[Build Help]What to upgrade?

[an1sh]

I am currently running:

Zotac GTX 260(Stock)
Intel Quadcore Q9300(Stock)
Asus P5N e-sli Motherboard
Coolermaster 550W PSU
4 GB Kingston memory (Not sure which component, i.e, ddr2/ddr3)
500 GB HDD

I mainly want to improve my computing power with games like Battlefield 3 which bring my system to an extreme lag sometimes with air vehicles with settings turned to Low and Mesh quality at High(I need it for spotting). I run games at 1920x1080 resolution which usually causes the most lag

I am looking to upgrade to a better PC Case as well(buying it separately outside my above budget), so any suggestion is appreciated(the current one doesn't hold well at higher temp during summer and has only 1 back fan support)

My Budget for the summer is 400$ CAD

I am unfamiliar with current PC parts specs so I don't know whats the best with my budget and I'd like to start getting into customizing my PC on my own(never done it before), my current PC was bought as is from a friend of mine back in 2008

Thanks for reading, any suggestion/ideas is appreciated

Edit: Extra info, I live in Toronto, Canada so I'd like to save on shipping if it makes any difference

 

[tynopik]

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16814500242

overclock your cpu

 

[lehtv]

Your GPU is almost certainly more of a bottleneck than the CPU, especially at 1080p. You can test this by lowering resolution - if the fps doesn't increase, you're CPU limited. Going from 1080p to 1600x900, for example, should increase fps by ~45% because 1920x1080 is that much more pixels than 1600x900.

You should upgrade to a HD7850 and overclock the CPU (which will require aftermarket cooling). But before doing anything of the sort I'd highly recommend upgrading your PSU to something respectable, assuming the Cooler Master you're on isn't a Silent Pro. The GPU will be bottlenecked a bit in CPU limited games so you'll get another bump in performance when you upgrade the CPU.

PSU XFX 650W $80 ($65 AR) - High quality and reliability (built by Seasonic). 150W overkill but not really more expensive than good 500W units, so why not. Will easily power 7850 crossfire overclocked, an option you may have when you upgrade the CPU+mobo+RAM.

Case Antec One $45 ($35 AR) - Insanely good value. 2x120mm stock cooling. Supports USB3.0 which will be relevant when you upgrade the CPU+mobo+RAM. You'd have to double this price to get something substantially better (e.g. Fractal Design Arc Midi $100) though you're certainly free to do so if you want, a case can last a long time so it makes little difference years from now if it cost $50 or $100.

CPU cooler Hyper 212 Evo $35

GPU Sapphire 7850 $234 [free shipping] (very nice deal, act fast)

= $394 ($369 after rebate) + shipping

 

[tynopik]

if battlefield 3 is the primary driver, you really want to consider nvidia

 

[DSF]

if battlefield 3 is the primary driver, you really want to consider nvidia

How come?

 

[T_Yamamoto]

if battlefield 3 is the primary driver, you really want to consider nvidia

BS

 

[lehtv]

if battlefield 3 is the primary driver, you really want to consider nvidia

560 Ti = $200-220
7850 = $240-260
570 = $270-300

7850 will overclock easily the best while consuming the least power and having the most VRAM. With MSAA disabled, it'll perform similarly to GTX570 (at stock).

 

[Blain]

Better video card & higher resolution monitor.
1080 is high res for TV, but not for gaming on a PC.

 

[tynopik]

i was comparing at the $400 price point on newegg.ca where the 670 trounces the 7950

other price points might be different

 

[lehtv]

Better video card & higher resolution monitor.
1080 is high res for TV, but not for gaming on a PC.

Uh what? He's running GTX260 and a Core 2 Quad and has a budget of $400, not $2000. Troll much?

 

[lehtv]

i was comparing at the $400 price point on newegg.ca where the 670 trounces the 7950

Well it is about 20% faster in BF3 but mostly because of MSAA. It's also 10-15% more expensive. 7950 can be had for as low as $352, more commonly $370-$390. GTX 670 can be had for $400, more commonly $420-$440.

 

[tynopik]

Well it is about 20% faster in BF3 but mostly because of MSAA. It's also 10-15% more expensive. 7950 can be had for as low as $352, more commonly $370-$390. GTX 670 can be had for $400, more commonly $420-$440.

I was going by this which puts it at 50% (62.9 to 41.9 FXAA) and 52% (92 to 60.5 4xMSAA) faster at 1920x1200

 

[lehtv]

Huh. That result is certainly very different from what you see at every other site, not just techpowerup.

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/nvidia_gtx670/7.htm 25% faster
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-670-review,3200-5.html 26% fasterhttp://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...055-nvidia-geforce-gtx-670-2gb-review-11.html
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...055-nvidia-geforce-gtx-670-2gb-review-11.html 36% faster
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2012/05/10/nvidia-geforce-gtx-670-2gb-review/5 28% faster
http://www.guru3d.com/article/evga-geforce-gtx-670-sc-review/19 38% faster
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/Nvidia_GTX_670/10.html 41% faster

Granted, these are all higher than techpowerup's result. Seems like about 30%-35% faster on average.