Current Specs:
CPU: AMD FX-8350 8 core 4.12 GHz OC
Cooling: Corsair Hydro Series H60 Liquid CPU cooling 120mm fan
RAM: 16 GB DDR3-1600
GPU: AMD Radeon HD 7870 -2GB
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 -- AMD 970
PSU: 650 Watt
HDD: 2 TB 64M cache 7200 rpm 6.0 Gb/s
OS: Windows 7 64-bit
Case: AZZA Armour Gaming Case - Red
Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
So basically I'm thinking its time to update my GPU because the new games coming out (e.g. Witcher 3) have the 7870 as a minimum requirement, and that just doesn't cut it for me. Id like to keep it between 400-600 bucks for my update total, but I was thinking if I update my GPU I will need a new more powerful PSU. Also I could buy another 7870 and run crossfire but I would then need to update my mobo and psu so that i can support 3 pci express 16 ports on my mobo for 2 gpus and my sound card. I'd just like to see what you suggest and what a good option for that price range would be.
What PSU do you have exactly?
I think all you need is a GPU.. maybe an SSD if you want better day-to-day usability and more responsiveness. The new nvidia 9xx series are very power efficient and got very good power. AMD offerings are good too, but definately suck up more power.
You would max out your budget a GTX 980, but I would probably go for a GTX 970 (or AMD 290X) and a 256GB SSD.
GTX 980 + SSD - ~433 Watts - $555
AMD 290X + SSD - ~553 Watts - $410
GTX 970+ SSD - ~398 Watts - $440
Crossfire would put you more watts than your PSU can support and would run you over budget.
Your motherboard doesn't support SLI so you while you COULD do SLI 970s in budget, you would have to do a whole motherboard/CPU swap.. again over budget.
I would go for the GTX 980 out of current options.
to answer your question the psu is the NZXT HALE82N-SI 80+ Bronze
And as far as those wattages go is that my whole system, or just the gpu and SSD?
sorry for the late reply, but that is the whole system max power draw... before overclocking. I used pcpartpicker.com's estimate.