I build this PC myself in Nov 2009 and nothing has been upgraded yet. I spent alot of money on it at the time.

CPU: Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield Quad-Core 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115214
VIDEO CARD: XFX HD-587A-ZNF9 Radeon HD 5870 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150443
MOBO: ASUS P7P55D PRO LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131405
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231279
CASE: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021
PSU: Antec TruePower New TP-750 750W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371025

Win 7 64 bit OS
500 GB HD

I want to be able to play games like Shadows of Mordor and newer games on medium-high settings.
I also had a problem when I put the whole pc together. I could only use 2 of the RAM slots because the video card was so big. So I don't think I can use all 4 slots, it would have to be 2 again.

Wanting to spend like $400 max on this or the less the better. What are the most dire things that need an upgrade?

This post was edited by Kasceis on Oct 22 2014 12:57am

Only things i can see that would vastly improve performance is graphics card. Ram would be nice too but GPU takes priority plus if you decide to build something new in the future the GPU can go with the new build later down the road.


/edit with ddr4 being out and the transition already here I wouldn't put money into anything else but GPU.

Gtx 970!

This post was edited by Acuity on Oct 22 2014 01:06am

Thx for the advice. DDR4 seems super expensive heh. So if I just upgrade my RAM/GPU I should be good for awhile?

If you cant fit 2 more sticks in i wouldnt worry about ram, the GPU is going to make a big difference.

I can run most games medium-high 1080p with a c2q q6600 @ 3.4ghz and a lightly overclocked HD 5850, including Shadows of Mordor @ high around 50fps.

You may want to try overclocking your CPU first, get sufficient cooling if needed.

How do I overclock my CPU?

Your CPU is a bit different, but it's the same concept http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/intel_core_i5_750_overclocking_guide,1.html

Thanks all. So what is a good video card and RAM to get. I'm thinking of upgrading those two things.
And do I have to worry about getting them compatible with my mobo?

For RAM you have two options:
Spend $50 and add this to your build: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231303
It's more or less the same RAM you're running and you shouldn't run into any issues running this with your old RAM.
or
Spend $70 and get this for your build: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

For the GPU, definitely get a GTX 970 if you can afford it. It's generally recommended to get a nonreference card because they're not much more, they cool better (thus OC better), and they come with a slight OC so perform better right out of the box.
Here's a list of the nonreference 970s:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-04gp42974kr
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvn970wf3oc4gd
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-gtx970gaming4g
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-video-card-strixgtx970dc2oc4gd5
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-04gp42975kr
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvn970g1gaming4gd