Really need some sound advice on budget upgrading

[th3s4g3]

Hi everyone!

Currently, I am looking to upgrade my rig on a budget. Money is tight, and cannot afford a complete overhaul of the system. Looking for a few pointers and possible upgrades that can really boost the performance of my rig, which is 5 years old.

Stats of my gaming rig:
Intel e8400 dual-core cpu @ 3ghz
Asus Striker II Extreme mother board
Corsair Dominator DDR3 8gb ram
120GB WD blue caviar hdd sata II connection
ATi 5770 1gb video card
Thermaltark 850 watt psu 80 gold rating
Samsung LED SA300 monitor
Logitec G5 gaming mouse
Microsoft 4000 ergo keyboard
Coolmaster 932 HAF full tower
Windows 7 64-bit Home Ed.

Current budget will be around 500.00 to 700.00 usd. Really looking for the bang for your buck performance. When making my current rig, I spent like 2800.00 and it lasted me for 5 years. No upgrades, just some minor tweaking here and there. Any suggestions as to what bottle-necks are apparent?
Thank you for taking the time in looking this over, and helping a gaming enthusiast out! With the suggestions, I can play a wider variety of games and become more competitive. Again, thank you for the time and efforts. I appreciate all suggestions and advice I can get!

Thank You,
th3s4g3

 

[Dartz]

Your CPU is bottlenecking your HD 5770, thats a high end graphic card.
Ok so, first you need to upgrade is your CPU and Mobo. (Your RAM IS OK).
Get an Intel i7 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115229
and Also a new Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130623

You have about $200 left so here's a new Graphic Card HD 7870 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150604

 

[th3s4g3]

Really cool! Thanks for the links also! I appreciate everything brother!

 

[AMD Radeon]

Your CPU is bottlenecking your HD 5770, thats a high end graphic card.
Ok so, first you need to upgrade is your CPU and Mobo. (Your RAM IS OK).
Get an Intel i7 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115229
and Also a new Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130623

You have about $200 left so here's a new Graphic Card HD 7870 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150604

^+1 to this advise

but getting i7 is pricey...

get i5 3570k and popular z77 mobo and you will be fine. they performs very close and with much cheaper
spend saved money for SSD, 128 intel ssd is cheap 99 usd right now

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Intel 520 Series Cherryville 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ($199.99 @ Newegg)

 

[th3s4g3]

Your CPU is bottlenecking your HD 5770, thats a high end graphic card.
Ok so, first you need to upgrade is your CPU and Mobo. (Your RAM IS OK).
Get an Intel i7 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115229
and Also a new Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130623

You have about $200 left so here's a new Graphic Card HD 7870 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150604

After reading the MSI reviews, and having the same problem with past MSI boards, I am a bit scared to even try. I think I will pay a little extra for an ASUS or AsRock board. But thanks for the links. I am very appreciative of the efforts!

 

[th3s4g3]

^+1 to this advise

but getting i7 is pricey...

get i5 3570k and popular z77 mobo and you will be fine. they performs very close and with much cheaper
spend saved money for SSD, 128 intel ssd is cheap 99 usd right now

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Intel 520 Series Cherryville 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ($199.99 @ Newegg)

Perfect! I will have to wait for the solid-state drive though, until the summer. I feel that the mobo/cpu is really the most important at this point, and agree with both posts that I need to upgrade these 2 parts. But, the common suggestion on the video card is awesome!

Thank You!

 

[th3s4g3]

Perfect! I will have to wait for the solid-state drive though, until the summer. I feel that the mobo/cpu is really the most important at this point, and agree with both posts that I need to upgrade these 2 parts. But, the common suggestion on the video card is awesome!

Thank You!

Or, wait for the video card upgrade and shoot for the solid-state drive.... Actually that seems like the best route, since my video card is ok atm. Super cool ideas!

Again, thank you very much!