Upgrading 2yr old gaming rig

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veereihen6

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Sep 12, 2011
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OK, so I built my current rig in Sept of 2011 for about $900:

Mobo: Asrock Z68 Pro3
CPU: i5 2500k
RAM: 16GB (4x 4GB sticks of Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600)
GPU: Galaxy GTX 560 Ti
HD#1: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200rpm
HD#2: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200rpm
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts EA-650W
Case: Rosewill Smart One ATX Mid-tower
DVD: Lite-On Dvd burner
OS: Windows 7 Home premium

Its served me well playing mostly BF3 and other assorted titles, but its time to upgrade a bit.

Currently on order:

Corsair H80i water cooler
Samsung 840 pro 120Gb SSD

My intent is to OC the i5 to 4.2Ghz, and migrate Win7 to the SSD.

Is the GPU what's holding me back after this initial round of upgrades or is it my mobo?
I'd like to get a solid 80-100fps out of BF3 on high, and hopefully cruise on 60fps for BF4 (since we don't know recommended specs are yet, lets not dwell)

By the end of summer / early fall I'd like to either:

upgrade GPU to MSI GTX770 (or 760Ti if its out yet)

or

upgrade mobo and CPU to MSI Z77 G45 and i5-3570k and wait a few months for GTX 700 series pricing to come down a bit more.

I guess my budget for the rest second round of upgrades would be $350-500.

Thanks!
 
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carowden

carowden

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i wouldnt waste the money on an i5 3570k, its not enough of an improvement over the 2500k to warrant buying it and a new mobo. if you overclock the 2500k you'll be fine. your mobo isn't really holding you back at all. depending on your cooler you can probably get more than 4.2 out of your cpu. Id spend the money on graphics for sure.
 
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quilciri

quilciri

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If the games you play are mostly with other people, the ssd isn't going to help you much (you'll have to wait for everyone else to load before the match/dungeon/etc can start anyway). Your 2500k is still strong even at stock clocks. The 3570k and even the 4570k aren't much faster than the 2500.

You'll see the largest game performance gain out of a video card upgrade right now. The 770 is a solid choice. The 670's can be found under $300 now if the 770's price is too high.
 
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veereihen6

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OK, so as long I cool it properly, I'm thinking 4.2-4.5 Ghz should be pretty stable.
 
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veereihen6

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I guess they're not all online FPS. I'll be playing games like Batman Arkham Origins, etc as well. Wanted the SSD to make the system feel a bit snappier overall.
 
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carowden

carowden

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yeah exactly. a cooler master hyper 212 evo will do you good for not much money at all. theres a lot of debate over which cooler is best, but that one is very good for the price.
 
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veereihen6

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ok, how loud is the 212 evo compared to the H80i? I know people have said that the H80i is pretty loud, and not as good a value as the 212 Evo.
 
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carowden

carowden

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I cant speak on that one from personal experience as ive never had it. I did have the hyper tx3 (92 mm version) which by all means should be louder since the fan has to spin faster to do an equal amount of cooling, but it was quiet. i cant imagine the 212 being unbearable or even close. so many people use that fan that i imagine its a safe bet in regards to sound and cooling.
 
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quilciri

quilciri

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An SSD will make you system "snappier", but won't do anything for your in game performance.

Overclocking your CPU will help gaming a bit, but once again, the 2500k is a strong CPU, *even at stock speeds*, meaning you won't get much of a bump in games out right now from overclocking it.

If you want a significant gaming boost, your best bet is upgrading the 560ti. Unfortunately, the pro3 only has a single pci-e x16 slot, so buying a second 560ti is out.
 
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