Looking to upgrade

[carbonf]

Hey guys,
I partially upgraded my system last year and now I'd like to upgrade the remaining parts.
My "new" things are a Nvidia 560GTX Ti GPU, an Antec 650w ATX12V V2.3 PSU and 2x4GB DDR3RAM.

Unfortunately my motherboard doesn't support the RAM, so they've been sitting in their box this whole time. I want to upgrade my motherboard and my CPU, but I want to make sure the new ones I order are compatible with my purchases from last year.
I've got a $800~ budget and the less costlier the better as I wouldn't mind maybe getting a second 23" monitor.

Thanks.

edit: argh, I meant CPU not GPU

 

[manofchalk]

Guessing this is a gaming rig?

An upgrade like this would be fairly good and will leave you room for the extra monitor.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Microcenter)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($297.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $617.96
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-10 05:50 EST-0500)

 

[carbonf]

Primarily yes, I suppose. I use it more for modelling these days, but those models are usually for TF2, haha.

Also I meant to write CPU, not GPU. I'm kicking myself for that. I don't really need to upgrade my GPU, I think.
So yeah just the CPU and the Mobo.

Thanks again.

(argh, still kicking myself)

 

[manofchalk]

Then just take of 7950 off my suggestion, about $300 for a CPU and Mobo.
With the saved cash, I would get an aftermarket heatsink so you can overclock and maybe an SSD. Then use the remaining for your monitor.

 

[carbonf]

Alright, I will do that. Thank you so much, manofchalk, King of men.

While we're here though, you've reminded me that my HDD is quite full and a second one wouldn't hurt. Is there any HDD you'd recommend in particular, or are they all pretty much the same (manufacturer wise, I mean, not size because yeah)?
I say HDD over SSD because I think I'll benefit from the space more than the speed, at least at the current prices.

 

[manofchalk]

Im fond of Seagate Barracuda's, cheaper than WD Blacks and just as good. MAke sure its the 64MB cache version, thats the latest model.

 

[carbonf]

Alright, I'm going with all that you've suggested. Thanks for all your help!

 

[carbonf]

Best answer selected by carbonf.