I built 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 Dragon Age: Inq on HIGH-ULTRA

Here is what I ended up doing.

NEW VIDEO CARD: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X Video Card - 4GB GDDR5 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8573338&CatId=7387 Final Price = $110
NEW RAM: G.SKILL Sniper 8GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416 Final Price = $60

Total Upgrades = $170 How'd I do?

Also what are some things I need to know before upgrading when the parts arrive, like should I uninstall my video drivers or anything else?

You'll need a stronger GPU to max Shadows of Mordor.

Nvm, just realized you already purchased. That's a fairly weak card but those games aren't very demanding and you got it at a decent price so that's alright. Might've been better to stay at 4GB RAM and put that money into a slightly better card but c'est la vie.

Should be able to run Shadows on high at a reasonable frame rate, and possibly max Dragon Age.

This post was edited by SanityWasHacked on Nov 26 2014 02:34am

Yeah I didn't want to spend too much money, but the card should be a big upgrade from my 5870.

Just buy an extra 2gbx2 like you already have and spend some more on the GPU
also get an SSD and reinstall OS

I feel like I got a good deal on the video card, it should be able to play on those games on high-max? I know there are better cards but they also cost more money.

i could only get 2 ram slots to fit because my video card was too big