2fast4thetown_down :
But why did you recommend to upgrade his gpu that is terrible advice it is the best part of his build. Why get rid of it?
His GPU is the
newest component in his current rig. That doesn't mean that it is the best part, and it also doesn't mean that it isn't the bottleneck.
If the OP is playing/wanting to play older or less graphically intensive games (Counter Strike (any version), Borderlands, League of Legends, etc.) at 1920x1080 or less then his current setup is likely adequate. If he is experiencing any issues in that situation then he either needs to install updated drivers or wipe/re-image his PC to clean it up.
If, however, he is wanting to play newer games then he could very well be experiencing a bottleneck somewhere, and the location of the bottleneck will depend on the game he is playing.
If the game is Starcraft II, or a similarly CPU intensive game then there is a *slight* chance that the CPU/RAM is the bottleneck. I would have a hard time believing this without testing because, even though his CPU is older tech, it is still very capable in today's gaming world. Again, I point to the
Gaming CPU Hierarchy Chart. Spend $1000 on a CPU today and it will likely still be around the same level as a $150 CPU 5 years from now in gaming performance. I'm not sure when the OP purchased his current components or how much he spent, but he would be looking at spending around $350-400 on a CPU/RAM/MB upgrade to see any sort of significant gaming improvement.
On the other hand, if the games with which his PC is struggling are newer, graphically intensive games (the majority of newer games fall under this category) like BF3, Metro 2033, Crysis 2, etc., then a GPU upgrade will cost him a lot less and yield a much more tangible gaming performance improvement. Spending, say, $250 on an AMD 7870 or nVidia 560 Ti (448 cores if I remember right) will give him an immediate FPS improvement and won't require a reinstall of Windows. It is a simpler, less expensive upgrade and should be fully transferable to his next build (especially if said build occurs within the next 2 years).
seamus_ar: Just to clarify, you will spend less money right now, see more results, and have a much easier time if you simply upgrade your GPU at this point. The only exception to this is if you are playing CPU intensive games like Starcraft II. If that is the case then you might get better results (though it will still take more of your time and money) from upgrading your CPU, MB, and RAM to a more current Socket 1155/DDR3 setup. I would be happy to give advice that is more specific to your situation if you provide some more details about your gaming situation. i.e. What games are you playing and what is your desired resolution?
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