I built my computer a couple of years ago and I'd like to bring a little closer to up-to-date. I made this computer in July 2011 for about 800$. I use it for mostly mid-low end gaming (WoW, LoL, D3, GW2, etc.) I'll likely be moving to different games later on and I'd like to make sure my computer still runs everything smoothly. My only issues are with my computer's general speed with multitudes of programs running (i.e.: 7 browser tabs [including music], photoshop, WoW, Skype, 3+ word documents, control panels for peripherals, and more) which is obviously a RAM issue.
Motherboard: Asus P8P67 (Pretty sure I can't upgrade, I'm pretty sure my OS [I bought some kind of manufacturer's version at a low price from Microcenter] prevents me from changing motherboard.)
CPU: Intel i5-2500k 3.30GHz OC'd @ ~3.4GHz
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti
HDD: 500GB
Power Supply: Thermaltake 650w (can't find exact model, this works fine for now.)
RAM: 2 x 2GB (unsure of brand name, RAM has worked fine considering how little I have.)
Cooling (Case): 4 basic ventilation fans.
Cooling (CPU): Pre-packaged fan.
Since I'm going to be receive some money soon I thought I might upgrade my machine a bit. Right now my priorities are as follows:
1. Get more RAM. I'm looking to purchase two 4GB cards and up the total RAM to 12GB. I shouldn't need more than that for a very long time. I was planning on picking up two Corsairs for about 40 bucks.
2. Get a new cooling unit for the CPU. My CPU begins to run hot every so often because of dust buildup. Dust seems to build very quickly there.
3. I'm thinking of going from the GTX 550 Ti to the GTX 650. I don't know much about ATI's cards so I don't know what they have for competitive cards in the same price range.
So I guess that leaves me with a couple of general questions:
1. What should I upgrade first for general performance? Do I have my priorities straight?
2. What type of CPU cooler should I get? I'm not running extremely hot so I don't think I'll need liquid cooling. I'd just like to step-up from what I have.
3. What video cards are most competitive for around 150$? I'm looking to upgrade but I don't know what's the best bang for my buck.
Feel free to post any comments or concerns with my opinions, setup, or anything else.