Need help on upgrading Graphics card

[Manlysloth]

Hello, i want to upgrade my 6770 to a 7870 and would like to know what is necessary to upgrade, i'm on a budget of around $400

I currently run the following
-i5-2500
-8gb of ddr3 1600(unfortunately limited to 1333 as i'm a derp)
-Asus 6770
-GA-H61M-S2P-B3
-And an Cooler Master Elite 342 which came with the thermal master 420w Psu

If i have left out any details, please inform me.

 

[djangoringo]

You have a good cpu and 8GB(doesn't matter much the difference 1333vs1600 in performance).
What you'll need is a new good psu and a card.

Psu :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028

or http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=59615&vpn=P1550SXXB9&manufacture=XFX&promoid=1285 (recommended)



Cards :

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161404

If you want you can have the 7950(with the psu it stays from 400$ maximum):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202006

 

[Manlysloth]

Now would that be fine with my current motherboard, and would it actually fit?

 

[djangoringo]

Yes, even though you have a pcie 2.0 slot, there's no incompatibility with gfx cards with pcie 3.0 and no loss of performance

http://www.hardocp.com/images/articles/1341219566Ew8yr7oTVd_2_3.gif

http://tpucdn.com/reviews/Intel/Ivy_Bridge_PCI-Express_Scaling/images/perfrel.gif


And i think it will fit without problems.

 

[Manlysloth]

So, would you recommend the 7950 and psu, or 7870, psu and motherboard upgrade? I'm still a beginner here and just want your opinion.

 

[djangoringo]

Do you have the i5-2500k or non k ?

If you don't have the k version, stick with your mobo and get the gpu and cpu, if you have a k series then get a z68 board or z77.

 

[Manlysloth]

I have the non k, i take it if i had the unlocked version i could go with a new motherboard to possibly overclock?

 

[djangoringo]

Yes it was the point of the z68/z77 to overclock the i5-2500k, then you don't need to change the mobo, just the psu and gpu.
And one more thing that makes me not recommend a new mobo, is the arrival of the new lga 1150 and the new intel cpus(haswell) for 2013.

 

[Manlysloth]

Ah, i see man. Thanks for all your help, i'm pretty sure i'll go with the 7950.

Have a nice day, mate!

 

[Manlysloth]

Best answer selected by Manlysloth.