New GPU? Or SSD + CPU Cooler + Soundcard

[Silvex]

System Specs

Computer Case: COOLER MASTER Elite 430 (With a 120mm front intake fan, 80mm bottom intake fan, and 80mm rear exhaust fan)
Motherboard: MSI 970A-G46 AM3+
Processor: AMD Phenom II x4 965 3.4ghz (OCed to 3.8ghz @ 1.5vcore with stock cpu cooler)
Video Card(s): HIS Radeon HD 6670 1GB GDDR5, HIS Radeon HD 6670 1GB DDR3
Hardrive: HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000.C 0F10383 1TB 7200 RPM
Ram: Not sure what this is, since this was just Ram i salvaged from a HP Pavilion P6000 series computer. But according to Speccy it says this for my ram, 4.00 GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 760MHz (9-11-11-29).
Power Supply: Corsair CX430 V2


Ive got 150, so if i save 50 dollars more i can get a GTX 660 or if i really cant wait i could go with something like a HD 7770.

But you know, to be honest im not really sure if i want a new GPU because i hardly play any of the new games out there and i usually find myself playing older games from the PS2 era. Most of the time ill be playing gtasa (multi theft auto), then occasionally there will be one of those newer games that ill play, for example skyrim, battlefield 3, and gta 4. And i dont really have much of a problem running these newer games on medium settings at a little over 30 fps. (I am planning on playing BF4 though and GTA5..)

Then i have another option, which is a SSD + Aftermarket CPU Cooler + Soundcard. It would also be my first time getting a SSD, first time buying an aftermarket cpu cooler, and first time getting a soundcard.

Solid State Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820211595
CPU Cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835103065 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065 (Not really sure, because i dont know if the hyper 212 is going to block one of the ram slots on my motherboard. I plan on using all the slots eventually)
Soundcard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829132020

Well, if i take the second option

With an SSD, ill hopefully be able to get boot times of under 10 seconds and ill be able to do things quicker. Maybe even boosting FPS in Multi Theft Auto? Multi Theft Auto is multiplayer mod for gtasa which has servers that use LUA scripts so maybe the SSD will be able to run these scripts better? Some servers for some reason are really hard to get a constant 60fps+ so i figured maybe it had something to do with the scripts which might be the cause of lag.

With a Aftermarket CPU Cooler, ill finally be able to have a quiet PC again and ill hopefully be able to reach 4.0ghz now. Heat has been stopping me from doing that on the stock cooler, and the amount i have to increase the vcore would just be ridiculous. (Right now im at 3.8ghz at 1.5v idling at about 45c)

With the soundcard i shouldnt get anymore interference in the audio, ill have a headphone amp, my windows 7 volume should increase, and the audio will probably sound better because of the soundcard. I was a bit disapointed with the corsair vengeance 1300 headset so im hoping a soundcard can help this headset by boosting the volume and all that.

To me, it does seem like id be better off with the second option but then again something like a GTX 660 does seem really nice to have..

 

[Cerb]

I'd go with the audio upgrade, at least, like maybe a Xonar U3 (<$50 shipped, can drive hard HPs, gets the DAC out of the RFI nest, and comes with a nice compliment of Dolby goodies).

An SSD will not increase your FPS, unless the game is battering your HDD (possible, with 4GB, but unlikely). If your RAM is limiting, you could go doubling it, as well.

I don't know enough to say for the video card, not kowing your resolution, or GTA:SA's performance in general. Your best bet for that would be to get and use MSI Afterburner, to help monitor VRAM and GPU usage, along with good old Task Manager to check on your CPU and RAM. If one gets high utilization, while the other gets low, the one with high utilization will be where your bottleneck is.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

An SSD will not increase your FPS, unless the game is battering your HDD (possible, with 4GB, but unlikely). If your RAM is limiting, you could go doubling it, as well.

An SSD is properly overkill for a pure gaming PC, but its a nice upgrade if you use your PC for other things. I would look in to doubling the RAM, if nothing else to get the small performance benefit of dual channel RAM.

I don't know enough to say for the video card, not kowing your resolution, or GTA:SA's performance in general. Your best bet for that would be to get and use MSI Afterburner, to help monitor VRAM and GPU usage, along with good old Task Manager to check on your CPU and RAM. If one gets high utilization, while the other gets low, the one with high utilization will be where your bottleneck is.

I would wait until you can afford something like a 660(ti). A HD7770 is roughly twice as fast. But a 660 is three to four times faster. Of course you might run into a CPU bottleneck, but that will depend on resolution.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/613?vs=536

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/613?vs=660

 

[Cerb]

That's why I'm all for the audio side of things, then kinda iffy beyond that, but more RAM would probably be worth it, too.

If the OP hears interference, there's major room for improvement. The [analog] headset he has has quite a reputation for needing a decent amp. With Dolby Headphone as an option, a system-wide EQ, a clean signal from the DAC to the amp, without the internal hash, and an amp that can do an OK job driving nice Senns and AKGs, that will be an immediately noticeable improvement, for no more than $50 shipped, and be able to carry over into the OP's next gen PC.

Playing mostly older games and such, I'm not sure that a ~$100 video card will be such an improvement. Better, sure, but by how much?

 

[mfenn]

OP, do you have two 6670's in Crossfire? One with GDDR5 and the other with DDR3? I would expect you to get microstutter like crazy with that setup. Though I suppose if you don't notice it, then it's all good.

6670 CFX is somewhere between a 6770 and a 6850 in terms of performance. That's still OK for lowered detail settings. You'd need a ~$170-200 card like the 7850 or a GTX 660 to really see a big improvement.

If it were me, I'd get a 7850 2GB. However, if graphics really aren't your priority and the sound interference and general noise level of your computer bother you, then I don't see any reason against doing the sound card and HSF now. Save the rest of your money for a GPU upgrade. You'll probably need it for GTA V.

 

[Silvex]

OP, do you have two 6670's in Crossfire? One with GDDR5 and the other with DDR3? I would expect you to get microstutter like crazy with that setup. Though I suppose if you don't notice it, then it's all good.

6670 CFX is somewhere between a 6770 and a 6850 in terms of performance. That's still OK for lowered detail settings. You'd need a ~$170-200 card like the 7850 or a GTX 660 to really see a big improvement.

If it were me, I'd get a 7850 2GB. However, if graphics really aren't your priority and the sound interference and general noise level of your computer bother you, then I don't see any reason against doing the sound card and HSF now. Save the rest of your money for a GPU upgrade. You'll probably need it for GTA V.

Yeah i do, but i only turn it on for Skyrim because every other game ive tried CFX with results in a lot of microstuttering. Skyrim was the only game ive got a little bit of an fps boost with.

And btw, my resolution is 1600x900..

 

[mfenn]

Yeah i do, but i only turn it on for Skyrim because every other game ive tried CFX with results in a lot of microstuttering. Skyrim was the only game ive got a little bit of an fps boost with.

And btw, my resolution is 1600x900..

Yeah not a surprise that you get crazy microstutter since you've mixed memory techs. In that case, even a 7770 would be a nice improvement, but I'd hold off as long as you are generally OK with your gaming performance since it seems like the other issues bother you more.

 

[billyevans]

A GPU upgrade is probably due, but if it's not your biggest concern, then upgrade the other stuff first. You'll run into money eventually (I hope so for the sake of your precious games).