What's my bottleneck?

[hunter1801]

Built a pretty decent PC about 4 years back for gaming and it's just not getting the FPS I want out of the newer games. Overall, it's a pretty strong build I think, but I'm sure there is room to upgrade.

So for GAMING mainly, what do you see as my bottleneck and what should I get to replace it?

CPU: i7 920 2.67GHz
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel
Vid Card: SAPPHIRE 100282SR Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready
PSU: 750W CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-750TX ATX12V v2.3
RAM: OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory
HD: 500gig
Heat Sink: Thermalright CoGage True Spirit

 

[manofchalk]

If you just want more performance now, getting a newer and stronger GPU will be the best move, plus throw on another 2GB of RAM if you can.

Beyond that, you'v pretty much gotta do a full platform upgrade. Maybe consider it when Haswell releases.

 

[hunter1801]

I figured the GPU would need upgrading first, just wasn't sure on what to replace it with. Been out of the tech scene since I built it, and we know how often things change as new cards are released.

You really think a full upgrade is necessary? I bought the CPU because I figured it was overkill for games. How much is it actually limiting me?

As far as RAM, would I be best off just adding 2 more gigs of the same type?

 

[manofchalk]

Which card to get will depend on your budget.

A full upgrade isnt necessary right now, but eventually it will be. Your CPU performs about equal to Core i3-3220, which is decent enough for gaming.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/47?vs=677

Ideally all the sticks should be the same.

 

[swifty_morgan]

missed your gaming res but if it's at 1600 or above the video card. maybe a 670?

rest should be okay for a while.

they have W7 4 years back? I know Vista sucked and still sucks. maybe you got used to it by now?

 

[hunter1801]

I'm at 1680x1050, but would want room for a larger monitor with higher res later.

I do have Windows 7. Skipped Vista completely. I guess technically I built this closer to 3 years ago.