I need some advice.

[QwertyMusicMan]

Hello all, I would really appreciate some help. I'm inheriting a state-of-the-art gaming rig, which unfortunately doesn't hold-up by today's standards, as it was top of the line in 2006. This computer means a lot to me, so I would rather upgrade it than build a new rig. The case is in great condition and looks awesome, the PSU is 550w or so. Obviously, I would have to replace the mobo, GPU, CPU, and RAM. I'm just wondering how I should go-about doing so.

The computer is outfitted with a water-cooling system, which I'll likely have to remove. I'm not sure if there is also a fan in it. I'm looking to play higher-end games, especially the forthcoming BF3 on higher settings. I want to replace the parts with:

mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-_-Motherboards+-+Intel-_-GIGABYTE-_-13128495
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157243

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965
or
AMD Phenom II X4 955
or
Intel i5 2500k

GPU: GeForce GTX 570
or
GeForce GTX 560

RAM: 6GB or 8GB DDR3

In other words: I need someone to tell me if I can upgrade this computer easily, and if so, which set of parts would be the best cost-to-value ratio for game performance. Thank you so much.

 

[jonnyp11]

For a value setup, the 955 along with either 8 or 4, not 6gb's of ram, you want to get 2 sticks of ram and there are no 3gb sticks, 2 sticks enables dual channel mode which is faster, and for the motherboard, the am3+ obviously, but i'd get a 900 series chipset so it has the newest technology, the 800's were designed for the athlon and phenom II's, then adapted to these newer sockets, but they are fine, and both the 560 and 570 are powerfull enough to come close to if not max out any current game. But also the os is registered to the current motherboard so if you don't have the install disk then you may have to get a new one, and you may need to get a new hdd anyways as the older ones most likely use the wrong socket and will not work with this motherboard, has to be sata III i belive.