So I've got a bit of money for the holidays and I'm considering an upgrade but can't decide what to do. I would like to see what you guys come up with. I almost exclusively game with this rig. Price range would be a few hundred dollars, nothing over 500.
Intel Core i7 3770 @ 3.4 GHz
8gb Corsair Vegence @ 1600 MHz
Nvidia GeForce GTX 670 FTW Edition
MSI Z77A-GD65 Gaming
Corsair Obsidian 650d
Corsair Neutron GTX 120gb + 2TB 7200 RPM
Two 140mm Noctuas w/U.L.A.
Corsair Hydro H50
Peripherals
Beyerdynamic D.T. 990 Pro 250 Ohm
Schiit Modi + Schiit Magni
Razer Naga Epic
Razer Blackwidow Ultimate
Benq 27'' 1080p VA (Primary) panel and a 27'' Dell IPS (secondary) monitor
I'm thinking a GPU upgrade may be the most effective. You have a well-balanced rig, so upgrading is difficult, so good job on that front! From what I gather, the 670 is about on par with the 760, and as an owner of a 760, I'm starting to run into GPU bottlenecks, even with my 2500k which is ancient right now, especially if I turn up MSAA or mess with super sampling, or, as nVidia calls it, DSR (Dynamic Super Resolution). If you don't already know, super sampling, or DSR, renders the game at a higher resolution, and then downscales it back to your monitor's resolution, which enables finer detail, especially on lower res textures in-game. Right now, I'm playing the bulk of my games at 1440p on a 1080p monitor and some of the more recent ones are struggling with high detail at 1440p on my 760.
The other upgrade would be monitor. Either a high-res one, or maybe a G-Sync enabled one. Personally, I've been eyeballing LG's 32" Ultra-wide 21:9 monitors.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JR6GBHO
AOC apparantly has them cheaper, and I've heard they use the same LG panels, but build quality takes a hit. Still plenty worth it, according to reviews
Thanks for the input, I've been considering making the jump to 1440p, especially now with the nicely priced 970. I have never really been a fan of the Ultrawide monitors. Know of any decent priced 1440p?
I'd jump up to the GTX 970 and wait a bit more to save up for a new monitor. In the meanwhile, you could enjoy the benefits of Super Sampling/DSR. From experience, I can say a 1440 resolution scaled to a 1080 screen looks much better than a 1080 image on a 1080 screen. Heck for older titles you could just render 4k and scale that down to 1080p and bring new life to older games. Maybe by the time you save up more the monitor market might look better, especially as far as G-Sync is concerned, or at the very least a few price drops.