[Comet]

So I've been out of the loop for a while it seems
I thought my GTX295 was impressive shit

and I was in the market for a new alienware laptop and noticed that the specs on it would blow my PC out of the water..
I expect it from their top of the line but not from the 16" screen one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130555

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131614

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115225

what do you guys think of this new setup?
(keeping my old 1000W PSU and HDD + optical drives)

I got 8GB of RAM right now, and I could probably go to 12 now.

any suggestions that are better than mine?
I want to keep my order under 1,000$ if possible

[ragingclue]

Unless you need DX11, your 295>465.

Also, I've been out of the loop for a couple months as well, but for the 1366, or any other Intel socket, I'd go with a GB board (link). But that's just my opinion. GB has better support and, for the most part, more reliable boards. Just not a fan of ASUS for the more expensive hardware. If you're looking to OC, you'd have to consult the oc forums, but IIRC, people are getting good numbers with the UD5 board.

[Comet]

not going to overclock
I tried it a looong time ago and messed it up pretty bad...

I personally like nvidia mobos...

as for DX11, I mean, I play WoW mostly and a few games here and there.. like civ5 when it comes out and SC2.

[swcc50]

stick with GTX295, and stay away from asus mobos. they are a pain in the ass when you try to change things around.

have fun. and overclocking is your friend remember that. just read up on it first. and dont clock too high heh

[Comet]

should I go with the new mobo/CPU though?

[mrgoochio]

No PC game out could even come close to utilizing more than 8GB of ram.

[ragingclue]

Originally Posted by Comet

should I go with the new mobo/CPU though?

What would it be replacing?

[3lusive]

Originally Posted by ragingclue

Also, I've been out of the loop for a couple months as well, but for the 1366, or any other Intel socket, I'd go with a GB board (link). But that's just my opinion. GB has better support and, for the most part, more reliable boards. Just not a fan of ASUS for the more expensive hardware. If you're looking to OC, you'd have to consult the oc forums, but IIRC, people are getting good numbers with the UD5 board.

I wholeheartedly agree. I built my own comp with a Gigabyte board about 3 years ago and it's still running strong (N650SLI-DS4). overclocking has been a breeze through the BIOS controls, i'm running 3.15ghz C2D E6600, stock 2.4ghz on air cooling.

[Comet]

Originally Posted by ragingclue

What would it be replacing?

XFX MBN780ISH9 nForce 780i Ultra SLI Ready DDR2 1333Mhz FSB Socket LGA 775 ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel BX80570E8400 3.0 GHz 6M L2 Cache 1333MHz FSB LGA775 Core 2 Duo E8400 Dual-Core Processor

as per my Amazon order...

[Makushr1]

If you want to drop a little more, go with the i7 960. That's what I just purchased, along with a radeon 5850, 6gig ram, asus p6t.

[ragingclue]

So you've got a 780i, a GTX295, and an E8400?

That should run just about anything out there on the highest settings ATM... Only thing I'd upgrade there is the proc, which most will say isn't even necessary, but you can get a 9550 or 9650 if anything you do needs more than 2 cores.

One thing a lot of gamers get screwed by is keeping their old HDD's when upgrading rigs. Running faster hard drives (especially using RAID) can sometimes increase perceived performance more than these bump-ups in the top of the hardware chain. I have 2 rigs, one of which only has an E8400 (@3.6GHz), 4GB of DDR3 RAM (@1.6GHz), and a single 4870 1GB on an X48 mobo.... And, at the highest settings, blazes through the only 2 games I play (BF:BC2 and AoC).

I haven't played much besides those two games (played WoW up until a few months ago and it ate that up on max settings too), but we're at a point right now where hardware development is rapidly outpacing the needs of the games being developed. Like I said, the only thing I'd recommend is that you upgrade your proc, and that's only if you need the extra cores, and if you're playing at 1920x1200 or below, the vid card is more than adequate....

[Comet]

I upgraded my HDD around the same time I picked all this stuff up
I have 8 gigs of ram amd I do play at 1920x1200

as a former WoW player, I'll assume you are familiar with Dalaran Lag.
I get around 35-40 FPS in Dal. Marrowgar brings down my frame rate so low that it skips
everywhere else, I have 60fps though

[UltimateBMW]

Your computer is fine. Moving from a dual core to a quad core CPU won't give you the gains that you expect. Dual cores were almost better than quad cores a while ago just for gaming since not many games can utilize the full benefit of a quad core setup.

Quad core is more for doing rendering work and long compilations where the work can easily be distributed. While the latest quad cores (nihilum) may put your dual core to shame, upgrading to one of these would be significant as you would have to replace your mobo. And again, you wouldn't see the gains that you expect. The E8400 was a pretty sturdy chip if memory serves, and great for overclocking.

If I were you, I'd wait and save up. Then upgrade in about a year from now when the 6cores come out. Spend like $1500 on a full system upgrade. And then enjoy it for another 4-5 years.

[UltimateBMW]

For when you do decide to move into a LGA1366 mobo, there is nother wrong with Asus. I prefer them.

[ragingclue]

Originally Posted by Comet

I upgraded my HDD around the same time I picked all this stuff up
I have 8 gigs of ram amd I do play at 1920x1200

as a former WoW player, I'll assume you are familiar with Dalaran Lag.
I get around 35-40 FPS in Dal. Marrowgar brings down my frame rate so low that it skips
everywhere else, I have 60fps though

yes I am familiar with that. 35-40 was fine with me though.

Originally Posted by UltimateBMW

Your computer is fine. Moving from a dual core to a quad core CPU won't give you the gains that you expect. Dual cores were almost better than quad cores a while ago just for gaming since not many games can utilize the full benefit of a quad core setup.

Quad core is more for doing rendering work and long compilations where the work can easily be distributed. While the latest quad cores (nihilum) may put your dual core to shame, upgrading to one of these would be significant as you would have to replace your mobo. And again, you wouldn't see the gains that you expect. The E8400 was a pretty sturdy chip if memory serves, and great for overclocking.

If I were you, I'd wait and save up. Then upgrade in about a year from now when the 6cores come out. Spend like $1500 on a full system upgrade. And then enjoy it for another 4-5 years.

Yeah dual cores were much better due to their generally faster OEM clocks, along with their more friendly response to overclocking. The E8400 E0 stepping is quite a trooper, and most can get it to 4.0 on air, easily and stable, provided your motherboard and RAM cooperate. It's not until very recently that quad cores have shown worthwhile advantages in games, and it's only a few titles IIRC.

With how far ahead hardware is right now (vs software, especially gaming), you can acutally afford to wait for prices to come out, and the "next generation" of tech to come out, and nab up the "old" stuff. The bleeding edge hardware will only serve you any good if you're a bencher, hardcore F@H, or rendering and stuff like that.

Originally Posted by UltimateBMW

For when you do decide to move into a LGA1366 mobo, there is nother wrong with Asus. I prefer them.

Yeah I've heard some good things about ASUS, but generally people seem to be polarized on the high end mobo issue. Many love them, some absolutely can't stand them. In the end, if you're not overclocking, I'd go with the GB Ultra Durable (UD) series (which have even proven themselves in the OC department as well), but it's up to you. EVGA is another with ubelievable customer service and a great warranty, as is XFX.

[Comet]

Thanks for the advice guys!