Upgrade CPU or GPU?

[Gamma]

I have a Phenom X4 9850, and I'm wondering if I should upgrade my CPU to a Phenom II 965 BE, or should I upgrade my Radeon HD 5770 to a Radeon HD 6950 (then unlock that to 6970). I like my processor, and I really would rather wait until AMD comes out with a next-gen Phenom that isn't crap like the FX-series.

 

[esrever]

a gpu upgrade will generally give you better performance in games. really depends on the games you play tho.

 

[rolli59]

There is nothing wrong with getting the HD6950 first and then upgrade the platform but your 9850 is not going to keep up with it. Any overclock you can put on the CPU will help.

 

[Gamma]

UPDATE: I overclocked the Phenom to 3.0ghz, then everything blew up. (well, not quite) My CPU fried even though I had an insane cooler, so now I have a Core i5-2500k. I guess a new graphics card comes later...

 

[henydiah]

1. check PSU can handle your target upgrade ... enough
2. upgrdae cpu cooler
3. Upgrade GPU

 

[Gamma]

1. check PSU can handle your target upgrade ... enough
2. upgrdae cpu cooler
3. Upgrade GPU

1. It's a Corsair TX750W, so I think I'm fine.

2. Already bought a Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO.

3. Will soon, now I don't know whether I want to get a SSD boot drive or a GPU.

 

[henydiah]

GPU

 

[Gamma]

I was thinking SSD since my Graphics card is serving me fine right now, I can run Shift 2 Unleashed in full HD maxed out with 8x AA and 16x AF at 60fps+. An SSD will get me insane boot times and faster loading programs, is that correct?