$400 Whole-system upgrade

[fms714]

Approximate Purchase Date: this week

Budget Range: 400 Before Rebates, could go to about 425-450

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, watching movies

Are you buying a monitor: maybe

Parts to Upgrade: Anything but hard drives/ssd and psu. I have a Corsair AX650. I need a cpu cooler

Do you need to buy OS: No, unless I buy a new mobo

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg, amazon

Location: Chicago

Parts Preferences: Ati, but I'll buy nvidia if its the best choice

Overclocking: Yes, mild

SLI or Crossfire: maybe

Your Monitor Resolution:1920x1080

Additional Comments: I'd like a cheap ips monitor, but might rather get other hardware

Hardware I have:
Phenom IIx4 965BE w/ stock cooler. I was thinking about a hyper 212, because I'm not going to do any crazy overclocking (4ghz+)
xfx 6850 BE O.C. to 875mhz
Gigabyte 890-GPA-UD3H
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128435
4gb Patriot DDR3 1600mhz ram
Corsair AX650
CM Storm Trooper case

Why Are You Upgrading: I could run some games a bit better.

My bottleneck is probably the GPU now, so I was considering adding another 6850, but I think I would prefer a 2gb card, like the 7850. Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[AMD Radeon]

7870 or gigabyte windforce GTX 670 <- beast performance for 350ish, even you can get 300ish on sale
and cooler master 212 evo, it will make sure your cpu to operate on normal temp while gaming thus ensure your system longetivity

but i am sorry to say that your phenom will bottleneck that 670

people will suggest you to save money for future intel i5 build

 

[fms714]

So my best bet is to spend most of the budget on a graphics card? Would that change if i could sell the 6850? I think I might be able to get around $100 US for it. Should I just put that money towards a future processor/mobo upgrade?

 

[AMD Radeon]

yes get 670 atm even it will not work fully 100% potential because of phenom...
and you can save money for future intel build, i5 and mobo will cost you another 350

 

[fms714]

I'm starting to rethink spending all of my money on the gpu. i was considering upgrading to a XFX 7850, and buying a Asus VG23AH IPS monitor with it instead, and still get the cpu cooler. The non-reference cooler will let me overclock pretty well, and I'll be able to play whatever I want, although maybe with less eyecandy.

 

[AMD Radeon]

^ very wise choice, both 7850 and ips LED are great investment

they will last long

and Asus VG23AH IPS is the exact same monitor i want to buy in the next couple months. great picks buddy

 

[fms714]

Best answer selected by fms714.