What to upgrade for $150?

[buklau]

I have the following ideas to upgrade my system for $150, any other good suggestion?

1. My monitor is 3 years old, view sonic 21.5 LED 1080p with vga and dvi port. Perhaps buy a newer 22 - 23 inch 1080p ips led monitor with HDMI port?

2. I can also sell my old radeon 7850 2gb on ebay and then grab a used gtx670 on ebay for better gaming performance?

3. Save up the $150 till something better comes out since my system does everything I wanted so far.

 

[mjd]

If you're a gamer, I'd use it to get a nice headset w/mic. And put the rest aside for whatever needs to be upgraded next. I find that even nice headsets wear-out and that having a nice one really improves my gaming experience.

I have one of these http://www.corsair.com/us/vengeance-1500-dolby-7-1-usb-gaming-headset.html
but you certainly can do well for less $.

 

[Termie]

It sounds like you're not really in need of an upgrade, but here are my thoughts:

- That jump in monitor size really isn't all that significant. You're already at 1080p, so I don't think that's worth it.

- You'll definitely notice the jump from a 7850 to a 670 (it's about 40-50% faster), but I assume you mean $150 after selling your 7850. I doubt you'll find one actually selling for $150. Whether you need it depends on your games. The 7850 is good, but not ideal, at 1080p in modern games.

 

[buklau]

I have $150 cash in hand. So if I sell my old 7850 on ebay, which goes for at least $130, then with the cash in my hand I can easily buy a used gtx670. The game I played the most right now is starcraft 2 and my system can handle it fine with all settings maxed. I don't do much gaming beyond since I am busy with family and work. Basically it's just an upgrade itch I had for a while since I haven't updated my system for 1 year now.

 

[Morbus]

Gaming mouse and/or keyboard? You could get something very nice for 150$... If you're using a normal 3 key mouse, get one that has more: it's awesome!!!

 

[Termie]

I have $150 cash in hand. So if I sell my old 7850 on ebay, which goes for at least $130, then with the cash in my hand I can easily buy a used gtx670. The game I played the most right now is starcraft 2 and my system can handle it fine with all settings maxed. I don't do much gaming beyond since I am busy with family and work. Basically it's just an upgrade itch I had for a while since I haven't updated my system for 1 year now.

In that case, I wouldn't go for the faster video card.

You might be better off saving the money for another day or some other purpose besides computer upgrades, although the headphone and keyboard/mouse suggestions above are options as well.

 

[VirtualLarry]

SSD?????

 

[mindless1]

I'd get a second monitor and use them both together, not so much for gaming but other multitasking.

 

[Cerb]

1. My monitor is 3 years old, view sonic 21.5 LED 1080p with vga and dvi port. Perhaps buy a newer 22 - 23 inch 1080p ips led monitor with HDMI port?

Nothing worth upgrading to in that size range is under $150. IMO, the Dell U2312HM would be the minimum to move up to, as a quality upgrade instead of size (fairly low-latency IPS panel, and the AG coating isn't too bad), since you have a decent gaming display already, and it's typically $200-250.

2. I can also sell my old radeon 7850 2gb on ebay and then grab a used gtx670 on ebay for better gaming performance?

Sure, you could, but unless you have some kind of issues with the card, it wouldn't be much of an upgrade. Only a handful of games will get more than maybe +30-40%, and those I know of also scale down very well, and are competitive multiplayer games, so high graphics settings are secondary. Yeah, it'll be faster, but it doesn't make much sense to bother upgrading a GPU unless it's more like +100%, or if a game is unplayable with your current GPU for some other reason (like features lacking, very little VRAM, or driver bugginess, none of which seem to b a problem).

3. Save up the $150 till something better comes out since my system does everything I wanted so far.

That, or a desired peripheral, or a 240GB M500, if you're SSD-less. Your desk can never be too cluttered, as long as the gadgets aren't collecting dust .

 

[Morbus]

SSD?????

Yeah, on second thought, forget the mouse and keyboard, get a 840EVO 250GB SSD. Or a Crucial something. Or Sandisk something. Pretty much the same thing anyway.

 

[buklau]

I already have a 60gb corsair force 3 ssd in my signature. So I guess I'll wait till something better comes out. My 7850 is overclocked to 1165/5900, which is not that bad for 1080p gaming.

 

[richaron]

Most people don't appreciate good peripherals enough. Decent stuff is a much better "investment" than almost all computer hardware (meaning they're good for longer), and add a certain je ne sais quoi to a computer; something I value much more than a few seconds at bootup or a few more fps.

A good quality keyboard is a thing of beauty, and I loved my mx510 mouse which lasted almost 10yrs (still going but fell out of love). At <$150 you could get some 2.0 M-Audio AV40 speakers which are much better than dirty 2.1/5.1's at a similar price, or could get well respected headphones like the ATH-M50's, both of which would last a decade with a little care.

 

[Zorander]

If you have to come up with an excuse to upgrade a component, it's probably not worth upgrading.

I agree with the peripherals suggestion. I have owned several speaker separates (Sirocco Crossfire and Cyrus/Epos combo) that are really nice and have outlived all of my PC components. If you enjoy good sound (whether music, movies or others), this is the one thing I highly recommend upgrading. For $150, headphones provide the best bang for your buck. You have to spend a lot more for truly good speakers.