Upgrade my desktop or buy a new one?

[Pixlepoison]

This is what I currently have. With a 23' monitor.

I want something I can run two screens off of, that has HDMI so I don't have to buy a TV when I move.

I want to be able to use it sort of as my media center, so 1 TB probably wont work considering how many externals I have filled up.

I also want to be able to play most MMOs and a few off the shelf games as well, with decent graphics and no lag.

Would it be cheaper to upgrade what I have or to buy a pre-made rig?
As it stands when I bought this one it cost me: $629.00


If you recommend upgrading, could you list the components you're basing your opinion off of?  

[Felin Greenleaf]

Just get a decent video card.
You might also need to upgrade the power supply with it.
Maybe a blu ray drive if that doesn't have one, I only sort of skimmed.

OR

Be pro and slap one together your damn self.  

[Pixlepoison]

Felin Greenleaf

Just get a decent video card.
You might also need to upgrade the power supply with it.
Maybe a blu ray drive if that doesn't have one, I only sort of skimmed.

OR

Be pro and slap one together your damn self.

I said cheapest you dork.

I think I decided just to spring for more ram, a video card and a Power supply.  

[Felin Greenleaf]

Pixlepoison

Felin Greenleaf

Just get a decent video card.
You might also need to upgrade the power supply with it.
Maybe a blu ray drive if that doesn't have one, I only sort of skimmed.

OR

Be pro and slap one together your damn self.

I said cheapest you dork.

I think I decided just to spring for more ram, a video card and a Power supply.

6GB of DDR3 is more than enough for any game you want to run.
Also building your own is usually cheaper than buying premade, especially if you get your parts in places where you can use sweet military discounts.  

[Pixlepoison]

Felin Greenleaf

Pixlepoison

Felin Greenleaf

Just get a decent video card.
You might also need to upgrade the power supply with it.
Maybe a blu ray drive if that doesn't have one, I only sort of skimmed.

OR

Be pro and slap one together your damn self.

I said cheapest you dork.

I think I decided just to spring for more ram, a video card and a Power supply.

6GB of DDR3 is more than enough for any game you want to run.
Also building your own is usually cheaper than buying premade, especially if you get your parts in places where you can use sweet military discounts.

Yeah, if I ever break this one or come into some money, I'll build one. The only reason I got this one was so that I could do the media center thing, and went cheapest pre-made because It was all that was left.  

[Felin Greenleaf]

Pixlepoison

Felin Greenleaf

Pixlepoison

Felin Greenleaf

Just get a decent video card.
You might also need to upgrade the power supply with it.
Maybe a blu ray drive if that doesn't have one, I only sort of skimmed.

OR

Be pro and slap one together your damn self.

I said cheapest you dork.

I think I decided just to spring for more ram, a video card and a Power supply.

6GB of DDR3 is more than enough for any game you want to run.
Also building your own is usually cheaper than buying premade, especially if you get your parts in places where you can use sweet military discounts.

Yeah, if I ever break this one or come into some money, I'll build one. The only reason I got this one was so that I could do the media center thing, and went cheapest pre-made because It was all that was left.

Aaaah, well if you don't need to play everything on highest settings you can snag an older card, but if you want sound piping through the HDMI you'd be best off snagging a Radeon HD 6-something.
No lower than a 6550 though.

You can get those around $60 pretty easily.
If you have the spare cash you can pick up a 6850 for for about $150  

[Pixlepoison]

Felin Greenleaf

Pixlepoison

Felin Greenleaf

Pixlepoison

Felin Greenleaf

Just get a decent video card.
You might also need to upgrade the power supply with it.
Maybe a blu ray drive if that doesn't have one, I only sort of skimmed.

OR

Be pro and slap one together your damn self.

I said cheapest you dork.

I think I decided just to spring for more ram, a video card and a Power supply.

6GB of DDR3 is more than enough for any game you want to run.
Also building your own is usually cheaper than buying premade, especially if you get your parts in places where you can use sweet military discounts.

Yeah, if I ever break this one or come into some money, I'll build one. The only reason I got this one was so that I could do the media center thing, and went cheapest pre-made because It was all that was left.

Aaaah, well if you don't need to play everything on highest settings you can snag an older card, but if you want sound piping through the HDMI you'd be best off snagging a Radeon HD 6-something.
No lower than a 6550 though.

You can get those around $60 pretty easily.
If you have the spare cash you can pick up a 6850 for for about $150

The higher the number the better?  

[Felin Greenleaf]

Pixlepoison

Felin Greenleaf

Pixlepoison

Felin Greenleaf

Pixlepoison

Felin Greenleaf

Just get a decent video card.
You might also need to upgrade the power supply with it.
Maybe a blu ray drive if that doesn't have one, I only sort of skimmed.

OR

Be pro and slap one together your damn self.

I said cheapest you dork.

I think I decided just to spring for more ram, a video card and a Power supply.

6GB of DDR3 is more than enough for any game you want to run.
Also building your own is usually cheaper than buying premade, especially if you get your parts in places where you can use sweet military discounts.

Yeah, if I ever break this one or come into some money, I'll build one. The only reason I got this one was so that I could do the media center thing, and went cheapest pre-made because It was all that was left.

Aaaah, well if you don't need to play everything on highest settings you can snag an older card, but if you want sound piping through the HDMI you'd be best off snagging a Radeon HD 6-something.
No lower than a 6550 though.

You can get those around $60 pretty easily.
If you have the spare cash you can pick up a 6850 for for about $150

The higher the number the better?

Pretty much.
Except in the case of certain 5000 versus 6000 cards. But if you stay at 6500 and above you don't need to worry about that  

[The Rotary Rocket]

Best processor he could do is a Phenom II x6 1055T Six-Core 2.8Ghz, or Phenom II x4 945 Quad-Core 3.0Ghz.
For gaming, neither one would be a significant upgrade. However, if he wanted to throw in photo and video editing, the extra two cores of the 1055T could be of some value. Probably could get cheap enough used. You can NOT go any higher. That board is only a 3+1 phase. Hence the 95w TDP limitation. Try to go higher...either the POST will spit it back in your face, or it will work, but you'll blow MOSFETS. (On the flipside, well, you now have an excuse to get a better motherboard.)

6GB of RAM is still good even today. I am still running on 4GB using Corsair Dominators, and Chii runs fine. I do want 8 or 12GB just so it can be well rounded since I game and Sarah does heavy multimedia editing.

250w Power Supply? If you're going to get a discrete card, you better find one that doesn't require a PCI-E 6-pin power connector. You want to put him in 58xx/68xx territory? At the very least a quality 550watt, or an Antec Earthwatts 650 since you can get those pretty cheap.
That would probably be a 6670 or lower. 6770 might be pushing it. Felin is right when it comes to Nvidia vs AMD in graphics card in the mainstream market.
Nvidia blows in this sector. There hasn't been a good mainstream offering for quite awhile in Team Green. (And this is coming from a hardcore Nvidiot.) You sometimes have to pay through the nose to get something decent.
In their defense, there are a few times that they are generous. 8800/9800 GTX, GTX 460 1GB, GTX 550ti. (If the 560Ti-448 wasn't such a limited edition card, it would probably be on this list too)
In team green GTX is generally where you want to be. GTS can get you some places if you are willing to turn down the detail a bit and you want a folding machine. GT, stay the ******** away from this lineup, unless you are running your games on a 720pHDTV. (I am a little bitter towards the GT 640 - Has great potential, but seriously...DDR3. ...NO.)