Upgrade help for gamer girl with $700 budget

[Traci-ASU]

I pretty much have $700 and want to upgrade my computer. Spending a lot of time gaming so umm yeah, that would be my main use with school stuff secondary. I don't need keyboard, mouse, or LCD. I had my dad send me the order form for the parts from like 4 years ago when he got this for me, so this is exactly what I have.


1 x ($5.99) CPU THERMPASTE|ARCTIC SILVER5 3.5G% - OEM

1 x ($36.99) CPU COOLER XIGMATEK|HDT-S1283 R - Retail

1 x ($84.99) HD 640G|WD 7K 16M WD6400AAKS % - OEM

1 x ($104.99) CASE ANTEC|NINE HUNDRED BK RT - Retail

1 x ($84.99) PSU ANTEC|NEO POWER 500 500W RT - Retail

1 x ($189.99) CPU INTEL|C2D E8500 3.16G 775 45N R - Retail

1 x ($29.99) DVD BURN LITE-ON|iHAS220-08 20X RT - Retail

1 x ($99.99) MS WIN VISTA HM PREM SP1 64BIT 1PK% - OEM

1 x ($6.99) CPU COOL XIGM|ACK-I7751 R - Retail

1 x ($139.99) MB ASUS P5Q PRO 775 P45 RT - Retail

1 x ($169.99) VGA ASUS EAH4850/HTDI/512M RT - Retail

1 x ($82.99) MEM 2X2G|MUSHKIN 996587 R - Retail


What would be a good upgrade for me for $700 ? I am pretty sure I can put the pieces together or switch them out just fine if I order them online, if not my boyfriend can help me.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanx

 

[quilciri]

Do you need to buy an OS?

 

[cball1311]

This is what I would recommend. If you're not going to overclock the CPU, you can get the non "k" 3570 and and H77 motherboard but since you have the cooler, why not overclock.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($204.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($127.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ($204.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $667.93
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-07 15:25 EST-0500)

 

[FinneousPJ]

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/353572-13-build-upgrade-advice

 

[Traci-ASU]

Do you need to buy an OS?

Umm, I have Vista 64 now. Should I? Dont know

 

[Traci-ASU]

This is what I would recommend.

Thanx for the help. My old power supply will work fine with that then?

 

[bigcyco1]

the best building pc tutorial - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea_bs5G1yYU

 

[quilciri]

I would reccommend getting a new OS, as microsoft support for the consumer version of windows vista expired in april of last year. It is no longer getting security updates, which can leave you system vulnerable.

If you don't want to overclock, you can fit in a stronger video card.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Z75 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($84.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($35.57 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($289.99 @ NCIX US)

Total: $590.10 (Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.) (Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-07 16:13 EST-0500)

enjoy!

 

[bigcyco1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX_QxnuG1XM

 

[Traci-ASU]

Best answer selected by Traci-ASU.