Zoraster

I recently received a 500 dollar gift certificate. So right now I'm looking into what's the best thing i can spend it on for my computer. A quick rundown of my computer's stats:

AMD 5000+
2 GB RAM
150GB Hard drive at 10,000 RPM as well as a 320GB external hard drive (7,200 RPM connected by eSATA)
1024MB 7950 GTX Geforce card
a fairly nice monitor (although it's fairly limited in the screen resolution i can use. that doesn't really bother me though), good enough speakers for me, etc.
550W Power Source

So the way I see it I have a few options:
1) Upgrade RAM to 3GB (can't really go further than this as my motherboard is a 32-bit one and with my graphics card can only handle 4GB total)
2) I suppose I could spend it on a directx10 video card, but this one already runs like a dream so I'm not sure I see the point.
3) Spend it fairly slowly over the course of a year or two on games and the like.

Anyway, is there anything else that would be a better fit? any other general suggestions?

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|TG| Zoraster | Tactical Soccer Managing

avenging llama

What kind of games are you into? Maybe look into some accessories and peripherals?

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Pokerface

Second monitor? Or maybe SLI your current rig (if capable)?

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loyalguard

I like Poker's SLI recommendation if mobo and PSU are compatible

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Anospa

He's already got SLI on that card. And from what you're saying about your monitor, doesn't sound like SLI would really do too much.

Upgrading to 3 GB, not too sure how much of a difference you would notice, and can sometimes get messy using different sticks that aren't from the same batch and such.

A new monitor (widescreen) is always a nice thing to have.

I'd wait on the DX10 cards for now, new ones should come out and drive the current ones down in price some, or maybe the new ones will be worlds better than the ridiculousness of whats already out there.

Or maybe invest into some stocks?

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Bc2ID

You can spread the wealth....

I know Jeepo needs a new mic and so doesn't Ikill....

Seriously hold on to it and see then the 10 cards come out. That is of course if it doesn't start to lose its value soon.

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MagnaCentipede

Were I handed a $500 gift certificate for computer stuff, I'd probably grab a $499 CRT. Then again, I have a couple hairline scratches on mine that are driving me insane...

...which isn't a long trip by auto.

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jonan_

I don't know if you are planning on upgrading to vista but if you are I would save it until then. Then you can buy Crysis, Vista and put the rest into upgrading to a directX10 card.

Of course when Spore comes out you will want that too.

Zoraster

thanks. if this 500 dollars were cash, i'd definitely save it, anospa. But unfortunately the rate of return on my gift card is approximately 0%

Technically I could run these cards in SLI although as Anospa already said, the card is technically running in SLI already (it's basically two 7900s on one card) so I'm not sure how much of a boost I'd get from that.

The card shouldn't lose value. I checked the conditions on it and there's nothing about value reduction. In fact it says "no expiration date, no fees"

I wasn't planning on upgrading to Vista until I had to. I'm not sure I see much benefit to it right now.

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|TG| Zoraster | Tactical Soccer Managing

Anospa

haha, ah ok, spend it on something really cool then. Water cooling mayhaps? I know thats my next big thing after I finish painting my case (should post a worklog here).

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sc1ence

I would get a nice soundcard and sweet headphones. you can get another card for sli and get essentially quad gpu performance.

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Anospa

Good call Sc1ence, with an X-Fi in BF, and a nice set of headphones, I can hear ridiculously well. Once was fighting a walker and he ran away behind some buildings on Minsk to repair and could hear him repairing two buildings away at a distance of about 70m. And all the times I hear a random beacon on the ground and find out that its behind a wall and down an alley and over the bridge to Grandmother's house...

Yeah, good sound is kickin'.

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loyalguard

Doh, forgot that was a SLI card. Sound card is a good call as well. A new widescreen monitor would also be good (never hurts to have another)

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|TG| LoyalGuard

JAMerica

Do you like to fly.......flight stick and rudder pedals?

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Zoraster

well, i think i'll probably skip the second screen as I'll be shipping my computer and it's components cross country in the near future, but I like the idea of getting a sound card and headphones. Right now my headset is a cheap one that came with something else i bought.

nah

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|TG| Zoraster | Tactical Soccer Managing