Considering an upgrade on some components

[Neviskio]

Hello guys, I'm considering an upgrade for my pc on SOME of my components, I don't really want to build it straight from the ground since there's haswell coming out and I'm hoping it will be the serious upgrade I'm looking for.

this is what I'm using right now:

cpu dissipation: Noctua NH-D14 (this is actually relevant more below)
CPU:Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz Socket 1155 (currently Overclocked at around 4.2ghz, not really pushing it too hard but works stable at 4.6-4.8 if I change my dissipation, already tried with a friend =P)
motherboard: Asus Maximus IV Extreme Rev3.0 Socket 1155 Intel P67 DDR3 SATA3 USB3 ATX
Ram: DDR3 G.Skill Ripjaws-X F3-17000CL9D-8GBXLD 2133MHz 8GB (2x4GB) CL9
GPU: ati radeong 5870
monitor: Iiyama PLE2407HDS @ 1920x1080 60hz. (got a second monitor but it needs an upgrade, it's rarely used tho) currently not hdmi plugged but will be.

Now the weak points that I wanted to upgrade are the ram/gpu/SSD and probably PSU(due to the gpu upgrade I think I need a better one...maybe?).

I didn't plan a cpu+mobo upgrade but I could consider it if the upgrade is noticeable, but I think haswell would be the natural upgrade IF it's a lot better than my 2600k, which right now I'm doubting.

One big issue is that my noctua actually blocks 2 of my ram slots, since the motherboard is badly designed, so I'm currently working with 2 dual channel slots, I can upgrade my dissipation methods(air only) if I need to use more ram slots but right now I think I don't really need it.

My ideas would be for this upgrade:

GPU: nvidia gtx 680 windforce gigabyte 2gb DDR5, want to avoid ati due to many driver issues, unless the 7900 series are GODLY and drivers are perfect, I might want to try nvidia this time
RAM: atleast 16gb, since I'm constantly at 90% ram used with 8gb and even with 16 I'm wary that I might overuse it...not sure on which one, tridentx maybe the one suggested on the mainpage in the builds maybe?
SSD: I have a REALLY OLD HD at 5400rpm(I think, can't check right now though)...I definitely need either a 200+gb ssd or some godly hd since my pc is bottlenecked with my storage, but got no clues on this one, read about the samsung one in the suggested builds on the frontpage, suggestions needed.Could also use some internal HD for extra storage at 7200+rpm minimum.I'm currently using 2 internal maxtor 250gb storages at 5400 rpm,1 500gb still 5400 rpm I think, and 1 external usb2 1TB hd(7200 rpm should be this one), I definitely need atleast 2-3 tb of space just as storage.best would be ssd storages since I have a lot of programs but meh...budget concerns.
PSU: again no idea but was thinking to upgrade to 750+ corsairs since I think with a new gpu I'd probably need it? need help on this matter.

My budget depends on the improvement,the more I can notice it the more I'm willing to spend, I could go upward 1-2k € but of course the less is better, since I don't think excluding my gpu and ram that I could see strong improvements.

So what you think about my upgrade plan? I'm a bit clueless if there's something coming out right now so any help would be nice!

A good price source would be amazon.it since I'm in italy and plan to buy from either that or e-key.it, still price isn't really a big issue as long as I get some suggestions, I can then find on my own the pieces =P


edit: google found out that my disks are at 7200 rpm, still I feel they are a heavy bottleneck, and I could really use atleast 1 ssd or 2 if they're worth the money now =P

[ebah]

-SSD Samsung 830 Series
-DDR3 ram some cheap, freq doesnt matter much at all.
-XFX 550W Core Edition PSU, 80+ Bronze is fine, if u dont plan cf/sli.
-GPU your suggestion is good.

[Neviskio]

Ty, I actually forgot that my PSU is 650hz corsair something, I guess it's still ok.

I'm thinking on getting something like a 500gb or 2 ssd's, think it's unreasonable? I did go and check and I have around 600gb of programs that could benefit from the change to ssd, but that must be expensive <.<

I'm going to check the ssd you suggested I'm totally new to ssd =P

[chazus]

I'm a bit curious what you have that is '600gb in programs'. Do you really need all those? Your best bet if you REALLY do need that much space, is to get a 500gb drive, trim it down a bit, and something like a 3TB data drive. Get rid of those old ones.

Also, what exactly do you do that has you using 7gb of ram? I do a fair bit myself and push about that... But I'm usually running more crap than most people. Regardless, you can probably fit 4 sticks of ram by getting low profile stuff.

Thirdly, your PSU is fine.

[Neviskio]

I usually multitask even too much, just right now I'm at 4.16 gb used by being "idle", most comes from chrome to be fair, because I usually have on my 2nd screen some livestream/music/youtube and almost always 10 to 40 tabs open since I heavily multitask, makes my life easier than opening and closing them all the time, add to that skype + steam + any modern game(wow alone goes to 1.2gb without addons here, pushing 1.8gb with most of my addons, some might be bugged but stilll), I also plan to do some video encoding and I'm guessing that 16gb could help, I'd have to change these or the noctua though, can't fit more than 2 since that damn thing is huge and the motherboard is just silly designed.

As far as gb usage, I'm guessing than in the end I don't "NEED" that much, but it's really convenient.I tend to install everything that I can and never uninstall unless it's totally useless, and it's mostly games from steam since it takes me FOREVER to redownload them, I do have a lot of other things(I didn't count media storage that is on my 1tb external drive which is also used for backups)

I generally use outside of steam something like 300gb of space, and steam probably makes the other 300-400-500gb which I'm guessing it would all be beneficial to be on an ssd for performance...

If I could re-download most of my steam library in less than 20hrs at best, I'd probably use a single 250gb ssd and be done with my whole pc but since the only good line I can get is this one, I usually just go for the lazyness and leave everything installed.

Also I'm guessing that ssd lifetime is atleast...5-10 years? I'm kinda planning to buy the most I can and upgrade them when they die, or when some huge breakthrough comes, my maxtor/wd ones installed right now have probalby more than 8 years if not 12+.I never change HDD unless it breaks down and I can't really remember when last broke...

I'm guessing that I could get a 840 500gb pro and cut some programs on a storage, because 2x 500gb ssd seems a bit expensive right now considering the GPU + ram upgrade too...

[Killora]

Damn man, 300gb in steam games? Do you have every bloody game on steam?

SSD lifetime will vary among size and use. Under normal use it should last you probably more than 10 years. You'll likely want to replace it before it goes bad.

Put it to you this way, my Kingston HyperX (not 3k) is rated, by kingston, for a 120gb SSD, at 60tb of writes. under normal use, which is roughly 10gb a day, that's 17 1/2 years. They may be being modest in this, i don't know. But their 500gb drives are, iirc, rated at 250tb of writes.

P.S. at 10gb a day that's 68 1/2 years. at 20gb a day that's 34 years. fairly sure that SSD is not wearing out ANY time soon.

[Deleted]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (€132.09 @ Amazon Italia)
Storage: Crucial M500 480GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (€326.99 @ Amazon Italia)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card (€428.99 @ Amazon Italia)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (€99.66 @ Amazon Italia)
Total: €987.73
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-21 14:04 CEST+0200)

That's a core, but as Killora and chazus have already said, most of the SSDs are pretty interchangable at that range. I've gone for the 7970 GHz edition as opposed to the 680 WindForce, because at the 680 Windforce range, you may as well wait for the GTX770 coming out at the start of June.

[MasterNewbie]

Damn man, 300gb in steam games? Do you have every bloody game on steam?

Given current game installation sizes, it isn't that surprising. My current steam folder is at 346 GB.

Nevi, I would recommend getting a WD Caviar Black, 2 TB, since you're concerned about the performance. Not sure where you could get that at the best price for your region, though.

[chazus]

I'll be honest. I'm not trying to criticize, but is your program 'habits' worth $200? I feel fairly certain that you could easily get that program size under 200gb. If you feel it's worth it, roll it.