Upgrading a 5-year old rig (Radeon HD 7850)

[teacup12]

Hey, I'm looking to upgrade my rig and would be thankful for any advice on what direction to go.
Current:
MB: ASUS P8Z68-M PRO
RAM: Corsair DDR3 1600 4GB x2
CPU: i5 3550 3.3 GHz
GPU: AMD Radeon HD 7850
PSU: Corsair CX 600

The primary usage is gaming, and I realize that if I wanted to play new games on maxed out settings, I'd be best of getting an entirely new rig, but right now all I'm worried about is getting a stable, playable fps in Path of Exile, (which seems like it might require more so luck and prayers to the gods of optimization than hardware, but w/e) a better desktop/web browsing experience and not falling to behind the pack when it comes to gaming in general.

My current thinking is this:
An SSD (Samsung EVO 850?)
A used GTX 970 for ~170 USD
Upgrade my PSU before it goes belly-up on me. I'd be thankful for any suggestions, <100 USD if it's possible to get anything decent in that range.

Does this sound at all sensible? Will the CPU be bottlenecking the 970? Will I see respectable improvements without changing mobo/ram/cpu, or am I better of saving up and buying an entirely new rig later down the line?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[dontlistentome]

I'm surprised to read you're having trouble with POE. First, I recommend running the game as you usually play it, but also run a monitoring software like MSI Afterburner. What are CPU and GPU usages looking like? Is your 7850 hitting 100% in this game?

I had a CX, it worked but died after about 4 years. I'd look into an EVGA power supply, not their bottom of the line. The CX is Corsair's bottom of the line, so if you get another Corsair then get a better model. Depending on how old your CX is, it might not be a bad idea to replace sooner rather than later.

The Samsung 850 Evo would be a good choice. It's not going to help game framerate, but it will make your computer feel more responsive overall. I added a relatively slow Sandisk SSD and it completely transformed my computing experience. I wouldn't run a system now without at least a small SSD for my OS and main programs.

I would not buy another videocard until you sort out how maxed out your 7850 really is. Your CPU is still good for gaming and is a good match for a 970, no need to replace everything yet.

 

[BringerOfTea]

the CX is not the bottom line of corsair, that is reserved for the VS series. albeit the CX is pretty lousy. Corsair has some nice entery level gold, the TX series which they recently released. Maybe a TX550m will suit the needs of poster. These are gold rated and provide a good value.

The I5 3350 is a bit dated but it is a good pairing with the 970.