Should I upgrade my Sandybridge i5? Or my Radeon 6870?

[clumpybug]

Hi folks,

I've got about $250 to spend on upgrading computer parts. Right now I'm considering either upgrading my 2nd gen i5 (overclocked to 4.3GHz) to a 3rd gen i7(keeping with 3rd gen will let me use my current MB). I'm also considering upgrading my Radeon 6870 to either a Radeon 7950 or nVidia 660ti. I know both those cards are comparable, so the point of this post isn't to try to figure out which one or the cards is better. I'm just trying to figure out if I would get more bang for my buck with a new CPU, or with a new GPU. I've got plenty of power supply available, and I have a nice, roomy case with lots of airflow for big graphics cards.
I'm not running on multiple monitors or anything too fancy like that. I plan to play lots of Rome II Total War in a month when it comes out, but other than that, just the usual hodgepodge of games. I've heard the Total War games tend to be more CPU intensive than other games, but I don't want to focus only on the Total War games, as I play others, too.

Thanks for the help!

 

[kirilmatthew]

The i5 you have should not be upgraded, that's for sure. As for your GPU, it is quite good too. If you really want to upgrade, wait for the HD 9870 or 9950 when they come out in October or November. I hope this helps!

 

[17seconds]

The newer CPUs don't offer near as much performance boost as a newer GPU. For $250, you could easily upgrade to a GTX 760 and double your performance.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/GeForce_GTX_760_WindForce_OC/27.html

 

[smeezekitty]

GPU for sure. Its hard to beat a heavy overclocked I5

 

[clumpybug]

Interesting. . . is 4.3GHz a pretty good overclock for the i5? I'm having trouble getting it to stay stable at any higher than that, even with higher voltage. (I know this is getting a little far away from my original post!)

 

[cookybiscuit]

The 2500K/3570K/4670K are all basically the same for gaming aside from power consumption, no point in changing it. 4.3GHz is fairly modest, with a top end cooler you can get to 5Ghz.

4.5 is the norm on a 2500K.

 

[smeezekitty]

4.3GHz is a moderate OC. Certainly enough to remove any bottleneck

 

[clumpybug]

Awesome, thanks guys!