Upgrade Path! Need "Some" Advice!

[nmeseth]

Due to my lack of $$$ (No job at the moment) and about $2,000 in debt, I"ll be upgrading my current system (See below) In about 4 steps. I'm looking for "future" advice. Such as some advice I got before about the bulldozer CPU's. I was about to purchase a 1100T when I was told some very nice CPU's are coming out.

Current System​

Motherboard
Click for Link - MSI 790XT-G45

CPU
AMD Phenom X4 955 Processor (4 CPUs) ~ 3.6GHz

RAM
Click for Link - G.Skill PK Series Memeory 4GB 2x2 GB DIMM 240-pin DDR2

Video Card
XFX ATI Radeon HD6870 1 GB DDR5 2DVI/HDMI/2x Mini DisplayPort PCI-Express Video Card HD687AZNFC

Sound Card
Using a FiiO E7+E9 External Headphone Amp combo with DT 990 Pro's to pump the sound.

Networking
Motherboard LAN port

Hard Drive
1TB Drive (5200 RPM's, 3GB/s)
750GB Drive (5200 RPM's, 3GB/s

CD/DVD/Blu-Ray Drives
1 DVD Burner

Case
Cooler Master HAF 932

Power Supply
Click for Link - SilverStone OP750 750W

System Cooling
All fan slots are filled in the case, no extra cooling provided.

CPU Cooling
Click for Link - Cooler Master Hyper 212

Motherboard, RAM​

Motherboard: Asrock Fatal1ty 990FX

RAM: 2x G.SKILL Sniper (2x4GB) DDR3 1866

RAM Fan: G.SKILL FTB D Fans

Processor​

CPU: AMD FX-4170 | 4.2GHz Base -> Plan on overclocking | Quad-Core (Not a fan of anything higher)

CPU Cooling: H100 Liquid Cooling

North/South Bridge Cooling: Logisys Computer CC2 North Bridge Cooler 2

Crossfire Graphics Card​

XFX HD-687X-CNFC Radeon HD 6870 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support

HIS CrossFire Bridge Cable

Case, Hard Drives, Optical Drives, Sound Card​

Cooler Master HAF X

2x Asus DRW-24B1ST DVD Burner

OCZ Vertex 3 120GB 2.5" SATA III MLC Internal SSD

Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal HD

HT | OMEGA Claro Halo XT PCI Interface Sound Card /w built-in HI-FI Headphone Amplifier

NZXT Sentry-2 5.25" Touch Screen fan controller

Then I'll be buying a new mouse/keyboard, 2.1Ch PC Speaker System, Mouse pad, 1080P Webcam, but those aren't really necessary to list.

 

[megamanx00]

Since you only got 3.6Ghz with a Hyper 212 I'd say you got a C2 chip like me. Anyway, I'd say go crossfire first, then go with the RAM and Motherboard, followed by the CPU and others. That's what I would do, but it's up to you. Also, there is no point in getting a 2GB card due to the fact that if you crossfire it with your 1GB card, only 1GB will be used. Get another 6870 1GB.

 

[nmeseth]

Thanks, I'll make sure to replace that other gfx card with a similar model.

I'll be upgrading the mobo then processor because mine are currently VERY shaky in performance, and I want to get rid of this motherboard asap.

My gfx card for now is fine, my gaming performance isn't something I see as terribly lacking, but opening applications and such is something I'd like to improve.

I do a LOT of .zip-related file work, so thats the reasoning for my 16GB of RAM.

The processor being quad-core instead of going for the newer 6 or 8-core, I just don't see many gaming applications taking advantage of the higher number of cores.

 

[nmeseth]

Bump! Is this a solid path?

 

[megamanx00]

Don't bump or you will get slapped by a mod. I've already made my recommendation ^_^. Your upgrade path is fine, go for it.

 

[g-unit1111]

I'd say just max out the RAM and add a second GPU, you'll be good for a while anyway until the Bulldozer / FX series is out.