Quick upgrade question, what's your opinion?

[fallout3masseffect2]

Hey guys,

For an extra $50 in my new build I could upgrade from an i5 2400 to i5 2500k and from a GTX 550 Ti to a Radeon HD 6870.

Do you think it's worth it?

I will be running these on a Biostar H61 MoBo, so no overclocking the i5 2500k, but it has very fast speeds anyway.

This will be a gaming rig, for games like Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas, Left 4 Dead, Killing Floor, Mass Effect, possibly Skyrim.
Not terribly heavy gaming, as I'm fine with games on medium settings.

So should I stick with what I have and buy a game or two, or is it worth it to upgrade these parts?

Other info:
8GB DDR3 1333 RAM
550W Rosewill power supply (great reviews from critics and users)
1TB Seagate Hard Drive
1 x Lite-On Optical Drive
Rosewill Challenger Case
Acer Black 20" 5ms LCD Monitor
Logitech 2.3 watt 2.0 Sound Speakers
TP-Link Wireless Adapter

Thanks.

 

[Chainzsaw]

If your not going to overclock the 2500k would be a worthless upgrade (since that is what a lot of people use these k parts for).

The radeon 6870 would be a good upgrade though.

What is your current GPU?

 

[BlackHawk91]

Don't upgrade to a i5 2500K, you wouldn't be able to use its full potential with that mobo. Upgrade to an i5 2500 and if you can, to a hd6950. The 6870 is a great option also.

 

[fallout3masseffect2]

@chainzsaw, I have a MacBook, this build that I'm asking about will be my first. That's why I was wondering about the upgrade.

@blackhawk91, I'd love to upgrade to an HD 6950, but that would be about 90 dollars over what I'd like to be paying for my budget (about $700)

Unless you could think of a build including a monitor, wireless adapter, and speakers, plus all 8 of the normal computer parts including HD 6950 and an Intel processor, for $750 max?

It would be awesome if you could do that, otherwise I think I'll stick with the HD 6870. I'll look to see if I can get that to $750 though.

 

[fallout3masseffect2]

Or, if I downgraded from an i5 2400 to an i3 2100, then i would have enough in my budget for a radeon hd 6950. Think I should do that instead?

 

[Nim Chimpsky]

I say stick with the 2400 and just upgrade to the 6870. That seems pretty balanced. Leaves you some money to buy a game too.

 

[UsernameAgain]

Howz this to stir up some ants, get the 2500k and the gtx550, at your first opportunity get a Z68 motherboard, preferably one that will support sli with x16 on both cards, then the 2nd gtx550 and if that's not enough I'd be looking for a SSD.


ASUS Maximus IV Extreme Z
2500K @ 4500
Coolermaster V10
Kingston HyperX 16gb
GTX550 x2
OCZ Revodrive 3 240gb

Will give you DXHR at 1080p 50 - 75 fps

 

[fallout3masseffect2]

@usernameagain, that would be an awesome build, but it is waaaay over my budget. Anything you can suggest, all 8 normal pc parts, no ssd, wth a monitor, wireless adapter, and speakers?

 

[Nim Chimpsky]

You could also wait on the graphics card until the new ones, where you'll get more bang for your buck.