What shall I upgrade next?

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hassan95

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Mar 16, 2012
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So I've got like $300-400 to invest in my desktop, and I was wondering what I should upgrade. Here are my system specs:
CM Storm enforcer case, Asrock 970 Extreme3, Fatal1ty 750W power supply, Phenom IIx4 CPU OC'ed to
4Ghz, Radeon r9 280 graphics, 8gb Patriot Viper @ 1600. Watercooled. XSPC 750
Dual reservoir bay pump, CPU waterblock, motherboard chipset waterblock, 240mm
Radiator
CPU is obvious, I'm probably going to pick up the new FX 83-- (haven't decided which model yet) for like 170, but that still leaves me with some funds. I calculated that my pump is efficient enough to pump through my loop, so I'm going to redo the piping but that'll be cheap.
What should I upgrade to increase performance for the best value? Perhaps a better case? I really like the windows on the side.
Thanks in advance.
 
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Adroid
New RAM would be a waste of money right now, especially if you build a Intel system. You will get better performance just upgrading your CPU. You could get a haswell setup for 350$ or less.

If you do wait for skylake, I would guess the CPU to be around 225$, and motherboard starting at around 100$. You will have get DDR4 though, which can be expensive.
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hassan95

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Mar 16, 2012
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This is my computer for everything, I like playing graphics intensive games like Crysis 3, I do a lot of photo editing, class work, etc etc.
 
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Adroid

Adroid

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CPU Upgrade is right. Either the 8300, or better yet a i5 4690K and Z97 motherboard. You could also pick up a Crucial or Samsung 250GB SSD for a boot drive that would have room for a few games.

Your R9 280 should be fine for a while to play games at medium or better settings depending on the game and resolution.

You could also wait for Skylake to come out.
 
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hassan95

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Mar 16, 2012
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Skylake is tempting, but won't it be pretty expensive? Intel CPU's generally run quite a bit more expensive than AMD already.
For the SSD, my boot speed is already very quick, if anything I'll wait for them to get cheaper before investing in them. I don't suppose getting new RAM would speed things up much?
 
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Adroid

Adroid

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New RAM would be a waste of money right now, especially if you build a Intel system. You will get better performance just upgrading your CPU. You could get a haswell setup for 350$ or less.

If you do wait for skylake, I would guess the CPU to be around 225$, and motherboard starting at around 100$. You will have get DDR4 though, which can be expensive.
 
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hassan95

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Mar 16, 2012
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Would switching over to intel really be that much better? I've always been an AMD guy, the much higher cost of intel systems always put me off towards them. I'd basically opt for an i5 and have to get a new motherboard if I went this route.
 
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Adroid

Adroid

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Yes. i5 is considerably faster.
 
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