Upgrade from amd to i5 for BF3?

[westreet]

Hello,
I am wanting to upgrade my computer so i can get ready for BF3. I am playing Rift atm and thou i can run max graphics i get that stuttering/freeze frame even on min settings.

So i wanted to go back to a Pen. was thinking of the i5 2500k, would that help me last a few years to come? here is my comp specs.
6 gig mem, Amd Athlon2 x4 620, Nvidia Geforce GTX 550 ti, think a 500hd. I had to upgrade PS to run the 550. was a Hp system i got on black friday for 460$. thanks .

 

[duk3]

What kind of budget are you thinking of?
BF3 will definitely benefit from the i5 2500k from what I have heard and should be a good processor for quite awhile.

 

[tsnor]

Any idea what the limiting factor is on the stuttering in rift? Your current system seems stronger than the recommended system. If you back off the video resolution a lot does the stutter completely disappear ?

There are also other problems that can cause a stutter like these:
http://forums.riftgame.com/rift-general-discussions/tech-support/151754-stuttering-fps-solved-me.html
"unistall software ASUS GAMER OSD from my system and ........ my fps problem are SOLVED."
"when I saw this I remembered I had enabled OSD features for MSI afterburner to show FPS and temps. Turned it off and was able to play last night for about an hour with no crashes or stuttering."

Rift Recommended System Specification
Operating system: Windows XP, Vista or 7
Processor: Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz or better
Memory: 4 GB
Hard disk space: 8.0 GB available
Desktop Video: Nvidia GTS 250 or better

 

[westreet]

i got around 500 to a grand to spend but i got some other things i want to do with some of it. was thinking of proc.mb.mem. and maybe SSD if i got alittle left. And probally have to get a new OS since this one came from HP and has AMD set up on it. just guessing.

and i can turn all my settings down to min in rift and it still stutters. and i get 12 to 16 FR. I did the tune up in the rift forums and was able to get around 17 to 19 FR lol not much better.

And my GC has 1gb of Memory on it.

 

[westreet]

When i was running WoW i could run max settings with the older GC and still get 40 fps and spikes up to 65.
Also even thou a SSD is much smaller are they worth getting and just put my system on it and run everything else from a reg drive ?

Again my main concern is Game performance other than watching some Youtube/netflix or music , the only other thing i use this comp for is to surf the web and store my Pictures on.

Thanks again for any advice didnt know about this great site till today. Also i shop at Newegg. Anyone know of any other nice parts sites ?