Which part/parts to upgrade first?

dpbetter2000

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Jan 25, 2014
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Hey everyone! Lately I've been a bit frustrated with how slow some games have been running on my PC, however I am looking for the best bang for my buck over best of the best performance.

I'm upgrading really because I've found that games even such as Dark Souls 3 are forcing me to go down to medium settings to get even close to 60 fps.

Here are my current specs:
Asus m5a99fx PRO r2.0
8gb corsair vengeance ram (DDR3)
AMD FX-8350, stock speed
Radeon r9 280x 3gb
Rosewill ARC 750w PSU

So the parts I've been looking at so far are these:
GTX 1070
Intel i5 6600k
Asus z170 PRO gaming mobo
16gb GSkill Ripjaw ram (DDR4)

Currently I would have to upgrade either motherboard, ram, and processor all at once, or just my graphics card. So which do you guys think would be best to do first? I know my processor would probably bottleneck the 1070 but would I still get a big enough performance difference that it's worth it to upgrade graphics now and everything else later? Does anyone have a suggestion for better value parts maybe? I would really like to switch to Intel and Nvidia over AMD and Radeon as well.

 
Right now, I'll advise you to hold off on either upgrade.
Prices for the GTX1070 are still very high and availability is poor-hence the high prices-what is more availability of the better non reference cards is even worse, again leading to higher than expected prices.
Upgrading the CPU/MB/RAM will not help much, especially in graphically demanding games because it's the R9 280X that is holding you back rather than the BIG PARTS.

If you really cannot wait though, the GTX1070 will certainly give a useful boost, but it will be held back somewhat by the current FX8350.

Just a point on monitors; if you're using a 1080 60Hz display I suggest you aim a little lower, the recently released RX480 and GTX1060 are not only a better match to that kind of display but your core components as well.
 
Thanks for the advice. To be completely honest I probably won't be upgrading very soon at all, I'm just hoping to have something in mind so that I know what kind of money I need to aim for. I do eventually want to be able to game in 1440p+, and I'm also very conscious of future proofing my system. As a teenager I can't afford to upgrade my PC very often. Would you recommend a card meant for higher resolutions simply as a method of being able to play in 1080p for many years to come?