What GPUs can my system handle (without suffering from bottlenecking)?

[Blackout STi]

Okay, so I am trying to pick a video card out, but I posted this here because the question itself revolves around my other components.

Here is my system:
ASUS F1A75-V EVO Motherboard
AMD A8-3870 APU (not the 3870K)
ASUS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition V2
Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB SSD
12GB Ram
CM Storm Case
600W Thermalake PSU
TPLink WiFi card
DVD Burner
I/O Card(s)

Most of that is probably irrelevant, but I listed for the sake of explaining power usage. I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing I'll need a different PSU if I'm going to get a better GPU.

If I had my way, I would just build a new system, but that's not an option at this time. I would like to get something like a Sapphire R9 290X (my work has a bunch in stock, and I get them at cost). We also have a bunch of various GTX 7XX nVidia (which I don't know much about). My 7870 is the only discrete card I've ever had.

So can anyone give me some insight as to what cards are doable for my system with the fewest upgrades? The reason I am wanting to upgrade is I am mad that I can't get at least 60fps on BF4 on 'Ultra' settings. I know I'm reaching for the stars here, but I want to be a snob.

One thing I was wondering is could I use my 7870 simultaneously with any other cards? What would you guys recommend (without bashing me)?

 

[theonerm2]

That AMD APU is going to hold your performance back so much that you wouldn't even notice an upgrade. It would be a complete waste until you could upgrade your motherboard and processor.

 

[Blackout STi]

That AMD APU is going to hold your performance back so much that you wouldn't even notice an upgrade. It would be a complete waste until you could upgrade your motherboard and processor.

So should I throw down on a CPU, and forget the GPU for now. You think my current GPU will do a little better with an upgrade to a CPU?

 

[ShadyHamster]

I would say your current card is the best possible one for that setup.
As theonerm2 said, anything better would be a waste, the cpu would be holding anything better back.

 

[theonerm2]

That AMD APU is going to hold your performance back so much that you wouldn't even notice an upgrade. It would be a complete waste until you could upgrade your motherboard and processor.

So should I throw down on a CPU, and forget the GPU for now. You think my current GPU will do a little better with an upgrade to a CPU?

Your current GPU will do quite a bit better if you upgrade both your CPU and your motherboard.

If you could get something like this then that would be great.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Z36bhM
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Z36bhM/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($168.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus H81M-E Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($53.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $222.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-05 23:08 EST-0500

 

[Blackout STi]

I would say your current card is the best possible one for that setup.
As theonerm2 said, anything better would be a waste, the cpu would be holding anything better back.

Yeah, and I'm not even sure I can get a different CPU with that motherboard. I'd like to at least get an FX series cpu, but the mobo features page says a8 & e2. Nothing on there about the FX series. Different socket...

 

[justcallmetom13]

As theonerm2 said, an upgrade to a higher end GPU will be a waste given your APU.
The best thing you could do is get a different processor to get the most value from a new GPU but in this case I'm assuming you only want to a get a new GPU.

Power consumption might be a problem. AMD suggests a 650W but you could cheap out and try it on the 600, up to you.

 

[Blackout STi]

As theonerm2 said, an upgrade to a higher end GPU will be a waste given your APU.
The best thing you could do is get a different processor to get the most value from a new GPU but in this case I'm assuming you only want to a get a new GPU.

Power consumption might be a problem. AMD suggests a 650W but you could cheap out and try it on the 600, up to you.

I am not necessarily set on a GPU upgrade. I just assumed that would be the thing to do to acheive higher fps while gaming on higher settings. Any upgrade that will boost the performance would be nice.

 

[Blackout STi]

That AMD APU is going to hold your performance back so much that you wouldn't even notice an upgrade. It would be a complete waste until you could upgrade your motherboard and processor.

So should I throw down on a CPU, and forget the GPU for now. You think my current GPU will do a little better with an upgrade to a CPU?

Your current GPU will do quite a bit better if you upgrade both your CPU and your motherboard.

If you could get something like this then that would be great.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Z36bhM
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Z36bhM/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($168.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus H81M-E Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($53.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $222.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-05 23:08 EST-0500

I meant to mark this post as the best answer (even though all have been great information!). Sorry, I accidentally hit the button on the post below... Anyways, I would LOVE to get on the Intel train. Just haven't had the funds. I will see what we have at work tomorrow. Maybe I can get a deal on an i5 and mobo. They have a bunch of z87 gaming board / cpu combos for sale. I wanna say they are i7 cpus.

And holy crap, intel boards are that cheap?! I would way rather go that route...

 

[ShadyHamster]

The problem with your current motherboard is AMD quickly replaced it with the FM2 socket and no newer cpu's that run on that socket are backwards compatible with FM1.
To upgrade the cpu your only option is to a new motherboard too no matter what cpu you choose.

Suggested wattage from manufacturers always overcompensates for cheap psu's, you can easily go 100w (more maybe depending on the system) under the suggest wattage if you have a decent quality psu.

Even just a cpu/board upgrade should increase your fps in BF4 since it's cpu heavy.

 

[theonerm2]

That AMD APU is going to hold your performance back so much that you wouldn't even notice an upgrade. It would be a complete waste until you could upgrade your motherboard and processor.

So should I throw down on a CPU, and forget the GPU for now. You think my current GPU will do a little better with an upgrade to a CPU?

Your current GPU will do quite a bit better if you upgrade both your CPU and your motherboard.

If you could get something like this then that would be great.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Z36bhM
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Z36bhM/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($168.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus H81M-E Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($53.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $222.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-05 23:08 EST-0500

I meant to mark this post as the best answer (even though all have been great information!). Sorry, I accidentally hit the button on the post below... Anyways, I would LOVE to get on the Intel train. Just haven't had the funds. I will see what we have at work tomorrow. Maybe I can get a deal on an i5 and mobo. They have a bunch of z87 gaming board / cpu combos for sale. I wanna say they are i7 cpus.

And holy crap, intel boards are that cheap?! I would way rather go that route...

Well if you get a lower clocked Core i5 then you don't need a very expensive motherboard. While with AMD if you get a cheap motherboard then your performance will suffer due to the mosfets getting too hot and throttling your CPU.

 

[Blackout STi]

So I will probably go with a mobo / cpu upgrade of the Intel flavor then. Then get a card later. Thanks guys!