What to upgrade for better performance? (Generally and gaming)

[conykfull]

Hey guys!

I would appreciate a little help with upgrading my pc.

My current specs are:

[CPU] (https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103923) - AMD Phenom II X4 975 Black Edition Deneb Quad-Core 3.6 GHz

[Motherboard] (https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6395PY4353&cm_re=M4A87TD%2fUSB3-_-9SIA6395PY4353-_-Product)

[GPU] (https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127663) - MSI Radeon 7850 2GB

[RAM] (https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820233144) - 8GB

[HDD] (https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148910) - Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5

[Power Supply] (https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139023) - Corsais GS600 600W


I would like to know what would be the cheapest upgrade to speed up my pc generally, also what would be the best upgrade for gaming? Right now, my budget is around 300 for an upgrade, but I would also like to know what upgrade should I save more money for?

Thank You so much,
Have a nice day

_Edit_: I don't have an SSD as of right now, if that is something that I should look for, I would like some help with it as well.

 

[clutchc]

I would go with a SSD for the general reason you mentioned, and then a GTX 1050 Ti 4GB for gaming

That should stay within your suggested budget. Might even move up to the GTX 1060 3GB if you don't mind spending around $350 total.

 

[geofelt]

I think you have a relatively well balanced but weak gamer.

Some games are graphics limited like fast action shooters.
Others are cpu core speed limited like strategy, sims, and mmo.
Multiplayer with many participants tend to like many threads.

If you favor fast action shooters, then plan on upgrading your graphics card.
Your psu can handle any modern graphics card. GTX1060 would be an appropriate upgrade for graphics. Graphics prices are unusyally high now.
You might want to try this test:
Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

If you come out wanting more cpu capability, you have no upgrade for your motherboard that is really better.

You are looking at a cpu change to kaby lake or ryzen.
You will also need to plan on a new motherboard and ddr4 ram.
YourX4-975 eas excellent in its day. It has 4 threads and a passmark rating of 4524 and a single thread rating of 1263.
It is the single thread rating that is most important for most games.

A kaby lake G4560 which should sell for $65 would be a reasonable replacement but it is pricey due to demand.
It also has 4 threads with a passmark rating of 5100 and a much stronger 1992 single thread rating.
You can go up from there.
A G4620 will be about $110, a lga1151 motherboard will be $50, and 8gb of ddr4 ram will be $60 or so.