Help with an upgrade on first homebuilt pc

[Mnms67]

Hi guys,

I built my first (gaming pc) about three years ago and ive been very happy with everything so far.

I've looked at the recommended system requirements for Far Cry 3 and i was thinking it might be time for a slight upgrade.

Heres my current specs:

CPU: Phenom II X4 965 BE
MoBo: Asus M4A79XTD EVO
GPU: Saphire HD 5870
Memory: Xms DDR3 2x2GB 1600 cl7 Corsair RAM
PSU: 750w Corsair XT
Windows 7, 64bit

I was thinking the RAM needs an upgrade and then probably the graphics card. Any suggestions for a speficic graphics card?

Also any other upgrade recommendations other GPU or Ram would be appreciated

All feedback is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Reverend_Mason]

What's your budget for an upgrade?

If we have a rough estimate a better solution can be given, but for now I'll just give a shot in the dark.

For RAM I've got two suggestions, the first is if you intend to put a big heat sink on your CPU:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186

The other is if you want a little flashier, plus I prefer G.Skill as a brand but that's just personal preference.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231460


Now graphics cards are a whole other monster in and of themselves, what are you doing besides Far Cry 3? I just looked up the recommended specs on the game and they ask for a GTX 680 to run it on high settings. Now don't get me wrong a 680 would definitely be an upgrade, but a rather costly one, and honestly it might start to become bottle necked by your CPU. Also the 680 runs about $500 so there's that. If you want to save a little money go with the 670 and overclock it, the performance level comes up to the base level of a 680 on a good OC.

Now this is the 670 I would recommend simply because Gigabyte cards are great and the cooler is fantastic for a higher overclock.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125423

Beyond that you could go 660 Ti but at that point you lose the ability to go very high on the settings, still a great card though. Here's a 3GB 660 Ti.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125450

That's about all I can say on the Nvidia side of things, I'd rather have someone with more experience with AMD cards come tell you which ones to get there and then tell me I'm wrong about Nvidia and that they suck but again, personal preference.

 

[Mnms67]

Thanks for the advice.

My budget is about $325 and can't go much higher unless of course i sold my 5870. Any idea what sort of price i might get for that?

 

[Reverend_Mason]

I've seen a few used 5870's going on ebay from $55 to $75 so you can try selling it if you like. If you can sell it for just $50 you have enough for the 660 Ti and a nice ram upgrade.