I built the following system earlier this year. I think it runs really well, but does anyone have any recomendations to upgrade the graphics or anything else for that matter which will make the system more responsive for gaming?

1    Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail
1    BIOSTAR T5 XE LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
1    CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
1    Windows 7 Professional 64 bit
1    120GB OCZ SATA II SSD Solid 2 Series (Boot Drive)
2    Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000.B HD31000 IDK/7K (0S00163) 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
2    LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-
1    Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
1    OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ500MXSP 500W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active
1    SAPPHIRE 100295HDMI Radeon HD 4670 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported
1    Logitech WAVE Keyboard/mouse combo

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Thanks to all who serve or have served

Overclock your processor.  Add another 4 gigs of ram. Upgrade to maybe an 800 watt power supply. Upgrade your video card.

Thanks, Any suggestions on a Video card?

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Thanks to all who serve or have served

What Tet said.

Video card? Whats' your budget? Ideally, most any of the Nvidia 5xx series or AMD 6xxx serie with at elast 2gb of VRAM will do. Prices for teh worthwhile models range from 230-900 dollars (CAD) Overall, one brand is not superior to the other. Do you connect to a television? WIll you want to run more than 2 displays?

And an after-market cooler for that CPU, if you to overclock.

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CHUD wrote (View Post):

What Tet said.

Video card? Whats' your budget? Ideally, most any of the Nvidia 5xx series or AMD 6xxx serie with at elast 2gb of VRAM will do. Prices for teh worthwhile models range from 230-900 dollars (CAD) Overall, one brand is not superior to the other. Do you connect to a television? WIll you want to run more than 2 displays?

And an after-market cooler for that CPU, if you to overclock.

Ah good point on the cpu cooler.  I always buy them on my builds so at this point I never even think about it.

the only think i can suggest is a couple of extra case fans or coolers and some sort of power protection like surge protector or ups, which if includes a serge protector.

one thing to remember is that do not store your files on the ssd, and never defrag it. he ssd should be used for OS and installed file but all other files i suggest to be stored on your standard hdd as if something goes wrong you can atleast recover you files from as hdd but 99% of the time if its was on a ssd then it gone for for good

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mr-t wrote (View Post):

the only think i can suggest is a couple of extra case fans or coolers and some sort of power protection like surge protector or ups, which if includes a serge protector.

one thing to remember is that do not store your files on the ssd, and never defrag it. he ssd should be used for OS and installed file but all other files i suggest to be stored on your standard hdd as if something goes wrong you can atleast recover you files from as hdd but 99% of the time if its was on a ssd then it gone for for good

No SSD here, but I at least have Steam installed on a separate hard drive.  I also back up my Steam folder, Origin folder, and Games For Windows Live stuff to yet another drive.  Redundancy doesn't hurt.

Tanks for the advice. I forgot to mention I also have a Zalman CNPS10X Extreme CPU Cooler installed. As for the SSD I have already headed warnings and only have the OS and programs on it. all data is on one of the TB drives and the second TB drive is the backup. I am now just starting to look at V cards and have my eye on a SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity.

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Thanks to all who serve or have served

If you are staying in the 6800 series i would just go with a 6870.  Shouldn't be much more expensive. Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 is a card I have been considering.  I recently built a new computer but am still using the Radeon HD 5830 from my last build.  I have no problems with this card which is why I haven't upgraded yet.  Though I think the Radeon HD 5770 on my other computer is dying so I will need to upgrade soon anyway.

Thanks, Will I, or should I upgrade my PS?

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Yes. 500w is the minimum specified requirement for those cards. I'd suggest a 750w minimum, or 850w if you'd want to get a second 6870 in the future - those scale very well in Crossfire Just be sure to not get a cheap one... And those 6870's also scale very well when Crossfired.

Silverstone, Corsair, Thermaltake, Antec,v Enermax, all make great PSUs and have good warranty support.

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-- Of all the soles I've ever tasted, his had the most   ....cumin. --

I've become a big fan of Thermaltake power supplies.  I use a 600w in my second pc, which is fully gaming capable, and I do some gaming on it along side my main pc.  The psu I use in my main pc is this Thermaltake 850w.  Rock solid performance out of both of them.

Oh and don't mess up your HD.  If anyone has noticed they are jumping in price. Why. Thialand flooding. 90% of the worlds hard drivves are from thialnad and well they are under water and has caused a shortage of available hard drives.

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Hi Guys, Thanks for all your advice. I have pulled the trigger on a Seasonic X760 Gold ATX power supply and a SAPPHIRE HD 6870 1GB GDDR5 PCIE Graphics Card. should be here early next week. Can't wait to install them

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Thanks to all who serve or have served

Need some help here!!! I just installed the new SAPHIRE 6870 and power suppy, but it doesn't seem to be working that well with Black Ops. At times the video is jumpy and it seems to hang at times for a split second only, but still enough to be annoying. Have any of you seen anything like this? Any suggestions for a fix?

Resolution 1600 x 1200
AA 4X
sync frames  - No

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Thanks to all who serve or have served