Need some help with upgrade...

[misza]

Hey guys, it's my first post so please bear with me xD

It's finally time to upgrade my 5-or-so year old PC so I wanted to ask for Your advice on this as I'm completely out of touch with new hardware.

I'm currently running:
- CPU: Q8200 2.33GHz
- CPU Cooler: some no-name
- Mobo: Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R
- GPU: Asus Radeon HD4850
- RAM: Patriot EP DDR2 2x2GB (800MHz CL4 LLK)
- PSU: Chieftec CFT-600-14CS (600W)
- HDD: Samsung HD642JJ (640GB F1)
- Case: Cooler Master Centurion 534+Plus

As You can see, it's ancient. What I need is an advice of what to get to have maximum performance for the minimal price (budget is an issue and it's gonna be primarily a gaming machine). Also considering the fact that I'll be using it for another 4 or more years.
It would also be nice to be able to salvage some components - I was thinking about keeping the PSU, HDD (maybe getting an SSD in the future) and case.
Peripherials are not an issue (I keep my monitor, keyboard, mouse, optical drive and OS).

Now the problem comes - I was thinking about getting a Radeon 7950 but the are so many of them... The more I read the dumber I am. 7970 are a bit too expensive. Also I want one with a good cooling (I may OC in the future but atm my PC is suffering from severe overheating and shutdowns so I don't want to get through that again).

I read in another topic that "Intel Extreme Masters Z77 Intel Core i5 3570K 3.40GHz @ 4.40GHz DDR3 OC Bundle" is a good choice. Then probably a "Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X".

Now: am I good with it - will I be able to do well with the stuff I wanted to keep? I need to cut the costs as much as possible and still get a setup that will last a few years.

Thank You for all the input and suggestions. I'm sure it will help me a lot.

 

[Idleman]

Whatever you decide on, I would replace the Psu with at least an 80+ Bronze certified unit.
This is cheaper than the bundle and gets you a new Psu.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £187.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £85.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £54.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £39.95
1 x Thermalright True Spirit 120 REV A [BW] Performance CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £24.98
Total : £645.89 (includes shipping : £10.00).

 

[snips86x]

Whatever you decide on, I would replace the Psu with at least an 80+ Bronze certified unit.
This is cheaper than the bundle and gets you a new Psu.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £187.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £85.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £54.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £39.95
1 x Thermalright True Spirit 120 REV A [BW] Performance CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £24.98
Total : £645.89 (includes shipping : £10.00).

Great selection there Idleman.

I would however, swap the PSU for one of these, the Cheap Corsair's are not great and even some of the expensive ones are lacking quality.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Enermax Triathlor FC 550w '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply (ETA550AWT-M) £76.99
1 x Silverstone Strider Plus 500W Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (SST-ST50F-P) £67.99
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply £54.95
Total : £266.92 (includes shipping : £10.00).

 

[honosuseri]

You mention you need to keep to a budget but haven't stated one :/

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7870 XT rev2.0 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Tomb Raider & Bioshock PC Games £203.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £179.99
1 x XFX Pro Series 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £84.98
1 x Zalman Z9 USB 3.0 Midi Tower Case - Black £54.98
1 x **B Grade** Gigabyte Z68A-D3H-GEN3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 (MB-380-GI) £52.00
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £39.95
1 x Thermalright Macho 120 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
1 x Akasa USB 3.0 internal adapter cable (AK-CBUB09-15BK) £5.99
Total : £666.86 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Mobo is Xfire capable (hence the 750W PSU), it can be updated to UEFI to modernise it. The 7870XT is closely related to the 7950, you can OC it to get the same performance. Case has loads of kit for the price and will solve your overheating concerns. Decent heatsink to overclock the 2500K too

 

[misza]

I didn't specify any budget simply because I had no real idea how much it would be taking into account that I want it to last at least a few years - 4 and probably more (hence it must be powerful enough, meaning higher priced) and still be as cheap as possible.
In other words, best quality for the lowest price.

Thanks guys for suggestions, good to know that I better get a new PSU...
Again, thanks for help