gaming PC

[pontifex]

Right now my pc is:
i5-2500k @3.30ghz
8 GB DDR3
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 mobo
Radeon R9 390 8 GB
1x 250 GB SSD for OS
1x 500 GB SSD for games
2x 7200 RPM drives for storage
I think I have a 650 or maybe 750w Corsair PSU (I'd have to double check)
ASUS ML228H 22-Inch Ultra-Slim Widescreen LED Monitor (1920x1080)

I can play any games I have, although some need to be on lower settings. Its weird, some newer games I can run on high settings but others need to be lower.

Anyway, what am I looking at for upgrading to make it better? Is there anything worth keeping that I can use to upgrade to get best bang for buck type of performance?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Keep the SSDs and HDDs, and the monitor, and for now, the GPU.

In another month, get the Intel CoffeeLake 8700K 6C/12T powerhouse, along with a Z370 motherboard, and 16GB (or 32!) of DDR4-3200 or faster. You should be all set. Then just wait for a newer GPU to be released. Either try to snag a Vega GPU, once the gouging stops, which is linking to mining altcoins, or wait for a new NVidia release (12nm?), or just break down and buy a 1080ti. (Which is likely to be considered a little overkill for 1080P gaming. Rest assured, that you can max out settings with it in most games.)

PSU is probably good to go, if you haven't had any problems with it, and it is less than 7 years old. If more than 7 years old, unless it has a 10- or 12-year warranty and Japanese caps, then it might also be time to replace it too.

 

[Crono]

What's your budget and when do you plan on upgrading?

I'm willing to bet the newer games you can't run on high are the ones that are console-first/not well-optimized for PC titles. Some of triple A titles over the past few years are starting to take advantage of more cores/threads, and that's where the Sandy Bridge CPUs are starting (finally) to show their age.

I had an 8GB 390 until recently, and they do fairly well in most new games still, so it's more likely it's the CPU especially at 1080P. It's a good time to upgrade to a new platform and CPU (on both Intel and AMD) but it depends on how much of an upgrade you want to make.

 

[Rifter]

Id probably wait another 6 months if you can. Wait for CFL to launch and bugs with new platform to get worked out then decide if you want to go that way or ryzen, and then when Volta launches in 6 months build a new PC and go with a volta GPU. Unless you have faith AMD will fix vega through software like some people think, in which case wait for that to happen and build new PC then.

Or, do what larry suggest and build now but keep current GPU at least till Volta launches then decide which GPU to go with, its not a good time to buy a GPU, your options are the 1 year+ old Pascal cards, or Vega which isnt even as fast as the top tier 1 year old pascal cards.

 

[pontifex]

probably won't be upgrading for some time and buying the absolute latest/best hardware probably won't happen either (unless I unexpectedly come into a lot of money, lol).
just kind of feeling it out right now as I have not kept up with this kind of stuff like I used to.