$500 To use on a new computer. What Should I get?

Pseudonyms

New Member
Through some savings and hard work I've gotten about $1000 that I would like to put towards my computer/other general technology stuff.

I am going to put away half of the $1000 in a CD that has a mature length of 6 months, which means I am left with $500 to spend and $500 that I cannot touch, gaining interest.

This is my current computer build:
Specs:
CPU: Core 2 duo 2.66ghz @ 3.3 Ghz
HDD1: 300gb maxtor
HDD2: 1000gb (1tb) Seagate
HDD3: 500gb Western Digital
GPU: Sapphire 4870 1gb
RAM: 2gb XMS2 DDR2 RAM (800mhz) and 2gb kingston DDR2 RAM (667 mhz) I want to swap the kingston out, and try to keep the other RAM if possible
PSU: Antec 550 watt (Need a new one)
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6
CASE: Azza Solano 1000 (blue)
Heatsink: Coolermaster Hyper TX3
FANS: 2x 230mm Blue LEDs, 2x 140mm Blue LED fans, 2x 120mm Fans.


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My thoughts: Upgrade the PSU and RAM, and buy a new Monitor(I've got a crappy old one). I've got an ok graphics card for now, and plenty of storage space.


Thanks in advance.
 
New PSU for a video card upgrade in the future possibly. Like, thinking about swapping the 4870 out for a 4890, then crossfiring them.
 
New PSU for a video card upgrade in the future possibly. Like, thinking about swapping the 4870 out for a 4890, then crossfiring them.

Depending on the model 550W, a single 4890 would be no issue, crossfiring them you would need something a little more robust. Great price on a 750W pcp&c silencer recertified:
http://www.svc.com/s75q-b.html

Something you could do is pickup a new board/display/cpu/mem, sell your current board/mem/cpu, use it to pickup the PSU(and would have some money left over after buying a psu).
 
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Well That's about what I want to run budgetwise for it, and I've been told CF 4890s would be fine on it elsewhere. explain your caution to me.
 
Well That's about what I want to run budgetwise for it, and I've been told CF 4890s would be fine on it elsewhere. explain your caution to me.

+12v rails on that unit only provide 552W(46A) of power. Two 4890's in crossfire and can use nearly 500W under load on a bare minimum system, and thats before you add in extra hard drives, fans, etc
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For a 700W PSU, ideally you'd like to see at least 50 amps on the +12v rails. Something like that recertified pcp&c 750W has 60A on the +12v rails which is more than sufficient for dual 4890's.

Edit 2: Also, 552W is only about ~50W more on the +12v rails than your current antec neopower.
 
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