Is it time to upgrade?

[brilman]

I think I have enough "yes dear" points to up grade my main system. Heres the basic specs:

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Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate
DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2200 MHz (11 x 200) 4200+
motherboard Gigabyte GA-M61SME-S2 v2
4G ram ddr2
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT (512 MB)
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I was thinking of just a new video card and 8G ram
but not sure if it'll be worth it or just start over and build another box.

any ideas would be great (but keep in mind I'm tired of sucking up to my wife)

thanks everyone

[Snee]

Start off with a new card. That way you can stop there if you're happy. Having said that, I've no idea what your PSU is like, you may need a beefier one, for a high-end card. But then again, with a really high-end card, your processor may be a bottleneck as well.

Personally, I'd start over, though. One or two ssds for the os, one or two 6900-series (ATi) or 500-series (NVidia) graphics cards, new wife and etc.

[clocker]

I wouldn't invest in DDR2 RAM as it wouldn't carry over to any (future) new build.
A vid card would continue to be usable, so if you really want one, go ahead.

Snee's idea about the SSD(s) is a good one, they're an instant- and quite noticeable- performance enhancement.

I would only upgrade the core package (CPU & motherboard) if you know it's a bottleneck.

[Detale]

Ok I'll ask the obvious. Do you "need" a vid card? Do you game alot? Secondly what's your budget like? 8800 still isn't the worst card you can have.

[clocker]

Yes, I find that my 8800GT renders the browser very crisply and with little/no lag.

[Cabalo]

Honestly, your setup is more than enough for most day to day tasks.
I'd only consider upgrading if you are going to play some of the newest games, encode video or heavy photoshop/CAD use.
Otherwise, I think you're wasting money.

[tesco]

I agree about it wasting your money.
The biggest increase you can get for your day-to-day stuff is an SSD, that alone gave me a bigger increase in speed than my last whole-computer upgrade.

[mjmacky]

Here's a question for anyone recommending SSD. I have a 250 GB SATA HD, and between the OS, programs/settings & Virtual Console, I'm using up about 60 GB. The SSD disks are quite expensive once you get above 64 GB, like $200 for an 80-90 GB. So here's the question...
What is the recommended way of transferring my 60/250 GB SATA HD setup to an 80 GB SSD, so that I can boot up and have everything work the same as it did before? Does software come with the SSD? I had an experience when I had to switch the contents of a soon to be dead HD and moved it over to my new WD, but a lot was working incorrectly after the move (e.g. Microsoft Office had nothing but errors, I had to remove every trace of it and reinstall). I know there are guides out there, but I want to hear your personal experiences about it, and see if it's going to be worth the hassle.

[clocker]

I've always done a fresh install when swapping drives, it's much more reliable.
Installing Win7 from a flash drive onto a SSD takes under ten minutes.
I keep no data on the OS drive, so after the OS is in it's just a matter of reinstalling the programs (executables also stored on a separate drive) and it's done.

From start to finish, it's easily done in under two hours (including all Windows updates) and is well worth the "hassle" to get the SSD speed.

[Gripper]

Ok xcuse ones ignorance but what is the SSD you speak of?