I ended up getting the following: 23" LED monitor @ 1920x1280, AM2+ motherboard with a much better chipset than the one I currently have (was bottle-necking my CPU), and the Antec water-cooling kit. Went a little over the $200, but oh well. I was only getting around 30 FPS on SC2 with this setup, while other people were seeing around 60 FPS. Hopefully this will make for a smoother experience while I wait until everyone finds out what the heck is going on with the new FX processors.

I'm actually going to be upgrading my motherboard as well as my cooling in the next couple days. I have the Phenom II in an AM2+ board, BUT it's a very cheap, poor board with a crappy chipset, so I've come to realize that I'm getting bottle-necked pretty bad in that area. Also realized that this mobo is rated for 95W, and the processor is 125W, so that's not good, either. I'm surprised it actually works.

good choices. i herd those cheap water coolers you can get these days work awsome. not as flashy as i would like but friends of mine got that antec water cooler. no maintness no stress all 1 peace. works great for them. i stick with fans for now becuase i dont beleave much in overclocking. i tested my rig out for OCing if needed . but im pritty happy with my 3,2ghz quad.Yup, I placed the order for the Antec!

Thanks for the suggestions, all. I ended up getting water cooling kit and a 23" LED that were on sale. My PSU is fine, but knowing I will have to upgrade later I'm going to wait and see exactly what I'll need. As for RAM, 4 GB is fine for me right now. I hardly use 2.5 under load, I'm not a big multitasker. I'm definitely going to get an SSD, just hoping the prices come down or I can find a good sale come December/January. I'm all about doing an upgrade here and there, but seeing as I have an outdated mobo/CPU/RAM, I'd have to upgrade all 3 at once. I do have a good case though, plenty of airf…

Rebuilding the entire computer? Or just replacing some parts?Heatsinks + fans are cheap!Basically rebuilding the entire computer. New PSU, mobo, CPU, memory, getting an SSD, and soon after that upgrading my GPU.I found a 23" LED for $140, so I think I'm gonna do that and a cooling assembly, and proceed with overclocking.

10/08/2011 01:24 AMPosted by KtapBigger power supply + overclock cpu to 3.4 ghzI was thinking about that, but then I'd also have to buy a better cooling assembly, since the one I have is barely cutting it right now, and I don't think it'd be worth it since I'm basically rebuilding it in 2 months or so.

10/08/2011 01:19 AMPosted by KtapKeyboard/mouse/headset?Have the headset, won a gaming keyboard and mouse which are in the mail.

10/08/2011 01:05 AMPosted by Philippei'm out of hereGood riddance with that kind of attitude. Dunno what warranted it, though.I never said I have to spend the money, I just said it's there to be used for computer stuff. Nice quote, though.I don't need to upgrade my PSU at this moment, it suits my needs fine until I upgrade.If I upgrade my mobo or processor, I'd have to spend quite a bit more than $200 to make it worth the upgrade, since I'd have to do both.Same with the video card.As I said, I'll be able to do an entire system-hardware upgrade come December.Yes, I have the money, but if I can …

I'll be able to do a massive hardware upgrade come December/January, so saving this won't make much of a difference when the time comes.I'm definitely convinced about getting a larger monitor. Now I'm torn between a 23" and 24" LED. There's a $50 price difference, and I'm not so sure if the 1 inch is worth that much to me.

Agree. Get the largest monitor with highest resolution that you can. I've been using 3x 24" 1920x1200 Dell Ultrasharp LCDs in Eyefinity. Just upgraded to 30" 2560x1600 Dell Ultrasharp and 1 24", plus two other 24" displays on a 2nd computer.Hot-damn. How much did those cost you?10/08/2011 12:37 AMPosted by ZandantilusIf you haven't tried playing games on one 1920x1200 or 2560x1600 resolution monitor, you're REALLY missing out on an immersive experience.I grabbed my 32" LCD TV and set it up via HDMI just for the night to see if it made much of a difference. After a decent amount of tweaking, I …