Which one to upgrade? CPU or GPU?

[Baenwort]

I'm trying to choose which one will be upgraded this cycle. The CPU/Etc or the video card. The next upgrade will be next year of which ever one I don't upgrade this time. I used to just replace the entire rig but I'm on a budget now that I'm married so one or the other.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming, specifically Civ5, FOTM FPS, EVE online(3 clients at 1900x1200 on two separate monitors.)

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Depends on which is better to upgrade. I have a budget of $600 for the CPU/RAM/MB or $350 for the GPU

3) Where do you live?
Chicago, IL area

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.

My current rig is a E8400(4GB Ram) OCed daily use to 4Ghz and able to go upto 4.5Ghz with 1.4V and a 4870x2 running stock. Both of them under watercooling. The budget doesn't need to include cooling.

I'm only looking to replace one or the other.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model

I will be reusing the remaining parts. 80GB Gen2 Intel SSD, 2x 150GB Raptors, 2x 2TB WD Green, 2x 1TB WD Black(RAID 1 on Green and blacks, RAID 0 on Raptors), Combo BR/HD DVD burner drive, 8 120mm Delta HS fans(20W each startup), 1 120x72mm(two contra rotating fans in one housing pulls 40w startup), Current power supply is BFG ES-800.

6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
2x 24"

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Now

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.

I have a PERC 5/i for my raid needs so crossfire for future expansion and Firewire400 is needed for my video editing hobby.

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 Pro 64bit

 

[Dangman]

If you have the 2GB version the HD 4870X2, then upgrade the CPU + mobo + RAM:
$380 - Intel Core i5-2500K CPU + Asus P8P67 PRO Intel P67 ATX Motherboard Combo
$90 - G.Skill Ripjaws F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
----
Total: $470 plus tax and shipping.

 

[bastage]

I know the q9550's were going for 100ish lately.. if you can snag one for that I would say do that & get a 6950 (then flash to 6970) & you should be in less then the CPU/Mobo/Ram upgrade would be & net you more gain.

I know you said one or the other, but I also dont know how long your talking for your next cycle (if its 1 month then disregard, but if its 6+ months bulldozer will be out on the CPU front so putting off the CPU upg until then will either net you a faster CPU then now or a cheaper one) & I dont know of any MAJOR products coming out on the GPU front until probably Q3

 

[Baenwort]

The next cycle for me won't be will Q1 or Q2 of next year depending on when new releases come out. As I mentioned I'm on a budget now so I'm planing on one upgrade per calendar year.

The q9550($150 seems to be the best price right now.) seems like to much of a side-grade. I would get the extra two cores but unless I'm more lucky then I tend to be I most probably won't be able to overclock to the same speed. My video/photo editing is strictly a hobby that I'm satisfied with the performance of currently so I'm looking mainly at gaming performance. Which from my understanding is more influenced by the absolute clock speed of a lower number of cores. Sandy bridge seems to over clock as well or better then my current chip and from what I've read performs better at the same clock speed. I haven't been following developments as well as I used to which is why I've come to you guys for advice. Has the gaming scene changed while I wasn't looking that lesser per core performance has a smaller impact then the raw number of cores?

I do have the 2GB 4870x2(effectively 1GB per 4870 on the card).

 

[bastage]

The next cycle for me won't be will Q1 or Q2 of next year depending on when new releases come out. As I mentioned I'm on a budget now so I'm planing on one upgrade per calendar year.

The q9550($150 seems to be the best price right now.) seems like to much of a side-grade. I would get the extra two cores but unless I'm more lucky then I tend to be I most probably won't be able to overclock to the same speed. My video/photo editing is strictly a hobby that I'm satisfied with the performance of currently so I'm looking mainly at gaming performance. Which from my understanding is more influenced by the absolute clock speed of a lower number of cores. Sandy bridge seems to over clock as well or better then my current chip and from what I've read performs better at the same clock speed. I haven't been following developments as well as I used to which is why I've come to you guys for advice. Has the gaming scene changed while I wasn't looking that lesser per core performance has a smaller impact then the raw number of cores?

I do have the 2GB 4870x2(effectively 1GB per 4870 on the card).

Depends on the games.. But at this point most will benefit from the extra cores. Enough to make up for the possible lack in OC compared to now will depend on what games. & If you watch the Hot Deals sub forum I seem to remember the q9550 going for 89.99 somewhere on a couple occasions as of late.

& Yes a Sandy Bridge setup would perform better there is certainly no question about that. It just kinda comes down to what your going to get the best increase for your money for. & Yea if you cant score a q9550 (or like) for less then 100 bucks then I would probably say to upgrade the rest of the components to sandy bridge (dannys build is solid), But if you can score a q9550for less then 100 I think your better option is video & CPU..