What should I upgrade first? CPU, GPU, or RAM?

[yaseenmust]

I built a PC a couple years back, and now I'm thinking about upgrading it as I seem to have started to get stuttering in some games that I wasn't getting it in before (ex: Payday 2, Borderlands 2/TPS). I'm not sure what to upgrade first. I was thinking of upgrading my CPU first, then doubling my RAM, then going SLI with 2 GTX 660s. Any suggestions?

Here are my current computer specs:
Desktop Computer
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1
Mobo: MSI 970A-G46
BIOS: BIOS Date: 10/08/13 16:03:23 Ver: 04.06.05
CPU: AMD Phenom II x4 965 BE
GPU: ASUS GTX 660 OC Edition
RAM: 8GB (2x4GB) Kingston HyperX Blu Black
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB

 

[bob hays]

you dont need to upgrade ram, its just fine. When you play games have cpu-z and gpu-z running in the background and check to see what usage they are at. This will tell you what you need to upgrade first.

 

[filippi]

This is my suggestion:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($187.93 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $277.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-26 16:36 EDT-0400

After that buy another ASUS GTX 660 OC Edition.

 

[yaseenmust]

you dont need to upgrade ram, its just fine. When you play games have cpu-z and gpu-z running in the background and check to see what usage they are at. This will tell you what you need to upgrade first.

I got both of those programs. How do I tell what the usage of the CPU and GPU are at? I'm not very familiar with this app.

 

[bob hays]

when you open it there should be tabs at the top. Once you click one of those tabs it should have a bunch of graphs saying temperature and cpu usage.

 

[yaseenmust]

when you open it there should be tabs at the top. Once you click one of those tabs it should have a bunch of graphs saying temperature and cpu usage.

GPU-Z has something like that, but CPU-Z does not. :/

 

[thejoshmeister1992]

I had the same thought first I upgraded my cpu . To the amd fx 8350 . All to play games then I realised I needed a better gpu. For better game play . I use about half of my processor . And it's 8 core ... so I would recommend both but from my opinion you don't need to upgrade the ram just yet . Try also looking in task manager and under the performance tab see what ram and cpu usage there is

 

[yaseenmust]

I had the same thought first I upgraded my cpu . To the amd fx 8350 . All to play games then I realised I needed a better gpu. For better game play . I use about half of my processor . And it's 8 core ... so I would recommend both but from my opinion you don't need to upgrade the ram just yet . Try also looking in task manager and under the performance tab see what ram and cpu usage there is

Here is what CPU-Z, GPU-Z, and Task Manager look like while in-game on Payday 2. I always get these weird stutters on Payday for some reason.
Screenshot

Any idea what I should be upgrading first?