Can I still upgrade?

[RossNews]

So I got a killer PC from work, as top of the line as that gets. However I am now based in two different places and I would like to recreate something that can handle most games on high/ultra on my old machine.

Current specs

CPU: AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 955 Processor @ 3.2Ghz
MOBO: GA-990XA-UD3
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 2GB
RAM: 12GB (Patriot G2 Series Division 2 1X8GB PC3-12800 DDR3-1600 9-9-9-24 1.6V Memory Module) + (2x2GB G. Skill 12800)
HDD: ADATA AS510S3-120GM-C 120GB 2.5in SATA3 SandForce SF-2281 Solid State Disk Drive SSD + 300GB 7200RPM storage drive
PSU: Thermaltake 1000W Gold+

What I was thinking...
CPU: FX 8350 or FX 9590 (worth it?)
GPU: GTX 960 or 970 (worth it?)
RAM: 1 slot left... should i bother with DDR3?
HDD: SSD (250-500GB) suggestions?

Any helpful info would be appreciated.

 

[PP Mguire]

Just get an 8320 and a 970 and you'll be fine.

Sent from my D6616

 

[StalemateBlack]

Just get an 8320 and a 970 and you'll be fine.

Sent from my D6616

I would also agree with this.

The other upgrade ideas would have marginal effect on overall performance.

Opting for a larger data drive (non-SSD) would help with storage but that's pretty much it in terms of impact.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

You really should have your RAM in dual channel configuration, and not mix/match different capacities.

 

[PP Mguire]

You really should have your RAM in dual channel configuration, and not mix/match different capacities.

I have 9GB in my server, all different speeds and sizes and it's in dual channel.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Then I am surprised if you would be getting any benefit what so ever from the increased bandwidth. No way an 8GB, 2GB, and 2GB stick could give him any form of dual channel, proper or improper.

 

[PP Mguire]

I can run some mem benchmarks if you like. I've ran mismatched dual channel setups since my SLI-DR days. Not like it really matters as we aren't starved for memory bandwidth anyways.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Depends in the end on what you do, I can think of a few things where your average PC starves for more bandwidth on the memory side of things.

 

[PP Mguire]

That also depends on your definition of average pc. Because machines like mine are still consumer grade and 2011 is 4 years old now so parts are pretty cheap. They come packing quad channel. I've never done anything that has needed more memory bandwidth and I'm not your average user.

When it comes to gaming, you can run DDR2 still and it'd be fine. So even if he wasn't running dual channel it wouldn't matter much.

Sent from my D6616