Hey all, recently started looking at updating my PC, looking to try out some live streaming and have some extra cash to spent, I did build my PC however I really don't know a whole lot about the specification, thought it is something I am looking into learning more about. I am just wondering what I should focus on upgrading, I was thinking CPU and Motherboard. (currently looking at : http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=76932#Specifications and http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=76522&promoid=1304

Right now my PC looks like.

Motherboard :-ASUS M4A87TD/USB3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131651

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 645 Propus 3.1GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX645WFK42GM - OEM - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103889

GPU: Radeon HD 6870

RAM: Patriot Viper Xtreme Series, Division 2 Edition 8GB (2 x 4GB)

PSU - Rosewill RV2-700 700W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V SLI Ready Power Supply

any help would be great, and I can answer some of your questions hopefully.

It maybe best to wait a month or so because Intel's new Haswell Chips (socket 1150) are dropping early June and even if you don't jump on that bandwagon immediately, it will drive the prices of current chipsets down somewhat.

Are you set on going AMD because the general consensus is that their 8 core processors aren't quite as good as Intel's i5 quads?

EDIT: For Example, based on the website you linked, you'd be paying 20-30 dollars more for an i5 3750k CPU and motherboard and that is basically THE CPU for gaming right now. In a month or two's time, when the new chips drop they'll go down in price to what you're looking at currently. It would beat out the AMD one you linked, that's for sure.

@samstrife: wasn't really sure why I was going AMD over intel, seemed like a cheaper way to go..I will more then likely wait the month and see what the prices are, any particular i5 you would recommend or motherboards?

This is the best i5 for gaming right now and will drop 10-20 dollars early June.

This is a pretty nice mobo to pair it with around your price range. Again this should also drop in price a little bit early June.

Granted, you'll be spending a little bit more than the two parts you originally listed but with an extra month or so saving it won't feel like that much more either.

Don't take my word exclusively though, there's probably people that will post inhere who know far more than me.

Looking more closely at your build, it may actually be the GPU that's holding your machine back over everything else. Maybe if you put a 7850 in there you'd see a significant increase in performance. This is a very good card and the best value card out there; this would more than likely be the biggest and best upgrade at this point.

I'm no good when it comes to working out bottlenecks though, I'm sure other members of the community can provide far better insight.