What to Upgrade

[ImADot]

So, what do you hardware guys suggest should be the thing to upgrade first here? Video card, CPU, or RAM? And what suggestions for a replacement part? I'm not having any issues, but am thinking a little ahead for upcoming future use for a few games and general use (I also play around with Photoshop and Premiere). 

Current setup:
Antec 1200 Case
PC Power & Cooling 750W Power Supply
Gigabyte EP45-UD3P Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3GHz Processor
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler
4Gb Corsair RAM
Creative SoundBlaster X-fi ExtremeGamer Sound Card
EVGA GTX 260 896MB Video Card
I/O Magic DVD +/- R/RW 20x SATA Optical Drive
(3) Seagate Barracuda 500Gb SATA Hard Drive (RAID5 array for 1TB)
(1) Seagate Barracude 500Gb SATA Hard Drive (non-RAID)
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
Samsung T2400 24" Wide Screen 1920x1200 (Primary)
LG L1720P 17" 1280x1024 (Secondary)
CH FighterStick USB
CH Pro Throttle USB
CH Pro Pedals USB
TrackIR 4 w/ TrackClip Pro

dxdiag info (just the important parts):
------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 12/7/2013, 12:54:35
Machine name: FRANKENBOX
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.130828-1532)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
System Model: EP45-UD3P
BIOS: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU     E8400  @ 3.00GHz (2 CPUs), ~3.6GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 4094MB RAM
Page File: 1943MB used, 6242MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 64bit Unicode

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce GTX 260
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_05E2&SUBSYS_12623842&REV_A1
Display Memory: 2668 MB
Dedicated Memory: 877 MB
Shared Memory: 1791 MB
Current Mode: 1920 x 1200 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: SyncMaster T240,SyncMaster Magic T240(Digital)
Monitor Model: SyncMaster
Monitor Id: SAM0422
Native Mode: 1920 x 1200(p) (59.950Hz)
Output Type: DVI
Driver Name: nvd3dumx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvd3dum,nvwgf2um,nvwgf2um
Driver File Version: 9.18.0013.1106 (English)
Driver Version: 9.18.13.1106
DDI Version: 10
Driver Model: WDDM 1.1
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 2/25/2013 23:32:38, 18055184 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp:
Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-46A2-11CF-A05F-6F321CC2C435}
Vendor ID: 0x10DE
Device ID: 0x05E2
SubSys ID: 0x12623842
Revision ID: 0x00A1
Driver Strong Name: oem25.inf:NVIDIA_SetA_Devices.NTamd64.6 .1:Section002:9.18.13.1106:pci\ven_10de&dev_05e2
Rank Of Driver: 00E02001
Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_A ModeMPEG2_C ModeVC1_C ModeWMV9_C
D3D9 Overlay: Supported
DXVA-HD: Supported
DDraw Status: Enabled
D3D Status: Enabled
AGP Status: Enabled

-------------
Sound Devices
-------------
Description: Speakers (Creative SB X-Fi)
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0005&SUBSYS_00311102&REV_00
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM
Driver Name: ctaud2k.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.1368 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
WHQL Logo'd: No
Date and Size: 10/8/2008 01:22:22, 684312 bytes
Other Files:
Driver Provider: Creative
HW Accel Level: Basic
Cap Flags: 0xF1F
Min/Max Sample Rate: 100, 200000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 1, 0
Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
HW Memory: 0
Voice Management: No
EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No

[guncrasher]

not sure what your budget is but I would upgrade  the mobo/cpu/ram and video card  all at one time.

cpu:   240
mobo:160
ram      60
video card at least 250 up to a bit more than 400.

at the very least you would need new video card, but I wouldnt buy any more ram as it would be a waste of money.  see if anybody is interested in buying your cpu/mobo/ram.  that would give you an extra 100-150 bucks.


semp

[ELD66]

Ram, and GPU.
4 to 8gb would work
GPU would depend on whether your motherboard can use a faster version of PCI. If you have the motherboards info please post.

Core 2 duo is good but Core i5 would be better, so consider upgrading both motherboard and cpu. It all comes down to budget though.

[Debrody]

Your puter is very well-balanced. Changing one part will cause a serious bottleneck somewhere else.
-A much faster GPU (R7-270/GTX660) would cause a CPU-limit, you wouldnt see much of an improvement.
-8GB RAM for a dual core CPU is next to useless, especially if thats DDR2.

If youre using it only for AH, i dont think you really have to change anything. But if you decide to spend on it, please, save like 500$ and get an i5 (2500k or newer), suitable motherboard, 8GB DDR3-1600 and an R9-280/GTX770 level video card. That would give you a very noticable difference, and a puter what will serve you for many years.

[eagl]

I'd go for a new i5 cpu and motherboard, 8GB ram.  Your cpu/mobo is so old that throwing anything else at it would mostly be a waste of money.  If that runs you out of money, keep the graphics card until you can save up some more.  A GTX 660 would be a nice upgrade but if you can handle the cost, the newest 780s are really fast.

Or...

If you can find cheap parts used, you could consider finding a quad core cpu and another 4GB ram, and then make it *feel* a LOT snappier in daily use by adding an SSD.  I wouldn't bother upgrading the graphics card as long as you're using that old mobo though, no matter what cpu you put in it.

For what its worth, I had nearly the exact same system that you do.  I quit gaming when I had kids though, so instead of a complete system rebuild I found one of the last quad core socket 775 cpus on sale and dropped that in, and went to 8GB ram.  It is fast enough, I didn't even have to reinstall windows, and the old GTX 260 vid card will still run almost every game even though it is at lower settings.

Still, I built my wife an office computer based on an i5 cpu and although her system cost just $550 for nearly identical specs minus the graphics card, it is MUCH faster than my computer in everything except gaming graphics.  It is based on a quad core i5 cpu and 8GB ram.  For $400-$500ish you can have the basis of a very fast gaming rig, one that will take advantage of any vid card you put in it for the next several years.

[Pudgie]

Hi ImADot,

Before I built my latest box I was using a box similar to what you have (Intel E8600 C2D, EVGA 780i FTW mobo, OCZ Reaper HTC 4Gb x 2 DDR2 1066 mem kit, 2 WD 74Gb Raptor HDD's & PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 PSU).

I had the CPU OC'd to 4.0 Gb at the time. Since I'm a Nvidia card user I'll be quoting Nvidia cards for reference.................... ....

The biggest vid card that I could use on it at that time that didn't show to be CPU limited was the GTX 470 SC vid card.
Once I installed a Nvidia GTX 560Ti vid card in it, the vid card could not perform to it's potential due to the limitations placed on it by the CPU.....which started causing graphical issues due to the vid card throttling GPU speeds according to the then current Nvidia Fermi GPU throttling using speed stepping. It was this issue that pushed me to move to the box you now see in my sig below........................ ..........

If I were in your place right now I would recommend 1 of the Nvidia GTX 600/700 sers Kepler vid cards due to Nvidia GPU Boost (a new Nvidia tech that will control the vid card's GPU & mem speeds based on the graphics settings levels, GPU temps levels & GPU power usage levels...better line up GPU performance w/ CPU performance). You could buy larger than the 600 sers if you desired as GPU Boost is the standard in Nvidia Kepler cards at this time but don't expect a larger Kepler card to increase performance over a smaller Kepler card on your current platform.

I recommend the GTX 660Ti in particular IF you're looking to keep using what you currently are using & OC that E8400 & since that Gigabyte board is using PCI-E 2.x specs you will not have any issues concerning the PCI-E lanes & the card is good enough to be used on whatever new upgrade you would be planning & will DEFINATELY handle the new graphics engine that HTC is currently developing. The cost of this card is very low as well & will very likely run on your existing PSU. I would do this in the meantime to buy myself some time to gather adequate funds to make a full upgrade............

If you have decided that you're truly going for a full upgrade then the door opens very wide & I would recommend to put all funds toward the upgrade & based on your choices for the CPU, mobo, mem, drives, OS, PSU, etc (which I would settle on & lock down before all else is considered) then I would start considering a vid card as these early upgrade choices will largely set the stage for how much vid card you will want/need/can run. At this time you always have the option of using your EXISTING vid card w/ the new upgrade if monies will be tight after the main upgrade is settled on.....that GTX 260 will certainly be FULLY unleashed on most current upgrade packages & is already Shader 3.0 compliant & so will run the new upcoming graphics engine upgrade OK.

Anything using an Intel I5 or I7 K sers CPU (fully unlocked) w/ appropriate mobo (SB, IB on 1155 socket, Haswell on 1150 socket or SB-E, IB-E on 2011 socket) will fit the bill w/ at least 8 Gb DDR3 1600 or higher mem (use the mem kits to enable either Dual Channel on 1155 or 1150 or Quad Channel on 2011) & at least 1 SATA III HDD. The cost of all this will be according to your tastes..................

I hope that something said in this post is of some use to you.

 

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I would also upgrade those crappy creative speakers in addition to what others said.