Best Upgrade for my current rig?

[i0ls]

Ok here is a rundown of what I currently have and what I am looking to do with this setup. I am looking to do a fairly low cost upgrade, but I could upgrade almost anything in my setup.
My question is what is going to be the best bang for my buck without replacing everything?

Rig:
I3 3.1 sandy lga 1155
Zotac Geforce gtx 650 ti
Asrock H75m-itx
GSkill 8 gb ddr3 1333
128gb samsung ssd
2tb seagete hdd
Fractal core 1000

Games I currently play:
AC 4 Black Flag
TF2
Civ 5

I am looking at possibly a sandy bridge i5, or should I go for better cooling, or more ram... I am working on a fairly limited budget but a couple of games I am looking at including AC4 say I should have a quad core cpu.

Would dropping an I5 in be good or should I stick with an I3 and use the money for a better video card? Which would be more effective?

 

[andrei65]

i5 and a better card like the 760 if you have the money

 

[i0ls]

which would you do first? I currently don't have the cash to lay down for both at the moment.

Better to do the video card or step up to the i5 and keep on playing?

 

[andrei65]

i5 first , your current processor will bottleneck the 760
I'd get the i5-3570 because it supports your current mobo socket and won't bottleneck any videocard .

 

[i0ls]

thank you, that's exactly what I was looking for. Didnt want to throw the money at a video card only to have it choked by my cpu.

 

[andrei65]

No worry , mind selecting a best answer ?

 

[Karadjgne]

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80637e31230v2

$20 more than the i5, but you get hyperthreading, which will be of some help. It's pretty much on par with the i7 3770. Then depending on budget, a gtx 760 or if you think you can swing it, a gtx 770, and you'll rock AC4.

 

[andrei65]

Yeah I completly forgot the Xeon's
Better go for a xeon if you have the money rather than i5's
They're basically non overclockable i7's

 

[i0ls]

I would have never thought of the xeon I was completely consumed by the i5 and i7.
The on board video is not a big deal to me either, and heck 20 bucks is no biggie if I am already spending over $180
Thanks again!