What to upgrade next on gaming build?

[Yannipap]

I've recently bought a gaming PC brand new, however it was on a tight budget and I'm now looking at what the best thing to upgrade next is? I'm thinking of upgrading part by part so what do you guys think is my next, say, 5 things in order of priority, to upgrade?

Motherboard: MSI 970 ATX
Cpu: AMD PHENOM II- 1090T. 6xcore 3.2ghz processor
RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance dual ddr3 1666mhz 4x 4gb
Gpu: Asus geforce gtx 960 gaming 4gb
System disk: Intel Pro 1500 series 180gb 2.5" ssd
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB hdd
Psu: 500w Gaming
Processor/cpu cooling: corsair h45 water cooling

 

[clutchc]

You didn't list the motherboard. That will determine if you can upgrade the CPU to one of the FX 8xxx processors or not. Otherwise, you are looking at a gfx card upgrade as the only bump for gaming. The GTX 1060 would be the wisest choice if you keep the Phenom six-core.

 

[Kunra Zether]

Mobo+processor+ram, then GPU.

Out of curiosity how much did you drop on it?

 

[terry4536]

I would say that the single best upgrade would be an SSD. An SSD for the operating system and software would greatly improve the boot time and improve the system operation. I would recommend at least a 120GB SSD. That will allow the operating system as well as several games. Then use the hard drive as general storage.

 

[Yannipap]

You didn't list the motherboard. That will determine if you can upgrade the CPU to one of the FX 8xxx processors or not. Otherwise, you are looking at a gfx card upgrade as the only bump for gaming. The GTX 1060 would be the wisest choice if you keep the Phenom six-core.

Sorry, my motherboard is a MSI 970 ATX Gaming

 

[clutchc]

I would say that the single best upgrade would be an SSD. An SSD for the operating system and software would greatly improve the boot time and improve the system operation. I would recommend at least a 120GB SSD. That will allow the operating system as well as several games. Then use the hard drive as general storage.

The OP already has a 180GB SSD. Read his post.

 

[terry4536]

I would say that the single best upgrade would be an SSD. An SSD for the operating system and software would greatly improve the boot time and improve the system operation. I would recommend at least a 120GB SSD. That will allow the operating system as well as several games. Then use the hard drive as general storage.

The OP already has a 180GB SSD. Read his post.

Sorry, I missed that. Generally an SSD woulds be listed as storage.

 

[terry4536]

The next step up would be upgrading the CPU or GPU. The memory (although not fast) is sufficient for now. The storage is sufficient. Without any information on operating temperatures, the case and cooling are sufficient.

 

[Yannipap]

So in regards to upgrading my cpu, would amd fx 8350 be the best choice for me now? Or is there a better alternative that will be supported by my msi 970 motherboard?

 

[terry4536]

Here is the Tom's CPU hierarchy chart. (The CPU's nearest the top have the highest frequency and # of cores.)

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-hierarchy,4312.html

The AMD PHENOM II- 1090T processor that you listed is fairly down the list from the top. The FX-8350 and FX-8370 would be a step up. Both are compatible with the motherboard.

Generally I would refer you to the motherboard manufacturer CPU compatibility list. But apparently MSI didn't bother with listing one. So here is on from PCpartpicker.com .

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/cpu/?compatible_with=msi-motherboard-970gaming

 

[Kunra Zether]

I personally wouldn't want to put money into a dead chip set myself but getting the 8370 would put you around an i5 level of performance ish. So I would pair that with a GTX 1060 or Rx 580 at most anything better would probably be a waste.
Also you will need to update your bios aswell to support that processor don't forget to big headache if you forget.

With thoughs you would have a decent gaming rig but the bad is that when you want more every thing besides the GPU is going to have to go (mobo,CPU, , and ram).

8350: $140

Or

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1400 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($156.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - A320M GAMING PRO Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($66.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: GeIL - EVO POTENZA 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($127.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $351.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-22 20:16 EDT-0400

With the potential to upgrade the processor.

 

[terry4536]

Beyond replacing the CPU, it will get expensive. If you want to go that far, I would suggest switching to a Intel I5 or I7 (along with new motherboard & memory).