Upgrading system recommendations for gaming?

[Pilman]

I have been thinking of upgrading either my CPU or my video card, I built my system last June and I think I made a mistake in some of my selections as I am starting to now notice some performance issues with newer games like arma 3, I had a few with assassins creed 3 on running on ultra which was kind of expected, and now with watch dogs coming out, I am wanting to upgrade my system, I have about a 250 to 300 dollar budget. I am not sure if I should upgrade the CPU or the video card but here are my specs

Intel i3 processor sandy bridge 3.3 ghz 2120

Biostar tz77b Mobo

Antec neo Eco 620 watt psu

G.skill ripsaws 8 gig ramddr3 1600

Xfx amd 6870 video card 1 gig of ram.

Any suggestions?

 

[imomun]

Get a EVGA SuperClocked 02G-P4-2662-KR GeForce GTX 660 $179.99 after $10.00 rebate http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130826

or even faster XFX Double D FX-787A-CDFC Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition $209.99 after $20.00 rebate http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150605


And the fastest ASUS GTX660 TI-DC2O-2GD5 GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121656

This will make the biggest impact in gaming.

The CPU should be fine for either cards upto 1080p Gaming.

The GTX 670 or HD7970 could run in to bottolneck with i3 so not recommended.

Happy Gaming

 

[swifty_morgan]

dual cores are a nono anymore but also if you game above 1200 resolution the gpu will be of some problem. catch 22/

 

[Pilman]

I am doing 1080p gaming, most games seem to have ran fine but I have had problems with games with huge draw distances like arma 3 and farcry 3, I'd say arma I am having issues even on medium probably due to the amount of detail, farcry 3 runs fine unless I go in the towers where you can see everything then it dips below 20 fps slightly. I realize dual core is not recommended for gaming anymore however at the time, I had a strict budget. Would the video card be enough for the next year or 2 or is the CPU going to hold me back?

 

[burritobob]

Arma 3 and FarCry 3 happen to be horribly optimized games, you should be expecting dips from both of those no matter what. The 6870 is still a very viable card. I can max most game without a problem on my older system. I honestly would hold off until the next gen hardware comes out and you can start anew only because that is right around the corner, as well as the fact that better parts will be cheaper.

The i3 is also still fine, most people say: dual core sucks etc. etc. but the cores have hyperthreading enabled which means that you're going to see 4 usable threads and not two. The CPU should not really be a problem either when you're waiting, again something much faster is right around the corner, so take this advice and wait it out. The games you play are still being optimized, and still have many issues, you should not have a problem otherwise.

Again just wait it out you would have a better investment if you wait.

 

[Pilman]

I will probably hold off then, any recommendations on what to upgrade once prices drop?

 

[swifty_morgan]

i just posted a link inre to draw distance in arma2. something about maxing it out and getting better performance. anyways, screw that dual core thought and stick by what i posted earlier.