Building new gaming PC

[Kevin86]

Hey guys,

Looking at doing a major upgrade to my system and been out of the building loop for a while. My current system is from late 2008, here are the specs:

CPU: E8500 3.16GHz
GPU: GTX 260 Superclocked Edition
MOBO: Asus P5QL Pro
HDD: 1 TB WD
RAM: Kingston HyperX DDR2 800 4 GB (2x2 GB)
PSU: SPI 650W
Case: Antec 300

It's served me well over the last few years, but it's time for an upgrade.

It's mostly used for gaming and I may plan on doing some video recording, editing and streaming in the future when I get a capture card.

Have about 500 - 600 CAD to spend on it right now, but I may throw more at it in the future for an SSD and video card upgrade. Kind of want essential upgrades right now to make games such as FFXIV, Skyrim and Borderlands 2 run smooth on higher settings.

Here's what I am looking at so far:

MSI Z77A-G41 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply

Intel Core i5-3570 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637i53570

or

Intel Core i3-3220 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 55W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637i33220

EVGA 01G-P3-1556-KR GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) FPB 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL

Right now with everything using the i3 comes to $567 with shipping costs. Are these the best components that I can get right now for the price, or are there any recommendations that you can make that will keep me around the same price range?

I will be using the same case, hard drive, keyboard, mouse, monitor and OS that I am currently using.

Any and all suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[PP Mguire]

Upgrade your GPU and PSU instead, then when you get more money upgrade your CPU/mobo/RAM if needed.

Read this thread I made for the reason why.
http://www.techist.com/forums/f76/your-cpu-modern-games-guide-those-building-261626/

The e8500 is still quite capable for a CPU and if you get a new CPU and don't upgrade the 260 you'll find later that was a mistake if you want to play games like BF3, Skyrim, or Max Payne 3.

 

[Kevin86]

Thanks for the info and great thread.

I will take your advice and wait on upgrading the CPU if my current one can keep me going for now.

Are the parts I have selected fine to use when I go to upgrade further, or are there others that could be better? Would I be better off using the money I would have used for everything else now to put towards a better GPU and PSU and then upgrade the rest later?

 

[PP Mguire]

Yes just upgrade your PSU and GPU for now and then when you can afford it grab the 3570k, RAM, and motherboard later. I have a 260 myself and it can only handle games around medium settings and sometimes lower. That is on 2 Core i based machines. Your e8500 is still rather good gaming today and something around a 660ti or 7870 would fit real nice with your setup.

 

[Kevin86]

Great, I will do that then. Thanks for your advice, much appreciated!