Hey everyone I've been reading you for a while and it's been very helpful, but today I need specific advice, so here I am! I want to upgrade my current rig, which consists of: CPU: E8400 (no OC, paired with a basic mobo, Asus P5KPL SE Socket 775) Graphics: 260GTX (216 version) RAM 4GB @ 1066 MHz HDD: Green Western Digital 320GB (not sure if I want to upgrade this) Case: Antec P180-B (no upgrading this either) PSU: Seasonic 650W (no upgrading this either unless it's really a must) Display: Acer H223HQ (low quality one, TN panel 1080p...) My first thought was of getting a bigger display, since I live in a small house and we use the display for watching movies on the sofa (~6 feet away) as well as a pc gaming display. However, on seeing that the 27" monitors with XHD went for £400+ I fell back, hoping that next year will lower those prices (since XHD is coming to laptops and all). So now the plan is to upgrade the rig itself. I must say that up to now it's been good enough for almost any games, but the age is starting to show. 1080p on max settings is a no-go on most games (if I want 20+FPS) and it can't do DX11. That being said, what do you think I should priorize? My own opinion is that the graphic card should come first, since the main use is gaming, but I don't know whether CPU or SDD should come second Thus, I'd go for a 660 TI + CPU/MOBO upgrade (i5 2500k?) and call it a day, but that's because last time I checked SSD tech was too pricey and they broke much faster than a HDD. The budget is.. limitless! (oh, come on, less than £600) . That being said, I want to spend just as much as it's needed to reach a decent performance for a couple of years (no i7 + GTX690 please!) Extra: the upgrades can be used to boost my gf's own computer, which won't need as much processing (she's going for photoshop design, but she uses a C2D laptop atm, so it'll be a HUGE upgrade for her ), so it's not so bad to change more! Update: I've got an offer for a Dell 2408WFP @ £140 with 2 years' use, but I'm doubtful about it: the panel technology is said to have more ghosting than IPS (and TN, of course) and, according to reviews, colour is hard to calibrate. Update 2: I've never had a sound card besides the integrated one. Do they make any difference in performance? I don't care much for the quality of the sound itself, since I'm using a simple 2.1 audio system (or headsets). Also, I think I might as well upgrade to 27", for which my candidate is the LG IPS277L, priced at roughly £240. Please help!
