Thinking of upgrading PC. Advice on what to upgrade?

[Bizman]

Oh no, the next version of Aces High WILL use more of the video card.  The entire graphics engine may run on the video card. How much of a load there will be is what we do not know yet.  It is safe to say, if you want a chance to run with all the bells and whistles, I would say a video card with 2GB of dedicated video RAM, or more, will be needed.

Oh yes, I'll have to formulate my sentences better in the future, because that was exactly what I was trying to say. Outsmarted myself again with too complicated sentences! Hadn't they tried to build the Tower of Babel, we'd be talking the same language (Genesis 11:6).  

[MrRiplEy[H]]

We're just two nations separated by uncommon language 

[SilverZ06]

I run a coolermaster h80 watercooler on my i5-2500k. My temps are usually under 40C. As I type they are at 37C. On very rare occasions (heavy load) it will get to 65-70C (note: it will get hotter running prime95 but since I don't do anything that demends load on cpu like prime95 it's fine.) My i5 is clocked at 4.6Ghz and has been for several years now.

[Denniss]

PSU is a diablotek DA series
model ID: PSDA600

There was I reason I asked for the brand and model of your PSU - that's a very cheap PSU with just 480W (claimed) on the 12V rail. Judging from multiple test of similar low-end high-watt PSU even these 480W will hardly ever be delivered.
I would never ever connect an expensive new VGA card to this BS power supply. You don't need 700-750W if you get a quality PSU that's actually able to deliver 600W.

[Gman]

As others have said, save the $ on the CPU and upgrade your GPU/cooler and so on.  RAM won't get you a whole lot of gaming performance either, as stated already too.

Anandtech did a test recently, I linked it in another thread and will have to go back and find it.  The took every CPU from the i5 2500k (your CPU Latrobe incidentally) right up to the fastest one a gamer would buy, newer socket 2011/3 5930k, about a dozen CPUs in the middle, from 4770k on up to 4790k, and so on.  They used a 780ti (fast card 6 months ago when they did the test, not the fastest, but up there).  The difference between CPUs in terms of gaming performance with the top 10 games they tested was negligible.  We're talking 15% as an absolute MAX, and most were only single digits, from "slowest" cpu to "fastest".

It's very much a GPU world out there in terms of gaming performance, based on that, and other similar articles, and experiences.  Based on this, putting your $ if you're limited on what you can spend on upgrading into the GPU instead of any CPU upgrades is probably for the best.  IMO the best thing you could do if you can't build a "new" system is keep what you have, fix that cooling issue, and put a 970 card into it.  You could probably do this for under 350$ if you look around (coolers aren't that expensive).  I doubt your AH, or most any other game performance, would be that much "less" than the majority of newer gaming PCs recently built.

[Skuzzy]

For the sake of comparison.  We are, currently, targeting the NVidia 9800GTX video card, as the low end card (all graphic options at minimums) for the next version of Aces High.  You can use that for a relative comparison at some sites.

[Latrobe]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I'll certainly be getting a nice new fan (Noctua probably, that looks nice!) to sort the cooling issue out first before I even think about doing anything else like overclocking. That 970 card would be a very nice addition to my PC and I'll be looking to get that ASAP

I'll have to look into getting a new PSU as well it seems, any recommendations on a good one for as cheap as possible?

[Bizman]

Seasonic has a very good reputation. They design and build their own products unlike many others. How about this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151096?

[-ammo-]

I'll shout out for a Seasonic PSU.  I have an 800 watt model with no issues

[Latrobe]

Seasonic has a very good reputation. They design and build their own products unlike many others. How about this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151096?

That looks nice! Think I might have to buy that  

[Bino]

After reading Skuzzy's posts on the subject in here, I have Seasonic PSU, too.  (see build spec link in sig)

[SilverZ06]

For the sake of comparison.  We are, currently, targeting the NVidia 9800GTX video card, as the low end card (all graphic options at minimums) for the next version of Aces High.  You can use that for a relative comparison at some sites.

Skuzzy, how are we supposed to keep speculating and giving incorrect assumptions if you keep posting things like this?!!?!? 

[Skuzzy]

Skuzzy, how are we supposed to keep speculating and giving incorrect assumptions if you keep posting things like this?!!?!? 

We have been saying the 9800GTX was our baseline since we started the update work.

[Latrobe]

So I finally replaced the thermal paste (it was completely shot as suspected) and the CPU's now running at 50-55 (Peaking at 60) while I'm playing Planetside 2. Once I get the Noctua fan I'm sure that'll come down some more, but I'm quite happy with a 40 degree drop .  

Going to start looking into overclocking now. How do I go about overclocking the i5 2500-K? How high can I push it without breaking anything?

[Bizman]

So I finally replaced the thermal paste (it was completely shot as suspected) and the CPU's now running at 50-55 (Peaking at 60) while I'm playing Planetside 2. Once I get the Noctua fan I'm sure that'll come down some more, but I'm quite happy with a 40 degree drop .  

Going to start looking into overclocking now. How do I go about overclocking the i5 2500-K? How high can I push it without breaking anything?

Overclocking should be done in small steps, testing in between. You know the clock rate comes from bus x multiplier? If you raise the multiplier leaving the bus as is, the temperatures would go up more than if you lower the multiplier and raise the bus instead. Getting a balance between the two is what you're aiming for. Modern motherboards should not be able to boot if the settings are too far off, so you should be relatively safe. After a couple of failing boots the motherboard should drop to fail safe settings, allowing you to try again.

Look for advice in overclocking boards, there's plenty of them. Also remember that each processor is a unique item, their overclocking capabilities vary.