Looking for a Mid-Range Upgrade

[Gryphacus]

Hi everyone,

I've been putting together fairly low-end desktop PCs for friends and relatives for a couple years now, but I've never really gone for gold and overkilled it. I don't pretend to be an expert, because I'm not, and it seems I've run into a bit of a roadblock.

I've been looking to do an upgrade on my 1-2 y.o. gaming PC for a while now, and I'm just not sure what would be the best thing to spend my money on. I'm looking for an option/options that will cost anywhere from between $200-250.

My current PC setup is as follows:
CPU: AMD FX-6350 6 core @ 3.9GHz (FD6350FRHKBOX)
GPU: ASUS R9 270X 2GB (R9270X-DC2T-2GD5)
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-970A-D3
RAM: 4 2GB ATATA XPG Gaming Series (2 of AX3U1600GB2G9-2G)
PSU: Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus 550w
SSD: Mushkin Enhanced Chronos 120GB (MKNSSDCR120GB)
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB (ST1000DM005/HD103SJ)

I'm wondering which components might be bottlenecking me while playing games like GTA V or Skyrim, which tend to be some of the most graphics-intense games I play.

Thanks for your time everyone, I appreciate your suggestions and comments.

Jacob

EDIT: I thought I'd also mention a bit of a strange behavior I've noticed lately. While playing GTA specifically, the game runs great for about 30 minutes and I pull about 45-50fps on mostly Very High settings. However, after some time I start getting some serious stuttering down to 15-20fps consistently, and I have to restart my game or the computer. Would this be because of a bottleneck?

UPDATE: Hey guys, I booted up GTA again and had Speedfan check my temps. I've got a simple closed loop Corsair water cooler on the CPU. I think you guys were right about the overheating GPU. Temp peaked at 68C while playing GTA. The CPU on the other hand only got up to 55. Here's what it looks like: http://i.imgur.com/Rw5b6Tv.jpg

 

[IntelTurtleFan]

What are your temperatures? It sounds like the CPU and or GPU is overheating and causing it to throttle. Maybe all you need is a better cooler on the CPU. If that does not work both the CPU / Mobo / GPU can all use some work. But you should save up a bit more for that.
The mobo/CPU upgrade would cost around 300-350. And the GPU upgrade I see would cost around 200-300.

 

[ronintexas]

Monitor your temps - if the CPU and/or GPU is overheating, a $10 fan could solve the problem. Make sure that the radiator fins are free from debris (dust gets them clogged up). Your parts should be decent for moderate gaming - the real performance boosts are going to be more than $200-$250.

An Intel I5/I7 processor will speed things up, as will a faster GPU - but the cost of those are going to be $400-$500 for a real difference maker for you.