PC Upgrade Need Help

[K3V1NBP]

hey i have my pc and im willing to upgrade it to be able to max out new games ( especially Borderlands 2 ) but i dont have the money to upgrade both right now so id like to know which part should i upgrade first to get the most FPS At Preferably Max Settings ( Including Physx For Borderlands 2 ). so here are the upgrades that im willing to make.

Phenom II 965 @3.6Ghz ( Stock Cooler ) To i7 3770k ( Turbo Boost No OC Till I Get My H100 )

OR

GTX 570 Twin Frozr II @820 Core,2020 Memory,1.025v To GTX 680 4Gb ( Probably OC A Bit ) ( Then Put The GTX 570 As Dedicated Physx )

Any Reply Will Be Apreciated, Thanks !

[Fudd Rucker]

I personally would make the hop to the i7 myself.

[K3V1NBP]

kk thanks

[Bond007]

while graphics may help out, I also agree that you will get more of an improvement with the CPU upgrade.

That said if I could make a suggestion it would be to consider selling the x4 965/ gtx 570/ motherboard and buy a gtx 670/motherboard/and a 3570k.

If that is not an option then maybe just go to the 3570k now (vice the 3770k) and save the extra $100 for a gpu upgrade when its required.

[Arinoth]

That's actually a good idea Bond, a 3770k is going to be over kill for just gaming compared to say the 3570k. Also, unless you are gaming at 2560 x 1440 or higher resolution you could get away with going with a GTX 670 for 1080p gaming.

Hell if you are dead set on the 680 rather then a 670, unless you are playing at 5670 x 1080 or higher resolutions (aka 3 monitors) there is NO benefit over the premium of the extra 2GB on the regular 680.

[Dzzope]

You can get a pretty decent boost on both if you chose your parts well.
Just built a rig for my Brother on a Asrock z77 extreme 4 and 3570k and it's damn good for the money.
Also if you grab a 670 you get borderlands 2 free and a MSI 670 PE (matches a stock 680 but cooler and quieter) is I think about $380 after MIR.

Monitor set-up is all important here.

Unless your doing highly multi-threaded tasks the 3770k is wasted on a gaming rig.

[K3V1NBP]

well im trying to build a gaming rig that is gonna last me a good 1-3 years without any need of upgrading so im getting the best now so i dont have to keep upgrading and why i went for the 3770k instead of the 3570k is that im going to be recording w/ Dxtory and encoding videos and for the gtx 680 its because i'd rather pay 560$ now than 430$ for a gtx 670 then another 560$ later for a gtx 680.

[K3V1NBP]

and thanks guys for the replies !

[Dzzope]

Fair enough on the 3770k. You will see a difference there, though the 3570K is still no slouch.

A 670 should last just as long as a 680 really.. their performance is that close. Many custom cooled and factory oc'd 670's will even beat a stock 680 out of the box.
It's all a case of whether you can justify the extra.

A 3570k / 3770k should last you 3 years without any issues.. My brother is aiming for 5+ on his though he doesn't do any encoding or the like.
The GPU will depend on your needs / wants for games.. I would suggest if you like top end to change every second generation depending on the hardware improvements and the game requirements that come over the next 3 ish years.
But if you don't need to max a game out and aren't on high resolution (3x 1080 screens or a 2560x1440+ resolution) then it should last you at least 3 years with little effort.