As always, I'm a wall-o-text sort of person. I like to be detailed.
Thus, as always, skip to the bold caps text for my TL;DR! However, reading my specs will be needed.
Firstly, my current rig.
2x 1080p monitors. Only run games across one monitor
Asus Z77-A
Intel i5 2500k Sandy Bridge
EVGA 770GTX SC
8GB DDR3 RAM (not sure what brand or speed, bought it way too long ago)
Seagate 1TB Hybrid HDD with 8GB SSD cache
Crucial 256GB MX100
So, what's the best way to go about upgrades? "That depends on what you want!" Why yes it is!
My first issue was loading times, so I got an SSD. Loading times are AMAZING now. I'm also somewhat considering RAID 0 for a second Crucial MX100. Is that wise? From the HDD to the SSD I got loading times like for windows (these are estimates, I didn't time anything) to go from 20 seconds to 5 seconds. Or games like GW2 from 30 seconds to 7 seconds. I assume RAID 0, at it's best, would half the load times. Which seems like a small jump compared to the HDD to SSD load time jump.
My second issue is in a few games, I can't do super/multi sampling well. As you can imagine with that build, it's not many games, but I would still like to smoothly max out things like AC4, and the Metro games. I tried Redux thinking it would help, but nope, with TXAA the game slows to a crawl. I also tried to force supersampling on GW2, and that slowed the PC up a bit during larger fights.
I also, possibly one day, might want to play games across 3 monitors. 4k Monitors are still fairly pricey, and a while back someone warned me that SLIing 2 770s wouldn't help much with 4k, but WOULD help if I wanted to span games across 3 monitors. This isn't as important yet, as I just use my single 1080p monitor for games, but it can't help to prepare for the future. I just figure that the cheapest upgrade would be another 770, since any other upgrade for a GPU, would mean tossing my 770 (well selling it, making another rig, something like that) and spending a lot more for a better GPU, and the 770 is nothing to laugh at as is so I'd feel terrible giving it up so soon.
But then comes the other part....my Z77-A can't SLI, and there aren't many LG1155 Mobos out there, so the best bet would be going to Haswell.....but now I'm at a Mobo upgrade, AND a CPU upgrade, just so I can THEN upgrade my GPU. Would an upgrade to Haswell be worth it from my 2500k Sandy Bridge CPU? I still haven't even overclocked it, so I wonder if some liquid cooling + a new LG1155 Mobo that can SLI would be worth it, so that way I would just overclock my i5, and SLI a 770. These are just ideas I'm throwing out, because I'm really not technical enough to know what is the best way to go about upgrades, future proofing, and spending money wisely.
Now, also comes the budget. Basically my budget = my patience and willingness to spend on my computer over other things, like fancy foods, movies, and beer (okay.....fine you caught me, I won't skimp on the beer. My computer can wait!). I realistically can save about $300/mo. I don't WANT to spend more than $300 really, but if saving up and doing a larger upgrade is the best and wisest option, I am more than willing to do it. So is just going and buying liquid cooling and a 780Ti the best solution? I really wouldn't want to, but it's technically do-able, and feel free to suggest it if that's seriously a viable solution. As it usually is, the cheaper the upgrade, the better for me, but I understand often you get what you pay for, and I don't want a fix to just max the Metro games, I want to head along a steady upgrade path for my PC.
HERE IS THE TL;DR GUYS! THANK YOU FOR READING, OR NOT, EITHER WAY, THANK YOU FOR THE POTENTIAL HELP!
I like videogames, and mostly purely video games.
I use a 1080p monitor for these games. I may want to use 3 of these one day, or maybe just one 4k monitor.
What is the best way to future proof the PC? What's the best bang for my buck when it comes to upgrading the parts. SLI, new GPU, new CPU?
Basically the best upgrade path when thinking about the long term for my computer usage. The budget is around $300, but if worth it, could easily be more, up to a whole new build. I'm willing to do what it takes, but the bigger the cost, the longer I need to save up.
Thank you all so much in advance!