CPU+Mobo or GPU upgrade or both?

[Gshocked]

Hey guys, im looking into upgrading my system a bit in the near future and am wondering what the best upgrade route would be. I was thinking of going with an intel i5 3570k for a new processor or a GTX 660 for a GPU upgrade. Not sure if my 955 will bottleneck with it or not so im not sure if a CPU+ Mobo upgrade is necessary yet.

Currently My system specs are:

CPU: AMD Phenom ii x4 955
Mobo: Gigabyte 870A-usb3
GPU: XFX Radeon 6850
Ram: 8gb Gskill Ripjaws
PSU: OCZ 600w
Case: CM Haf 912

 

[mi1ez]

Is the CPU overclocked?

 

[Gshocked]

not currently no. I did plan on buying a hyper 212 and trying it out though

 

[BuddiLuva]

Buy new GPU and overclock CPU

 

[rayy1212]

I think switching to an Intel motherboard would benefit because your 660 could then take full advantage of pci-e 3.0 as long as the slots on the mobo support it and the 3570k is a great CPU.

 

[ASHISH65]

I think switching to an Intel motherboard would benefit because your 660 could then take full advantage of pci-e 3.0 as long as the slots on the mobo support it and the 3570k is a great CPU.

Gpu running at pci exp 2.0 and 3.0 have no difference in performance.

 

[Avaruz]

As BuddiLuva said; Buy GPU, overclock CPU.

 

[rayy1212]

Gpu running at pci exp 2.0 and 3.0 have no difference in performance.

I'm fully aware of that, when I upgraded I stuck with amd and an msi 990fx board im just saying there may be benefits in the future to a 3.0 compatible board.

 

[simon12]

+1 to overclock and get the GPU, if you need PCIE 3 in the future get it then as Intel will be on a new chipset in June (ish) when Haswell releases, so buying an Intel board just for future proofing is plain stupid.

 

[logainofhades]

I also vote overclock and get new GPU. There isn't a single gpu video card that can saturate a pci-e 2.0 link. By the time there is, you will be ready for a full on upgrade anyway.

 

[Gshocked]

awesome guys, thanks. so i will be going the overclocking route and getting a new gpu then. Any suggestions on air cooling or water cooling? Which does everone prefer?

 

[mi1ez]

depends on your budget. There some decent cheap air coolers out there, or for a bit more money closed loop coolers have been coming on in leaps and bounds!

 

[BuddiLuva]

awesome guys, thanks. so i will be going the overclocking route and getting a new gpu then. Any suggestions on air cooling or water cooling? Which does everone prefer?

I would go with air for the time being, go with the CoolerMaster 212 Plus/Evo.
You won't be dissapointed.

 

[FinneousPJ]

I prefer watercooling but obviously that throws budget concerns to the bin - you can't get proper water cooling for less than $100. If you have less than $100 I'd recommend air cooling. It scales well from the $30 Hyper EVO to $90-ish Noctua and other massive coolers.