Need some upgrade advice...

[adulaamin]

I'm going to be upgrading my PC in a week or so and I would like to gather some advice before purchasing the parts. I added the specs of my current PC on my system specs. I'm planning to upgrade the motherboard, processor, and RAM first then an SSD a couple of weeks after then a video card another couple of weeks after . The PC will be used for games (SC2, D3, and Civ V) and Photoshop but I will be taking classes in AutoCAD and 3DSMax some time later this year and I would also like to contribute to the WCG/Folding team here at TPU when I'm not working or playing.

OK so the following are the parts I'm planning to buy:
1 USD = around 42 PhP

Motherboard: Asus Maximus V-Gene (12,650 PhP)
** I'm limited to Micro ATX boards coz of the case. Would the Asus P8Z77-M Pro (6,840 PhP) be a good alternative? Or could you guys suggest another board?

Processor: Intel Core i5 3570K (10,199 PhP)
** Would it be worth it to go with the i7 3770k (13,370 PhP)? I do plan to OC to the best possible 24/7 clocks/settings.

RAM: RIPJAWS-Z DDR3 2133mhz 4x4gb F3-17000CL9Q-16GBZL (7,400 PhP)
** Or should I just go with RIPJAWS-Z DDR3 1600mhz 4x4gb F3-12800CL9Q-16GBZL (4,999)? Will a notice any difference between the two?

SSD: OCZ AGILITY4 Series 128GB SATA III (6,699) or OCZ VERTEX 4 Series 128GB SATA III (7,499) or Corsair Force Series GT 120GB SATA 3 (6,999)
** I've narrowed it down to three based on their prices and capacity. Which one would be a better buy? And I already have a 1tb WD Caviar Green as a storage drive.

Video Card: GTX670 or ???
** I'll be using my 4870 for the meantime. Could you suggest the best video card for the games I'm playing and the resoultion I'm using?

I can afford to buy the most expensive parts I've mentioned above but I would be really glad if I could save some money to upgrade the monitor/buy extra hard drives/upgrade the keyboard & mouse/buy some other stuff.

Oh and I plan to keep/use the items for the next 2 years minimum except maybe for the video card.

 

[phanbuey]

the best videocard for any resolution is the 670 right now... but the best vid card for the $$ might be the 6xxx or the 5xx series if you can find them used.

the 4870 is old... I would forgo the SSD and get a better vidcard right off the bat. It's not like you would install your games on the SSD anyways so who cares. Save money from the 3570, the SSD, and the Ram, and you should have enough to go straight for the VC.

I would upgrade to almost any z77 gigabyte, asrock, or asus board will work (whichever is cheaper don't go crazy on the motherboard) - go with the 3570K and OC - dont forget the cooler. Ram really doesn't matter... that being said if you can find some of the samsung Eco green low profile they OC really well.

With those parts:
3570K
670
1TB Eco Green
'Budget' Z77
Cooler Master Hyper 212+ (or similar)
8GB of budget ram

You will spend way less than:
3770K
670
Expensive Z77
8GB of uBer Ram
SSD
Cooler

But will not notice difference in frames for gaming, and general purpose computing will work just fine.

 

[BraveSoul]

SSD will speed load times for good...i would get at least 190GBs.. gtx670 video card is awesome, and so will be the 3570 cpu.. save with less expensive ram, wont notice a thing.... playing starcraft2 desert strike here with gtx670, being able to have anti aliasing and highest video quality looks great.