Total system upgrade or just video card?

[Sirrion]

-Intel Core i7-3820 LGA2011 3.60Ghz
-16gb Corsair DDR3 1600 Vengeance ram (4x4gb)
-Gigabyte X79 chipset motherboard
-Samsung 840 SSD 250gb Windows HD
- Seagate 500gb storage HD
-Sapphire HD7970 3gb x 2 (Crossfired)

Okay so here is the system i'm currently running and have been for several years now. I am looking to upgrade the video card soon to a GTX 1080 and would simply like to know if its worth upgrade the CPU/Mobo/RAM (to DDR4) combo. I think people talk a lot about "bottlenecking" via the cpu or video card without really knowing a good way to test it out.

I can afford to upgrade those components along with the video card but if the cost/benefit ratio is really weak then I will skip upgrading the CPU/Mobo/RAM for a bit and just do the video card.

My goal is to be able to play the most current and upcoming games at single monitor QHD (2560x1440) more or less maxed out on settings for the next year or so, at which point I figure I'll have to start lowering my graphics expectations a bit. Just looking for a bit of advice, thanks!

 

[A_Skywalker]

I think your processor is good, 16 gb of ram is enough also. I dont think you should upgrade the rest, of course with new cpu you will gain few fps but you have yo ask yourself if its worth it, for me no, I will even keep my i5 2400 and buy one 480 in the next days.

 

[PeckingOrder]

For games, definitely not imo.

Your current CPU is just a bit slower than the i7 mainstream Skylake CPUs. Current games do NOT need more than 4 fast threads/8 cores.

 

[boozzer]

wait till 6/29 and see how 480 pans out. if it is as good as it gets, buy 1 or 2 everything else is good enough.

 

[hawtdawg]

OC it and buy a 1070. Ignore the 480, it's the 14nm version of the 7770.

When 28nm hit, the 7870 was as fast as the fastest single GPU AMD had previously (6970). The 480 will not even be as fast as the 2nd fastest GPU that AMD had (390x, or even a 290x if the sli benchmarks are to be believed). This is a dumpster GPU. 2 of them will only be marginally faster than a 1070, and cost more.

 

[sm625]

I think your current system with a 1080 installed would still outperform a brand new 6700K + 1070 combo. So no you wouldnt be getting much value from upgrading everything.