Long story short, my goal is to slowly upgrade my PC every year or two, in an effort to keep it current while avoiding a large fee at any given time (during a single year).

 

The specs page for it can be found here, but the nuts and bolts are:

Motherboard: H-RS880-uATX(aloe)

Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1065T (6 cpu's @ 2.9 GHz)

GPU: AMD HD 6770

RAM: 12GB

Power Supply: 460W

Hard Drive: 2x 2TB (I added one)

 

Since as far as I can tell, the only time my cpu has ever been challenged was when the java process for runscape made 6 duplicates of itself, I figured I would upgrade the GPU first. I'm not really sure what my budget is, since this will be a Christmas present, but ideally I was thinking of this lovely HD 7870, which looks to be about twice as powerful as my 6770 in terms of pixel and texture fill rates, and RAM. However, I expect I will need a new PSU (I'll probably need a new one no matter what I do, I don't think the one I have is running with awesome amounts of power to spare).

 

However, if that turns out to be more than I can ask for this year, I was also thinking about going for a CPU instead, since they seem to be a bit cheaper. I was thinking of this one, but I'm not sure that that thing is practical for me, and I don't think my mobo can take it anyway. Other than that, I'm not sure there is anything I am confident enough in being future proof in the 100-200 range (because I would be trying to find a cheaper alternative).

 

Or maybe I am being silly, and I should just wait another year to start putting in new parts. Nothing in the computer except the second hard drive is more than a year old, and it does still run things quite nicely. So if it can get through another year while still taking everything I throw at it, then the money will just go that much further next year (or the GPU I am looking at will just be cheaper).

 

Oh, and the games that I would be looking to handle in the future would be Dead Space 3 (should be fine), GTA 5 (might be a problem, especially if they optimize it with the same care they did with 4), and any new Fallout and Elder Scrolls games (should be safe for a while on those fronts).

 

I think I just talked myself out of upgrading for now, but still, any thoughts?

The question you have to ask yourself first is do you really need upgrades right now? I know benchmarks are really nice to look at but you have to ask yourself is it really worth it performance/pricewise and are there any games you are struggling with?

 

If I had to recommend anything I would say purchase an SSD (link for a 128GB M4) which will give noticeably better performance everywhere. Also at the least you can do a bit of overclocking on your 6770 if you haven't already.

You'll fall behind in terms of motherboard and cpu thus making the process null and void. Just use what you can until everything is outdated then take the case, hdd/ssd, drives, and possibly monitor into your next build.

Agreed with Lowc on the processor and motherboard. Still, even by today's standards, your computer has quite high specs, and you don't need an upgrade yet, if you want to upgrade. I also agree on getting the SSD though, I have the 128GB M4 in my laptop and never regretted getting it.

Opps, I read the replies but never said anything. Thanks for the advice, I think I might need to look at my strategy again for lowering the impact of the cost of a sweet computer in any given year. In honesty, my computer is still doing just fine, and probably will for at least another year before I really have to start compromising on the graphics. The mobo and CPU will take adequete upgrades when that does happen, so there will be no point in replacing them until they can't keep up.

 

I am on the fence with a solid state. In all honesty, I just really don't want to go through the nail biter of migrating my OS, because I don't trust that process to actually work. Also, truth be told I am perfectly happy with the speed my hard drives work at, and am more than happy to keep being happy until SSD's get even cheaper and bigger. My HDD's have a another 3 years left in them at least, maybe more. I probably wont go solid until I have to change OS's.

I was on the fence on SSD's but I jumped in at 60 bucks for a 60gb and its plenty for just an OS and basic programs. I use my hdd's for games and such because I don't mind loading screens as much as 5s boot up times and instant browser load times.

I'd upgrade the GPU if you have games that could use the upgrade. Otherwise just wait a while.

For now, just upgrade the GPU and PSU.