Upgrade Decision - Advice Wanted

[Zhel]

I am a long time browser and new poster here. I am looking for some help deciding on how to start upgrading my ~4 year old system. I have had experience researching and working on PCs (as per hobby), but a bit lost on current hardware as well as insight on market changes (bang for buck) with new hardware incoming.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Primarily gaming, with some (very) casual play with Gimp/Blender. Current games are Skyrim and SW:TOR; future games will be Guild Wars 2, Kingdoms of Amalur, and possibly Diablo 3.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Aiming for $450, give or take $50. Includes everything.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Arkansas, USA.
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU, Mobo, RAM, CPU cooler; OR Video Card (plus case/ssd if budget permits)
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
XFX 260GTX video card, SG Barracuda 7200s (2x320Gb, 1x1.5Tb), DVD-RW drive, Corsair TX850W PSU, Lian Li PC-A05N, TV Tuner, Auzen X-Fi Prelude Sound Card (if vastly superior to onboard)
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes for CPU
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
24" 1920x1200
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Either immediately or after Nvidia/AMD Intel/AMD releases next year
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? etc.
At least 3 SATA 3Gb/s(I believe? not positive on 3 vs 6), at least 4 USB 2.0 (kb/mouse, tuner remote, wireless 360 controller)
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes; Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

I am looking for some guidance on deciding whether to upgrade now (as when you get that itch, you got that itch =P), and what components would be the better bang for buck to grab now. For completeness, primary parts in my current system are:

Intel C2D 6600 oc'd @ 3.0Ghz
Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus
4Gb DDR2 RAM
XFX 260 GTX
Corsair TX850W PSU

Depending on suggestions, I'd like to either upgrade the Mobo/CPU/RAM set, or the GPU, and to finish the 'complete' upgrade some time after the new releases. Would like the completed build to last 4+ years with minimal updates (beyond perhaps Ivy Bridge/video card upgrades).

I am not one that requires maxed graphic settings (niceties are nice of course), nor one that regularly requires 50+ frames in my games (I personally don't notice the difference of consistent 40 vs. 60fps). I do want consistency, and overall system stability. Currently, Skyrim runs fine on my 260GTX (tweaked high settings), and while SWTOR generally runs ~40fps, it dips down alot in some areas (no matter settings), and the system overall bogs down from memory loads (loading screens and quitting take a good long while than normal).

These are the items I've picked out for the CPU/Mobo upgrade:

ASRock Extreme 3 Gen 3 Mobo - $124.99
Intel I5-2500K CPU - $219.99
G.Skill Value 8Gb (2x4) PC3 10600 - $34.99
Cooler Master Hyper 212 CPU Cooler - $29.04
Tuniq TX-2 Thermal Compound - $6.99
Total: $416

As for video cards, I generally look at the neighborhood of ~$250 dollars for a single card solution. With the current market selections, this would be nVidia 560 Ti or ATI 6950. I've used both brands in the past, comfortable with either one, as well as any hardware/driver issues the brands may bring. Not particular on the 3rd party companies (XFX, Sapphire, etc.), long as the cooler is efficient for long play sessions.

Also looking at a Lian Li PC-K56 case (~$70 after shipping) or a Crucial M4 64Gb SSD (~$105), both as extras or later upgrades.

Any suggestions or alternatives for any of the above will be greatly appreciated. Any 'cheap' upgrades for individual items to think about (such as ~10-20 more for a better video card, etc.) is fine too, long as the aim stays near $450 for current purchases.

 

[Dangman]

would not go with that AsRock mobo on account of the short 1-2 year warranty and the poor rating other AsRock LGA 1155 mobos recieved:
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/12/07/asrock_z68_pro3_lga_1155_motherboard_review/
http://hardocp.com/article/2011/11/09/asrock_z68_extreme4_gen3_motherboard_review/

So I recommend this mobo instead:
$133 - Asus P8Z68-V LE Intel Z68 ATX Motherboard

With the exception of the motherboard, your planned parts list looks good to me. GPU wise, I'd go for the HD 6950.

 

[Forceman]

No need to buy thermal paste, as the stuff that comes with the Hyper 212+ is plenty good enough.

 

[Zhel]

Thanks for the replies so far.

@Danny: The Asus board, how is it for SLI applications? I know I didn't mention it before, and currently have no plans to, but as I like 'future proofing' as much as possible, it is a curious question.

I've also found a few deals or better prices for these parts:

P8Z68-V LE $119.69 (Danny's link)
I5-2500k $204.99 ($15 off promo)
Hyper 212 $20.63
G.Skill Ripjaws 12800 ~$35.19 (20% off promo)

Total: $380.50 (free shipping on everything)

I assume the Ripjaws are a fine replacement over the value series? The discount leaves them less than a dollar difference. Will there be space issues with the spreaders and the 212 on that mobo?

Leaves room for a new case or SSD too. Neither being true improvements to gaming (better load times I assume with an SSD over HDD), so which if either would be good purchases now rather than later? My current case would work fine, though with it's warranty out, I'll probably add a few extra holes (PSU has no intake hole/grill at the bottom, etc.).

 

[Dangman]

Thanks for the replies so far.

@Danny: The Asus board, how is it for SLI applications? I know I didn't mention it before, and currently have no plans to, but as I like 'future proofing' as much as possible, it is a curious question.

According to Asus, that mobo does not support SLI. So go with this mobo instead if you want SLI;$115 - MSI P67A-G43 Intel P67 ATX Motherboard

I assume the Ripjaws are a fine replacement over the value series? The discount leaves them less than a dollar difference. Will there be space issues with the spreaders and the 212 on that mobo?

Yes to both questions. I have that RAM and HSF right now. You would have to raise the fan on the 212+ a little bit to fit the G.Skill RAM. Not that hard to do and you'll still get decent cooling.

Leaves room for a new case or SSD too. Neither being true improvements to gaming (better load times I assume with an SSD over HDD), so which if either would be good purchases now rather than later? My current case would work fine, though with it's warranty out, I'll probably add a few extra holes (PSU has no intake hole/grill at the bottom, etc.).

I'd go with a SSD if you're planning on doing a fresh OS reinstall with the new build anyway. That way you don't have to reinstall the OS later after you've already setup your OS and apps. It's a lot quicker IMO to swap parts into a new case than to reinstall all your apps, OS, OS updates, etc onto a new SSD.