Step by steb build

[wiggywinger]

Hello, could I ask for some advice on my next upgrade/newbuild?
First I will list my current set up:-

Thermaltake X-aser mid tower case
Phenom II 940BE CPU
Asrock A790GXH/128m ATX Board AM2+
Nexus F3000 Cooler
2 x 2 + 2 x 1Gb Crucial ballistix DDR2 pc6400 Ram (6Gb in total)
ATI 5770 Graphics Card
Crucial 60Gb M4 SSD (boot drive)
2 x WD 320Gb sata II hard drives in Raid 0
Hiper type R 580w PSU

Ok, now at the moment I have my CPU o/cd at 3.4 from the stock 3.0 Ghz and my Ram at 3-3-3-12 plus a mild o/c on my 5770 using ATI overdrive. Everything runs great and I am happy with the performance with good stable temps.
I am not an extreme gamer by any means, more casual, playing older games like Tomb Raider, Dungeon Lords and Oblivion type games whilst having multiple tabs open on the internet, like ebay, amazon, you tube and various review sites for the latest hardware. In fact, lately I have been spending a lot of my spare time playing OnLive which does'nt use any power from my Graphics card.
By the same token I don't want to be left behind and I am thinking of upgrading my components to a better standard.
I have a float of about £100 to upgrade one by one as I have in the past.
This is my plan:-
Buy a Phenom II 965 AM3 for £85 which will slot staight into my current MB.
Sell my 940 for about £50 on ebay then buy 890 or 990 mobo for about £80-£90 (I would prefer a 990x so in the future I can upgrade my cpu)
Sell my current mobo and ram (should get £100 for both) then buy 8Gb of decent DDR3 ram and maybe put some money to it to upgrade to a better PSU in case I come across a cheap 5770 to crossfire with.
All in all I can upgrade cheaply without having to wait to sell my gear before buying new stuff.

My second option is to sell my stuff and with my £100 float buy a I5 mobo bundle for about £250-£300.

Now I know an I5 will blow a 965 out of the water but to be truthful I dont think I would ever use it to its full potential.

So my questions are :-
would I see a noticeable difference between a 940 and a 965 or should I go for a 1055 or 1075
would I then see much difference when I go to 890 or 990 mobo with DDR3
Should I go for a 990 so I can upgrade again when Steamroller is released ( I'm skipping Bulldozer cos I dont think there is any benefit over Phenom II ) and I am not sure whether a 890 will support the next AMD chip.

My other alternative is to go the I5 way with a Z68 board (compatability with Ivybridge)

Is there a large difference between a I5 bundle and what I am thinking of (the AMD way) which is worth the extra total of about £100 and the inconvienence of having no PC whilst I sell all my bits.

A lot of questions I know but I am not planning to upgrade for a few years after this unless I go the AMD way

Many thanks in advance

 

[Tavo_Nova]

if your upgrading to a 965be or 1055 or 1075 then you won't notice much real world difference, same thing with 1090t and 1100t as you most likely won't reach it's full potential by what your doing and same with the i5 2500k

but well number wise there is a large difference between i5 2500k and any amd processors.

but well face it you won't notice much anyways. but getting an i5 2500k gives you bragging rights at least. but not that big thought

 

[wiggywinger]

Thanks for the reply Tavo
I kind of figured the 2500K way was the most beneficial but didnt realise there would be such a large difference.
Its the selling my parts first to afford the I5 build which leaves a sour taste
Going the AMD way, do you think the future steamroller chips will be any near to intel?
Also I could go for a 980 instead of the 965 and o/c would that be be better than a six core?
Although I am a casual gamer, I would like the ability to play recent games on a fairly decent framerate should the need arise, obviously with another 5770 in xfire.
Also, is the 890 chipset compatible with steamroller or is a 990 a must?