD-Dvd's. I was looking at the LGA 2011 the newest extreme edition but I'm finding the Sandy bridge E's 3960's for half the price so just wondering for the money should I pick up a Sandy bridge or with the advancement in the Ivy bridge it will last me awhile at better stock clock rates I don't need to over clock it. Or wait for the Haswell E???  so many decisions. Thanks for responding to my post.  I just don't see a lot about to turn your old top tier system into something useable now instead of just chucking it away?   

[WoodenMarker]

hey thanks for the fyi, I'm still new to this forum so still learning how it works.  I never thought about black Friday. That is coming up so I might wait till then I ordered my cpu, I got a QX9650 at 3.0ghz  for 135 with shipping should be this Wednesday Oct 9.  So looking forward to that.  Maybe you can help me with something else? I was trying to find more information on the new intel cpu's that may or may not drop next summer in 2014. I can't think of the code name right now off the top of my head but they are rumored to have a full 8 cores and 16 threads and are not xeon cpu's.  I want to build an extreme computer which would be my personal gaming rig/ where I edit home movies / and do some music type things also I want to use it to back up all my blu-rays and HD-Dvd's. I was looking at the LGA 2011 the newest extreme edition but I'm finding the Sandy bridge E's 3960's for half the price so just wondering for the money should I pick up a Sandy bridge or with the advancement in the Ivy bridge it will last me awhile at better stock clock rates I don't need to over clock it. Or wait for the Haswell E???  so many decisions. Thanks for responding to my post.  I just don't see a lot about to turn your old top tier system into something useable now instead of just chucking it away?   

The new intel cpus are code named Broadwell. Not sure about the rumors. 

Do you want to build an extreme computer just to have an extreme computer or do you actually need the performance?

You should cancel the order on the QX9650 if possible. Even a modern haswell i3 would perform as well or better. 

What used to be top tier becomes lower tier with time when it comes to technology.

 

It sounds like you're not editing media for a living and aren't working on 4K content or anything. I'm thinking a 8350 would be plenty for your needs.

[ScionRay]

The new intel cpus are code named Broadwell. Not sure about the rumors. 

Do you want to build an extreme computer just to have an extreme computer or do you actually need the performance?

You should cancel the order on the QX9650 if possible. Even a modern haswell i3 would perform as well or better. 

What used to be top tier becomes lower tier with time when it comes to technology.

 

It sounds like you're not editing media for a living and aren't working on 4K content or anything. I'm thinking a 8350 would be plenty for your needs.

I just want an extreme computer, 

[WoodenMarker]

I just want an extreme computer, 

Alright, just expect to blow a lot of money.

Any particular reason why you want an extreme computer? There are other ways to do that without an extreme series cpu.

[ScionRay]

Alright, just expect to blow a lot of money.

Any particular reason why you want an extreme computer? There are other ways to do that without an extreme series cpu.

I was wanting to go into video editing, not professional but just for myself, home movies, special events. I know there are many ways to build a computer to get what I want out of it, I'm not trying to build a professional rig, just a nice extreme computer to do everything I would want to do to it.  I might go xeon and build a extreme server type system which and do everything I might want and have network nodes in my home, instead of having multiple computers through out the home.  It just depends how much I want to spend and what I want to really do at the time.  I do thank you for any advise you are willing to give.  These are some of the ideas I'm thinking about.  A nas for all movies I have and for my kids to watch, a video game machine ( like a steam box ). A video editing system as I mention.  A daily working and gaming system.  So there is what I'm building for sometime next year. Any ideas ?  

[WoodenMarker]

I was wanting to go into video editing, not professional but just for myself, home movies, special events. I know there are many ways to build a computer to get what I want out of it, I'm not trying to build a professional rig, just a nice extreme computer to do everything I would want to do to it.  I might go xeon and build a extreme server type system which and do everything I might want and have network nodes in my home, instead of having multiple computers through out the home.  It just depends how much I want to spend and what I want to really do at the time.  I do thank you for any advise you are willing to give.  These are some of the ideas I'm thinking about.  A nas for all movies I have and for my kids to watch, a video game machine ( like a steam box ). A video editing system as I mention.  A daily working and gaming system.  So there is what I'm building for sometime next year. Any ideas ?  

Plan later and keep learning. Parts and prices change frequently. You should be planning 2-3 days at most before you purchase.