Thoughts on upgrades for my system $500-$600 budget

[trooper31270]

Current system:
AMD x4 965 @ stock 3.4 GHZ
Gigabyte GA-790FX UD5
Corsair XMS 2x8gb 1333 CL9
Sapphire HD5770 1GB DDR5
Corsair HX620 psu
WD 1TB HDD
Viewsonic VX2235 @ 1080
Noctua NH-U12P

I have had this build for over 4 years now, and I have $500-$600 dollars to upgrade. Been spending quite a bit of time here reading through the forums ( and others , too) on how I could best spend that.

I am considering upgrading the gpu to a R9-270x, motherboard to a 990fx chipset (would buy asus crosshair now and upgrade cpu in a few months, if it made sense), and a SSD.

New cpu (83xx?) and faster ram in a few more months when I have more cash.

What do you guys think?

I use it to mostly game, world of tanks, BF4, WoW, Planetside 2, TES

 

[Charlie98]

How about:

i5-4670K CPU $240,
Gigabyte Z87MA-D3H $125,
Crucial M500 240GB SSD $140
($505 @ Newegg, but you can probably find them a little cheaper, especially if you have a MicroCenter nearby...)

...and then save up for that R9-270x, and maybe the RAM (although that would be the last thing I would worry about.)

 

[mfenn]

I am considering upgrading the gpu to a R9-270x, motherboard to a 990fx chipset (would buy asus crosshair now and upgrade cpu in a few months, if it made sense), and a SSD.

New cpu (83xx?) and faster ram in a few more months when I have more cash.

The rule of thumb is that you never spend more on the motherboard than on the CPU. I would certainly NOT go out an buy a $225 mobo for an upgrade.

For $600, I would do:

i5 4430 $190
ASRock H87 Performance $100
Crucial M500 120GB $85
R9 270X $220
Total: $595

I went for a non-overclocking build based on the reasoning that if you haven't overclocked your 965 in 4 years, then you're unlikely to start overclocking now (nothing wrong with that).

 

[BPB]

I'm in a very similar situation. I got the MSI GTX 760 that's on sale at Newegg (currently sold out) for $200. I think it's a better choice for power per dollar. Other 760's go on sale that are also cheaper than the 270X. And I'm a guy who can't remember the last time he didn't buy ATI/AMD. I am also watching to get a good deal on an i5 or i7. Amazon had a good price on the i7 the other day, but I had just gotten the GTX card so I have to wait before I get a CPU and motherboard. I personally won't go smaller than a 240GB drive for an SSD. I figure if I bide my time I can have a decent rig for not too much money.

 

[nwo]

I'm in a very similar situation. I got the MSI GTX 760 that's on sale at Newegg (currently sold out) for $200. I think it's a better choice for power per dollar. Other 760's go on sale that are also cheaper than the 270X. And I'm a guy who can't remember the last time he didn't buy ATI/AMD. I am also watching to get a good deal on an i5 or i7. Amazon had a good price on the i7 the other day, but I had just gotten the GTX card so I have to wait before I get a CPU and motherboard. I personally won't go smaller than a 240GB drive for an SSD. I figure if I bide my time I can have a decent rig for not too much money.

760 is definitely a faster (and in your case, cheaper) alternative to the 270X.

240GB is the sweet spot for SSDs right now. I'd stay on the lookout for a decent one in the $120-140 range. 100GB is more than sufficient for me though since I only use it for system boot and drivers.

Anyways, back on OP's topic... Your CPU is ancient, your GPU is a few generations behind so it's very low end for today's standards.

Mfenn's suggestion is great, but I always advise people spend an extra $20-30 into a z87 board. But, if you're never going to overclock and are a mainstream user, then h87 is for you.

You could also try upgrading your GPU now and getting the rest later. I would highly recommend waiting to find a deal on the GTX 760 @ ~$200, those deals seem to come up fairly often now. It's a steal at that price due to the fact that its performance is in between a 7950 and 7970 which are both $300+ cards.