Extremely limited budget, looking for the biggest upgrade

[Cebel]

I am looking to upgrade my PC a bit ( as much as possible ), for my birthday. Here are my current computer parts:

CPU: Intel Core i5-750 ( stock clocks )
RAM: 4GB DDR3 1600 Mhz
Motherboard: Asus p7p55d
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX260
SSD: Vertex 4 128gb
HDD: 2x 500 gb Seagate baracuda 7200 rpms


At the moment im pretty sure my bottleneck is my GPU, but Id love to get some more informed opinions as well as recommendations. Looking at a 300$ budget for upgrading atm... Would also like something thats sort of future proofed so I can further upgrade this coming summer ( summer job etc ).

[Priestiality]

I am looking to upgrade my PC a bit ( as much as possible ), for my birthday. Here are my current computer parts:

CPU: Intel Core i5-750 ( stock clocks )
RAM: 4GB DDR3 1600 Mhz
Motherboard: Asus p7p55d
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX260
SSD: Vertex 4 128gb
HDD: 2x 500 gb Seagate baracuda 7200 rpms


At the moment im pretty sure my bottleneck is my GPU, but Id love to get some more informed opinions as well as recommendations. Looking at a 300$ budget for upgrading atm... Would also like something thats sort of future proofed so I can further upgrade this coming summer ( summer job etc ).

Your GPU is definitely the bottleneck, however you can't really future-proof an already outdated motherboard... That being said, you could get a decent GPU that you could carry over to a new build.

[Cebel]

Your GPU is definitely the bottleneck, however you can't really future-proof an already outdated motherboard... That being said, you could get a decent GPU that you could carry over to a new build.

Yea im well aware that when i upgrade anything ( other than the gpu essentially ), that i would also need a new motherboard. What gfx card would you recommend? Ive been considering the 660ti. Would that be my best bet? Or are their any new gfx series coming soon ( within the next month ) that I should wait for?

[chazus]

There are new cards coming out... probably... 3 months from now, maybe. It may knock prices down a little, but I wouldnt expect a lot. Nobody even knows benchmarks just yet.

A 7870 or 7950 would be a good choice though.

Honestly your CPU is pretty decent. I'd probably wait til Haswell comes out and upgrade to that instead of Ivy Bridge.

[Cebel]

There are new cards coming out... probably... 3 months from now, maybe. It may knock prices down a little, but I wouldnt expect a lot. Nobody even knows benchmarks just yet.

A 7870 or 7950 would be a good choice though.

Not gonna lie im a pretty die hard nvidia guy, any reasons why you suggest those 2 cards over a roughly equivalent nvidia card?

[chazus]

Not gonna lie im a pretty die hard nvidia guy, any reasons why you suggest those 2 cards over a roughly equivalent nvidia card?

Better performance for the same price isn't a good reason? O_o

Unfortunately, the 660ti sits at a very weird spot in price/performance, and nVidia doesn't provide a decent 'in between' card.

[Cebel]

Better performance for the same price isn't a good reason? O_o

Unfortunately, the 660ti sits at a very weird spot in price/performance, and nVidia doesn't provide a decent 'in between' card.

How much better is the performance though? Considering WoW is my primary game, ive heard Nvidia typically gains an advantage within WoW. ( Correct my if thats false :P ).

[slasher0161]

Bang for your buck pretty much, if the budget is tight ati will provide more performance per $ generally.

[Cebel]

If I get the 7950, how big of a performance increase will i see ingame? ( Can i take everything off low in 25 man raids and not feel like im playing a slide show? ) :P

[slasher0161]

With a 7950 or 660ti you should be playing nearly full ultra around 50fps in a 25man if i'm not mistaken.

[chazus]

I mean you'll get that with either, the 7950 just does a smidge better in most games for the same price. Either way, you'd be making a pretty significant jump in performance. Anywhere from 40-70%

[Cebel]

Okay guys, thanks for the help.

[Shiromar]

I'm surprised that no one asked this.. What's your PSU?

[Cebel]

I'm surprised that no one asked this.. What's your PSU?

Let me bust out my handy dandy dungeon crawling suit and flash light and ill come back with the answer!

[chazus]

I'm surprised that no one asked this.. What's your PSU?

Nobody really asked because whatever he has now to power that system is enough to power whatever he puts in there.
260 = 170w
660ti = 150w
7950 = 180w

[Cebel]

It is an Antec Earthwatts ... Model: EA-650

which when i searched = http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371015

[chazus]

Yeah, double more than enough.

[Cebel]

Yeah, double more than enough.

Its crazy, i stole that damn thing out of my dads previous build 3-5 years ago? when i built this machine :P Guess PSUs dont go out of style to quick :P

[chazus]

Yes and no. Power wise, computers are getting better and better. Sometimes the technology changes though. Like PCI-E ports and SATA. But that 650 was probably a top end thing a few years back, so it ought to have all that now still.

[Cebel]

Yes and no. Power wise, computers are getting better and better. Sometimes the technology changes though. Like PCI-E ports and SATA. But that 650 was probably a top end thing a few years back, so it ought to have all that now still.

yea it does