Ok, so My computer right now is a i7-920@3.6ghz 6gb ddr3-1333 ram, and a saphire 4850x2 2gb. and a samsung spinpoint F1. Im debating between 2 upgrades, SSD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148348 and then just sing my F1 for storage. Or GFX Card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121425 Im trying to improved gamining performance and general usability, also make it quieter as the 4850x2 can sound like a jet engine at times. My budget is going to be at about 300$
correct me if im wrong but i thought 2 x 4850 had some good benchmarks. check outs tomshardware.com. i would go for the ssd and maybe with the rest of the money get some aftermarket coolers for the gfx cards
and yes the 4850x2 does actually have really good performance its just so freakin loud, and sadly the PCB is sagging after about a year and im worried about it breaking. Though as for aftermarket cooling maybe im just dumb but i havnt been able to find one other then a combination of two cpu coolers that i cant find for sale.
SSD do not improve gaming directly they just make loading times quicker thats all. it does nothing for FPS. if the 4850 are too loud for you i guess you could sell them and get a 560 which will handle 1920x1080 just fine.
I wouldn't spend money on a cooler for an old card. Money is better spent on a new one. The 4850x2 seems to perform somewhere between a 285 and SLI 260 (216). In any case, your budget just about reaches a GTX 570 or AMD 6970. They would be a great upgrade. Otherwise a 560 could be an option. I would do that ahead of an SSD purchase.
4850x2 performs very similar to a 4890 and tbh ive not seen the need to upgrade my 4890 yet, most games will run maxed @ 1920x1080 and the odd one that dosnt still runs max @ 1680x1050, ssd's are one of the best performance upgrades you can make at the mo especially seeing as you a very capable cpu and a more than capable gpu. id personally go for the ssd and maybe put the change aside and save up for the new gpu instead.
Im starting to agree this with, im honestly not sure how much of a performance upgrade i would get with say a 560ti. And i think most of my sound problems come from using a CM 690, its all mesh so doesnt black out sound very well.
oh you would get a noticable performance increase in a few games now but the impact will come as more and more games come out that require more grunt plus the fact that the 560 is dx11 but i just think at the mo your card is more than enough, at least if you buy the ssd you can save up till say xmas then in jan next year youll be able to afford a gtx 560 plus a quieter case like a fractal design r2 easily or a better gpu than the 560
i was actually looking at a haf x, and by the end of the year probably be looking at a 600 series fermi, or 7000 series amd card
