upgrade my PC

[aethyal]

I finally got enough cash to upgrade my PC and I am debating on which parts to replace. I'm definitely going to be upgrading my ATI 5750 to a GTX 560 (non TI version) or ATI 6870 (I haven't decided which yet but I'm learning toward the 560).

My Mobo can only power a 95w CPU, and when I upgraded previously I got the 925 as it was the only CPU I could find that fit all of my needs and was 95w.

If I do upgrade my CPU I plan to get an i5 2500k and a p67 board. I would rather not as it will take 100% of my PC cash and there is some software and games I'd like to buy instead.

I did find one thread already discussing this issue but was hoping to hear some more thoughts. My goal is to have any parts I upgrade last for a while, I'd rather not cheap out (again) and have to upgrade sooner rather than later.

I currently game at 1280x720 and plan to increase that to 1920x1080 as soon as I decide on which GPU to get. Maybe the most demanding game I own is BFBC2 but I plan to purchase BF3, Batman:AC, etc, etc.

My question: is it worth upgrading my CPU at the cost of having to purchase a new Mobo as well, or will the GPU be enough of an upgrade for now?


Thanks!

Relevant information:

• Asus M4A78LT-M LE
• 4gig DDR3 Ram
• Amd Phenom II x4 925 @ 2.8ghz (overclock possible)
• ATI 5750 1g
• Asetek LCLC 120mm Liquid Cooling
• 650 watt Antec Earthwatts PSU
• Acer 1920 x 1080 60hz monitor

 

[iam2thecrowe]

i would get a gpu upgrade first and see how it goes. At 1080p the bottleneck lies in the GPU, a 5750 is not fast enough for that res in modern games. I would then proceed to overclock the CPU, should be able to get at least 3.2ghz with the stock cooler, provided you have adequate case ventilation. Just check your temps. If then you feel you need more power, get a new motherboard/cpu. You have a pretty decent setup so i would hang out for a couple of months for bulldozer to be released before making your cpu upgrade decision.

 

[kajabla]

I think the GPU will be good enough. Definitely overclock! If you get a decent OC you shouldn't bottleneck.
Is that liquid on both GPU and CPU?

 

[aethyal]

I think the GPU will be good enough. Definitely overclock! If you get a decent OC you shouldn't bottleneck.
Is that liquid on both GPU and CPU?

Liquid is only on the CPU.

I have tried to OC in the past and had a weird problem: my GPU would start to fail. I didn't think a CPU overclock would effect the GPU but I can't seem to get ANY stable speed above core (even with a small voltage increase), and all temps WAY under danger levels. I'm hoping the GPU upgrade will correct this issue and I can then properly OC my CPU.