Which upgrade would net me the largest performance gain?

Built my PC about two years ago, and it has ran like a champ ever since. However, I don't want to make the same mistake I did with my first rig and let it get so out of date that I have to replace the whole PC. So, I'm looking to upgrade my PC a little bit, but I'm not sure what would net me the largest performance boost. I would also have to buy the same upgrade for my wife, since I built her the same PC that I did for myself, and we both game. So I would like to keep my total expense here to around $200 for both, but that's a little negotiable.

Here's my current PC:

CPU:AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W

Video:SAPPHIRE 100284L Radeon HD 5750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5

HDD:Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

RAM:2xG.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600)

MOBO:GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX

Case:Antec Sonata III 500

get both of you guys a 6870

I was gonna suggest you get yourself a 6950 and just give your wife your 5750 and crossfire but your motherboard doesn't support that.

Biggest improvement would be getting a better gpu something like a 6850 to keep it under $200

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908&cm_re=6850-_-14-102-908-_-Product

You couldn't make them any better with $100 (each).C_Rule

Ah crap, I didn't really notice that. I read 200 for each not 200 for both.

um

Get 2 6850's and sell the 5750's on ebay to recoup some of the cost.

[QUOTE="C_Rule"]You couldn't make them any better with $100 (each).GummiRaccoon

Ah crap, I didn't really notice that. I read 200 for each not 200 for both.

um

Get 2 6850's and sell the 5750's on ebay to recoup some of the cost.

Definitely the video card, but you'll need a slightly bigger budget to be able to get anything worthwhile. The GTX 460 is a good budget card.

[QUOTE="GummiRaccoon"]

[QUOTE="C_Rule"]You couldn't make them any better with $100 (each).C_Rule

Ah crap, I didn't really notice that. I read 200 for each not 200 for both.

um

Get 2 6850's and sell the 5750's on ebay to recoup some of the cost.

I endorse this solution. I've seen some 460 768's for as low as 120 bucks.

While the lowest 6850 I've seen is 160 after rebate.

[QUOTE="C_Rule"]You couldn't make them any better with $100 (each).GummiRaccoon

Ah crap, I didn't really notice that. I read 200 for each not 200 for both.

um

Get 2 6850's and sell the 5750's on ebay to recoup some of the cost.

[QUOTE="GummiRaccoon"]

[QUOTE="C_Rule"]You couldn't make them any better with $100 (each).Nick3306

Ah crap, I didn't really notice that. I read 200 for each not 200 for both.

um

Get 2 6850's and sell the 5750's on ebay to recoup some of the cost.

not the 768MB version

[QUOTE="GummiRaccoon"]

Doesnt the 460 1GB out perform the 6850 with a small amount of overclocking at the same price?Nick3306

not the 768MB version

Lots of misleading prices here...

As of right now on Newegg, including shipping (before rebates, because we all know they're a scam):

GTX 460 768MB: $150

-This is just cheap.

HD 6850: $175

-Consumes the least power here. If you have a rather weak PSU now, get this so you don't have to upgrade it.

GTX 460 1GB: $185

-Lots of power potential.

Can't really go wrong with any of them.

I suggest a GTX460

Thanks for all the replies. I will look into getting a 6850 card possbily. I should also mention that I'm running on Windows 7 64bit, which I didn't specify on my OP.

Also, I'm starting to fraps a lot with World of Warcraft, and even though I get good framerates when it's running, there is still some choppiness that I can't seem to resolve. Is there a specific upgrade I could look at that would help with Fraps the most?

Thanks for all the replies. I will look into getting a 6850 card possbily. I should also mention that I'm running on Windows 7 64bit, which I didn't specify on my OP.

Also, I'm starting to fraps a lot with World of Warcraft, and even though I get good framerates when it's running, there is still some choppiness that I can't seem to resolve. Is there a specific upgrade I could look at that would help with Fraps the most?

testament1

Faster HDD would probably also help with recording games.

Upgrade your processor. What I'm looking at right now is that I'm guessing you're running a 32 bit OS which means your RAM is capped and the graphics card is decent. But your processor is a single core which means that your bottleneck is most likely your processing power, although it is a good processor. But you can get a dual core or possibly even a quad core processor for the price you've listed. I don't know if it's compatible with the rest of your hardware though. You'd have to figure that out on your own, I'm too tired to handle that part haha. belliott1

Um. The Phenom II X3 720 is NOT a single core proceessor.