Power supply and upgrade path recommendations

[Afriporean]

Hi there,

First time poster here. I'm looking at upgrading my PC, which I use primarily for gaming (BF3, and MMO's). This is what I currently use:

CPU: AMD Phenom II x3 720
Mobo: Gigabyte MA790XT-UD4P: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3010#ov
RAM: 8 Gig of Kingston DDR2 800
GPU: Just got myself a Sapphire Radeon 9650 2 gig card: http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?psn=0001&pid=1021&lid=1
SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 120 gig SATA III. It's currently plugged into a SATA 2 port though as that's all the mobo has. I have the OS (Windows 7 64 bit) and my primary game (SWTOR) on it.
HDD: 500 Gb Western Digital
Power Supply: 650W OCZ Stealth
Case: Antec 300 Gaming case


So I'm noticing some terrible frame rates with SWTOR specifically (17-20FPS when in a warzone). I thought that most of the work was done on the GPU, which is why I bought the 6950. Also, I'm not making best use of that SSD having it plugged into a SATA II port. So I'm looking at upgrading to a new platform, and would like to go back to Intel. Here's what I was thinking:

CPU: Intel i7 3820 coming out in Feb. I'd have loved the i7 3930k, but $655 is pushing what I would like to spend. I understand that the 3820 isn't much more in terms of performance from a 2600k, but I was thinking it would be good to get on socket 2011.

Mobo: I was looking at Asus, and just getting a x79 mobo in the $300'ish range.

RAM: I'd need to upgrade the ram to DDR3, and was thinking of 16 gigs using G.Skill quad channel kit (4x4gig).

I was going to keep my existing GPU, Powersupply, Case, SSD and HDD. I'm wondering though if a 650W is going to cut it, or should I be looking at something higher (only 1 graphics card, I'm not looking to SLI).

Any other thoughts on this upgrade path would be appreciated. Cooling perhaps?

Thanks very much.

 

[Rockdpm]

Well this guy is Running a 580 off of a 650, i also know a guy doing SLI GTX 560 ti's on a TX 650. So your set far as power wise. Unless your gonna start getting more HDDS your gonna need more power. but if your gonna upgrade your CPU and mobo. You don't necessarily need the latest CPU and MOBO but if you want the 2011 socket. your gonna spend more than you would on a 2700k or 2600k and its socket related motherboard. But if you got the cash and wanna break away from Phenom X3 which unlocks to X4 cough cough. uh hmm Get what you want with intel if you got the Cash the sky is the Limit.....

 

[jeremyp1979]

Anything more than a 2500k would be overkill for gaming, so if that's your main use for the system I'd stick with the 2500k/z68 combo. The CPU is 229, motherboard anywhere from 110-300, depending on what features you are looking for.

16g of ram is also overkill for gaming, go with 8g of dd3 1600. should cost about 50 bucks.

For a single card 6950 system, the 650w PSU would be perfect.