Need advice on upgrade/build (~$500 budget)

[halcyonproject]

I currently have the following system

Q6600
Abit ab9 pro
4gb ddr2 800
Ati hd4870 512mb
2x500gb seagate 7200 rpm sata hdd's (carry over to new build)
Antec bp550u PSU (carry over to new build)
Asus DVD Burner (carry over to new build)

I am looking to upgrade, primarily for gaming, with a budget of $500 or so. My original intent was to keep the hdd's/psu and go from there. I have looked at builds that incorporated the fx6300 and the i5 3570k but the intel option leaves me with very little wiggle room in my budget. I prefer a motherboard with crossfire/sli capability and good overclocking (don't plan on using sli immediately but will in the future). If for gaming only, what would you do? A

 

[Niko_boy]

If you plan to SLI i will make up CPU to a 8320 to avoid bottlenecks and add a CPU Cooler so that you can overclock it to get some increase in performance if you face any bottlenecks though you wont with 8320.

so unfortunatly you need to add up 50$ to get best out of the upgrade.

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($149.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($76.97 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 270X 2GB Video Card ($219.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $546.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

-CPU will be enough for gaming and for the budget. good performance and no bottlenecks or if you have any you can easily overclock it well enough.
-The mobo has capability for Crossfirex and overclocking support.
-The CPU cooler will advantage to you if you want overclocking

and to mention that PSU is lite for overclocking or a Crossfirex configuration so you may wanna upgrade that in future.

 

[halcyonproject]

Thanks for the response, hadn't even considered the 8320 but i certainly will now ; )

Also needing a decent case to replace my old antec that is space challenged, this build will put me slightly over but I think I could save some $$ on the video card by purchasing an older comparable model if need be. My brain cannot get over the single core performance gains that the intel chip offers, but my wallet is starting to see the light lol.

 

[Niko_boy]

Thanks for the response, hadn't even considered the 8320 but i certainly will now ; )

Also needing a decent case to replace my old antec that is space challenged, this build will put me slightly over but I think I could save some $$ on the video card by purchasing an older comparable model if need be. My brain cannot get over the single core performance gains that the intel chip offers, but my wallet is starting to see the light lol.

Ye intel is a greater performer but for budget build AMDs chip like FX 8320 perform similar so yeah becomes a good choice too.
for GPU you can lower down to like 7870 or 7850 (2GB).
But a 7870 will save you like 20$ only
try to save up few bucks!
GL.