Need help narrowing some upgrade choices down

[sigp226]

Hey Guys!
I have been coming here for general advice for a couple of years now and I am now in need of more tailored advice. I bought a PC from CyberPowerPC a few years ago while I was active duty and they had a HUGE Veteran's day sale. I absolutely love it. It cost me about 500 bucks and I haven't really needed to do much besides add a fan to the top of my case and some thermal grease to my CPU. I have finally decided it is probably time to start (slowly) upgrading piece by piece to keep it running smoothly.
I am currently running:
Windows 7 Home Premium x64
Case: Unknown
CPU: Intel I7-3770k @3.5GHz
GPU: XFX AMD Radeon 6870 1GB GDDR5
RAM: 2x4GB Corsair DDR3 dual channel 667Mhz 9-9-9-24, 1.5V
PSU: Unknown Manuf 500W

I only have about 150$ for my first upgrade at the moment, this thought was rather spur of the moment.
I was thinking getting some faster RAM. Perhaps something likehttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Also if I upgrade the RAM since I have 4 slots should i leave the old RAM in and make it 16GB?

The other upgrade I am considering is the GPU. Mine is a bit worn, and not quite as fast as I would like. I was looking at
http://www.newegg.com/Product/MappingPrice2012.aspx?Ite...
because its more powerful than mine (and it comes with Witcher 3)

or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
It fits my budget better but I am not sure if is worth a 50$ price difference.


If I do the RAM I would also get a new PSU, but I have no idea what to get in that department.

I want to see the most performance gain with this money. I mostly play Borderlands, Titanfall, and I am looking at getting Witcher 3.

Sorry for the long thread. I thank you for your wonderful advice in advance!

 

[Aefuan]

It's a bad idea to mix RAM. If you mix 667mhz with faster RAM like 1866mhz the system will have to downclock the faster RAM to 667mhz. There's issue with the voltages also. So if you get more RAM, dont keep the older, just buy new. And in most cases mixed RAM will make the PC have issues or dont boot. I recommend you G.Skill RAM.

About the PSU, yes, much people dont care about it but it's very important to have a good brand. It supplies the energy to all your computer. I recommend you a Seasonic S12G (it's cheap and gold certified eficiency, and there are from 450w to 750w).

Your system is very good already, the CPU is one of the best you can have, i would just put 8/16GB RAM and change the PSU, and you have PC for years. But if you want a new GPU then go for it too. Maybe a R9 280?

 

[Sapphire Thunder]

It's a bad idea to mix RAM. If you mix 667mhz with faster RAM like 1866mhz the system will have to downclock the faster RAM to 667mhz. There's issue with the voltages also. So if you get more RAM, dont keep the older, just buy new. And in most cases mixed RAM will make the PC have issues or dont boot. I recommend you G.Skill RAM.

About the PSU, yes, much people dont care about it but it's very important to have a good brand. It supplies the energy to all your computer. I recommend you a Seasonic S12G (it's cheap and gold certified eficiency, and there are from 450w to 750w).

His RAM is actually 1333Mhz. (2x 667Mhz)
The clocks always show only half when checking with some program. So you need to double the shown amount.


Anyway, as said, it's not good idea to mix the RAM.
But you really need to upgrade that gpu.
However, 150$ won't get you anything worthwhile. You will want to put at least 200$ for something like GTX 960.

 

[Aefuan]

It's a bad idea to mix RAM. If you mix 667mhz with faster RAM like 1866mhz the system will have to downclock the faster RAM to 667mhz. There's issue with the voltages also. So if you get more RAM, dont keep the older, just buy new. And in most cases mixed RAM will make the PC have issues or dont boot. I recommend you G.Skill RAM.

About the PSU, yes, much people dont care about it but it's very important to have a good brand. It supplies the energy to all your computer. I recommend you a Seasonic S12G (it's cheap and gold certified eficiency, and there are from 450w to 750w).

His RAM is actually 1333Mhz. (2x 667Mhz)
The clocks always show only half when checking with some program. So you need to double the shown amount.


Anyway, as said, it's not good idea to mix the RAM.
But you really need to upgrade that gpu.
However, 150$ won't get you anything worthwhile. You will want to put at least 200$ for something like GTX 960.

Ye i knew that but i was not sure if he meant 667 or 1333. It did sound strange an i7 with 667mhz RAM xDDDD. Thanks anyways.

 

[C12Friedman]

Welcome to Tom's Hardware Forums,
I'll start by having you check your links, they aren't complete (takes us to NewEgg but not any specific product).

If using a CyberPowerPC "Standard PSU" I will recommend replacing it as part of the upgrade process - you can do a search for "CyberPowerPC Standard PSU" or "XtremeGear PSU" but be aware that there is a company called CyberPower which designs and makes UPS's, they are not related to CyberPowerPC. I will suggest a quality 500W PSU such as the Rosewill RG630-S12 - Green Series 630W which is the least expensive quality PSU I found - reviewed here http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Rosewill-Green-Series-630-W-RG630-S12-Power-Supply-Review/881/10 (linked to conclusion page)
I'm personally not seeing a need for more than 8GB of ram offhand since that seems to still be the "sweet spot" for gaming rigs.
I would personally look to upgrade the graphics card also but with a slightly higher budget to fit something like an AMD R9-280 (which are currently running ~$220 and up)

Just my personal input here...

 

[sigp226]

It's a bad idea to mix RAM. If you mix 667mhz with faster RAM like 1866mhz the system will have to downclock the faster RAM to 667mhz. There's issue with the voltages also. So if you get more RAM, dont keep the older, just buy new. And in most cases mixed RAM will make the PC have issues or dont boot. I recommend you G.Skill RAM.

About the PSU, yes, much people dont care about it but it's very important to have a good brand. It supplies the energy to all your computer. I recommend you a Seasonic S12G (it's cheap and gold certified eficiency, and there are from 450w to 750w).

His RAM is actually 1333Mhz. (2x 667Mhz)
The clocks always show only half when checking with some program. So you need to double the shown amount.


Anyway, as said, it's not good idea to mix the RAM.
But you really need to upgrade that gpu.
However, 150$ won't get you anything worthwhile. You will want to put at least 200$ for something like GTX 960.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125771

How about something like this? its currently 199. Will that be good enough to hold me a couple of years?

Perhaps
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202099&cm_re=r9-280-_-14-202-099-_-Product

its currently 179

 

[Sapphire Thunder]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125771

How about something like this? its currently 199. Will that be good enough to hold me a couple of years?

Perhaps
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202099&cm_re=r9-280-_-14-202-099-_-Product

its currently 179

Yes, that will last long.

 

[sigp226]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125771

How about something like this? its currently 199. Will that be good enough to hold me a couple of years?

Perhaps
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202099&cm_re=r9-280-_-14-202-099-_-Product

its currently 179

Yes, that will last long.

of those two which would you recommend and why? I have been using my XFX Radeon for 4 years now with 0 issue so switching to geforce is a little strange to me.

 

[Sapphire Thunder]

of those two which would you recommend and why? I have been using my XFX Radeon for 4 years now with 0 issue so switching to geforce is a little strange to me.

GTX960 simply because it's newer and a lot more powerful. (around 15% more powerful)

 

[sigp226]

of those two which would you recommend and why? I have been using my XFX Radeon for 4 years now with 0 issue so switching to geforce is a little strange to me.

GTX960 simply because it's newer and a lot more powerful. (around 15% more powerful)

Just committed

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SC6HAS4?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailpages00

Fingers crossed