What to Upgrade First

[Mgatlin]

I'm looking to upgrade my current PC to something that's a little more powerful. I haven't done any overclocking and I'm not quite sure how to do it/don't have a an additional coolant for my tower.

1. Is it something I should look into and relatively easy and worth it?

2.Should I upgrade my graphics card or my CPU first for the greatest increase in performance?

I currently run Intel Core i3-2120 3.3GHz Dual Core
and
Radeon HD 6870 1GB Video Card

Which should I upgrade first and to what (Not looking to spend more than $300)?

Thanks!

[potis]

Nothing, save your money.

Even if its 2 year old PC if its for WoW you are gonna be fine.., 300$ cant get you much gain, or well ~400 can for a new i5 and a motherboard and rest of the parts whatever you have already and then find money to upgrade the GPU.

Other option would be to find an i5 2500K assuming your motherboard can OC, if by any chance you have such a motherboard..but generally the best would be, save your money.

[Mgatlin]

Well WoW, handles pretty well and I'm happy with how that runs. I'm looking to run slightly more graphic-intensive games like Far Cry 3, Tomb Raider, etc.

My current build is:
CPU: Intel Core i3-2120 3.3GHz Dual Core
MoBo: MSI H61M-E33 (B3) Micro ATX LGA1155
RAM: Ripjaw 2 x 4GB DDR3-1333
GPU: Radeon HD 6870 1GB
PSU: HEC 585W ATX 12V

Would an i5 not be compatible with my MoBo? And would you still recommend saving money for now?

[Deleted]

Upgrade Radeon 6870 to Nvidia GTX760.

[potis]

Basically the issue is, that i3 isnt so horrible for a CPU, not "great" but its decent enough for lighter gaming even if its 2 years old, i mean..I am pretty sure it can run Far Cry 3 and Tomb Raider, in combination with a 760 probably at High without fluff but..

You could get a new GPU, like a 760 as mentioned, but you need to change the CPU also to actual strong levels, like a i5 xx70 or xx70K type, which at that point would be better to buy whatever new comes out in place of 760 money wise, lets say 860.

You are basically going to be stuck in a loop of upgrading parts and keeping older.

[Mgatlin]

Basically the issue is, that i3 isnt so horrible for a CPU, not "great" but its decent enough for lighter gaming even if its 2 years old, i mean..I am pretty sure it can run Far Cry 3 and Tomb Raider, in combination with a 760 probably at High without fluff but..

You could get a new GPU, like a 760 as mentioned, but you need to change the CPU also to actual strong levels, like a i5 xx70 or xx70K type, which at that point would be better to buy whatever new comes out in place of 760 money wise, lets say 860.

You are basically going to be stuck in a loop of upgrading parts and keeping older.

So what exactly would I be waiting for then? Enough money in the bank until I can upgrade both the CPU and GPU at the same time?

[vesseblah]

So what exactly would I be waiting for then? Enough money in the bank until I can upgrade both the CPU and GPU at the same time?

No. Just switch the graphics card for something newer. That GTX760 mentioned is pretty good purchase today if you're using single 1920x1080 monitor for games. Your current processor is slowing you down a bit in FC3 but not that much.