Best bang for the buck on a Gaming PC Upgrade

[alpine926]

Hey Guys! First off, this is my first post on Tom's Hardware and I'm eager to hear back from everyone on your recommendations.

Ok, so I'm planning on upgrading my current gaming rig. I am looking to spend about $1000.00. Here is my current setup

CPU - Intel i5 2500k Overclocked stable to 4.0GhZ
Mobo - MSI P67A G43
Video - 2x EVGA Geforce GTX 570 HD SLI
Ram - Gskill Sniper 8gb 2400 MHz DDR3
HDD - 120 GB SSD and 2TB 7200rpm Drives
Monitors - 3x Samsung 24' LED displays in NVIDIA Surround config

I'm trying to decide how to best upgrade the machine for gaming. I play most games in NVIDIA Surround setup. Should I buy two GTX 780's and replace my aging 570 HD's, or do you guys think a better mobo-cpu-ram setup would be more beneficial? If I were going to upgrade the CPU I would go with an i7-4770k haswell and overclock it. How would you recommend upgrading if you were only able to spend about $1,000?

Thanks!

 

[rolli59]

The GPU upgrade makes most sense!

 

[BrainDeadGamer]

Personally, I would go with the dual 780s.. But what if you went with a single 780 ti and then got the i7 as well? It might be a little bit over your budget, just an idea.

 

[rolli59]

OR dual GTX770 and upgrade to Haswell, you will get good price for your 2500K used.

 

[Onus]

Agreed, The graphics cards make the most sense. Make sure your PSU is up to the task.

 

[BrainDeadGamer]

Thats a great idea rolli59. Either the 780 ti or Dual 770's with an upgrade to the 4770k

 

[Metalrenok]

I'd go for a single 780Ti and get an i5 4670K..and as rolli says, you'd sell the 2500k for a good price!

 

[alpine926]

@Rolli59, how would I go about selling my used 2500k? I see they're still about 200$ new. That might be cool if I can get a hundred bucks or something for it.

 

[alpine926]

Can the 780ti drive three screens in surround?

 

[rolli59]

Ebay they are selling close to $200, Craigslist and sure if you post it here in the classifieds you will sell it for more than $100.

 

[Metalrenok]

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-780-ti/features
Yes, 780Ti supports up to 3 monitors in surround and a additional one!

 

[alpine926]

Ok, so doing some research, it looks like all Geforce GTX 700 series cards can do surround without having to do SLI? Is that correct, or is it just the 780ti that can do surround? So I could just get one really nice card like a 780Ti or a 770, and maybe upgrade the mobo and cpu then for around 1000?

I was thinking this card might be cool for what I want to do also: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121839

 

[Metalrenok]

You could get this
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/13OMw

Or spend a little more a get the 780Ti

 

[rolli59]

The surround needs a powerful GPU for best performance and the lower cards like 770 single will struggle with good settings.

 

[Metalrenok]

Yes, for a triple monitor setup you should get at least 3GB VRAM

 

[alpine926]

Ok guys, this is what I am going to go with. Thoughts?

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/alpine926/saved/3rEO

 

[rolli59]

Ok guys, this is what I am going to go with. Thoughts?

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/alpine926/saved/3rEO

I would save $100 and go with Asus Maximus VI Hero which has all the same OC potential and will support 2 way SLI