Budget AMD computer looking to upgrade.

[Xesiius]

Ok, so originally I made this computer from scratch before I had a job (now I do) having saved up a sum of around $450 and fit everything nicely into the budget. However, I'm now looking to upgrade further and am unsure in which direction to take it in order to get the most out of the uprades. My current specs:

CPU: FX 6300 (stock speeds / cooler)
Motherboard: Gigabyte 970a-UD3P
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws F3-12800CL7D-8GBXM
GPU: Asus GTX 560ti (stock speeds / cooler)
PSU: XFX Pro 650w
Case: Sentey GS-6000r Optimus case
HDD: Sata II 7200rpm

So, which of these components should I be looking to upgrade first, second, etc? I was thinking in the future I definitely need a new capable GPU to play newly released games at highish-medium settings, possibly a new CPU (not sure how much of a bottleneck it will be) or a non-stock CPU-cooler to OC the one I have now, and an SSD. I know I might have to upgade the MB for a new CPU, but if that's my best option then so be it.

As far as my budget for the upgrades goes, I'm hoping to spend the least I can for the best performance gain (have around $500 right now, but can wait it out and save up to a higher budget), but I'm not opposed to spending a little more if that's my best option. Any advice would be highly appreciated, thanks.

 

[filippi]

This would be a great upgrade path:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor (Purchased For $0.00)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.65 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard (Purchased For $0.00)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: PNY XLR8 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Video Card: Club 3D Radeon R9 280X 3GB royalQueen Video Card ($239.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Sentey GS-6000R ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $0.00)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $368.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-19 12:21 EDT-0400

Your Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P should achieve a good overclock so keep your cpu.

 

[Xesiius]

This would be a great upgrade path:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor (Purchased For $0.00)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.65 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard (Purchased For $0.00)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: PNY XLR8 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Video Card: Club 3D Radeon R9 280X 3GB royalQueen Video Card ($239.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Sentey GS-6000R ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $0.00)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $368.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-19 12:21 EDT-0400

Your Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P should achieve a good overclock so keep your cpu.

Thank you very much for the reply. I'll definitely be upgrading soon and you've given some good steps to take. I may wind up going with a 290 (maybe 290x) if I can find one for cheap somewhere since it's more future-proof, if not then the 280x looks like it would be more than enough for the games I currently play.

Regarding the order in which I upgrade... would GPU -> CPU cooler -> OC CPU -> SSD ... get the most out of each step in terms of performance increase?

 

[filippi]

imho you could:

1.
Install OCCT for cpu test.
install MSI Afterburner for gpu test.
install HWiNFO32 or HWiNFO64, depending on whether your OS is 32-bit or 64-bit.
Install free new 3dmark (I have all: 3dmark 2003, 2005, 2006, Vantage, etc).
See: http://www.overclock.net/t/1229915/how-to-cpu-and-gpu-usage-along-with-fps-in-game

2.
Check/register your present performance w/ MSI Afterburner, HWiNFO and 3dmark.

3.
Open pc -> new cpu cooler -> check temps w/ OCCT (15 min at least) -> ok?go next step.

4.
download new AMD display driver, uninstall nvidia display driver, new gpu, install new AMD driver -> ok?go next step.

5.
Check/register your new performance w/ MSI Afterburner, HWiNFO and 3dmark.

Just a suggestion 😀

PS. SSD is another kind of upgrade no related w/ gaming performance.

 

[Xesiius]

imho you could:

1.
Install OCCT for cpu test.
install MSI Afterburner for gpu test.
install HWiNFO32 or HWiNFO64, depending on whether your OS is 32-bit or 64-bit.
Install free new 3dmark (I have all: 3dmark 2003, 2005, 2006, Vantage, etc).
See: http://www.overclock.net/t/1229915/how-to-cpu-and-gpu-usage-along-with-fps-in-game

2.
Check/register your present performance w/ MSI Afterburner, HWiNFO and 3dmark.

3.
Open pc -> new cpu cooler -> check temps w/ OCCT (15 min at least) -> ok?go next step.

4.
download new AMD display driver, uninstall nvidia display driver, new gpu, install new AMD driver -> ok?go next step.

5.
Check/register your new performance w/ MSI Afterburner, HWiNFO and 3dmark.

Just a suggestion 😀

PS. SSD is another kind of upgrade no related w/ gaming performance.

Ok. Didn't even think of benchmarking / testing it before and after. Good thinking. Alright, I think I have a pretty good understanding of how to go about this now. Although I'm new to overclocking so I'll have to look up some tutorials on that when my new CPU cooler gets here. And with the SSD, I know it won't really affect game performance, it's just that I heard they make everything feel way snappier and "fast" especially when you have the OS files on them.

Thanks again for taking the time to help me out. Cheers.

 

[filippi]

OCCT will be a good tool for a successful overclock.
Glad to help mate 😀