What should I upgrade? (Now and Future)

[Chaomix]

Hi there, this is my first post since I don't really use forums a lot. I'm thinking about upgrading my PC which I bought pre-built in 2010 but I don't know what is bottlenecking/worth upgrading. Sorry for the in-depth/long post. I've been thinking about this for a long time. 

 

Current PC

Monitor: Single Viewsonic VX2433wm running at 1920x1080

CPU: Intel i7-860 @ 2.8GHz - stock cooler. On Idle temperatures average 40-50 degrees celsius. Playing FFXIV averages 60-70 (max 88) degrees celsius. Making all CPU's work at 100% causes them to go to 99 degrees celsius. I have not cleaned the CPU cooler thoroughly as I am afraid to remove it / reapply the thermal paste. I've only blown the dust out.

Graphics: Radeon HD 5850  average 50 degrees celsius on idle, fan speed 24%. Playing FFXIV makes the temperature average at 80 degrees celsius and fan speed 33%.

RAM: 4x 2GB Kingston ValueRAM DDR3 1333MHz

SSD: 120GB Samsung 840 EVO

HDD: 1x 1.5TB WD Green + 1x 2TB Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit

Case: Corsair HAF 932 (Front USB's are broken due to wireless dongle getting stumbled upon... sometimes touching the USB's in front a little will cause a power surge and shut down my PC )

PSU: Cooler Master: Extreme Power Plus 650W

Motherboard: Gigabyte P55A-UD4

 

Budget & Location

My budget is about $650NZD (should I just get a PS4?) and I'm living in NZ. The only two places I know where I can purcahse parts from are www.playtech.co.nz and www.pbtech.co.nz. Boxing Day (NZ Black Friday I guess) is on the 26th of December and there's bound to be some discounts, though not as big as Black Friday, maybe around 10% off. In the future, I will be saving so I'll be able to purchase more parts in the future so suggestions for what parts to buy today and in the future would be much appreciated.

 

Aim

I want my PC to be able to stream (which it currently cannot do) Final Fantasy XIV at 60fps on Maximum. Currently, I can run FFXIV at about 40fps without streaming. While streaming, it drops to unplayable frame rates (for me). I'd also like to be able to browse Facebook while playing FFXIV. When I do both, FFXIV's fps drops down dramatically making it unpleasing to the eye. I won't only be playing FFXIV I would like to play new games as well such as The Evil Within, Dragon Age Inquisition and FarCry 4 on High/Ultra at 30-60fps. I also do not like the amount of sound my computer makes. It's like a mini-vacuum/normal conversation. I would like it to be as quiet as possible. I may also want to record/encode videos of my games without my CPU going to 99 degrees celsius.

 

Why am I upgrading

My PC does not meet my demands and is getting quite old. I believe that 4-5 years is a good time to upgrade my PC with DirectX11 going on to 12, DDR3 ram going to DDR4, etc

 

My thoughts on what I should upgrade

I was thinking of upgrading my graphics card to the GTX 970 but then I saw all the news about AMD's R9 300 series featuring new technology (HBM) and am worried that if I buy the 970 now, I might regret it. I have no understanding of how this technology will change the graphics card world but what I read is enough to make me uneasy. I am patient, and can wait till mid next year to upgrade my PC as it can handle my essential needs. 

 

I've also realised that nowadays more games are using more RAM like The Evil Within and have read that my SSD may perform better with more RAM using the RAPID mode? Also, the release of DDR4 ram is making me uneasy with the purchase of new ram. Again, I can wait. 

 

I also thought of selling my 2 hard drives and just buying one big 4TB WD Green HDD to reduce the noise, heat and power consumption.

 

I don't like the look of my computer case, it's too big/bulky, fans everywhere. I was looking at the NZXT H440 as that is a smaller case looks cleaner/sexier, and all that sound damping material sounds awesome as well. 

 

Other than that, I thought of buying an aftermarket cooler for my CPU though I don't know which one to use/how to install it... I could get one of my friends to help me install it. 

 

Thank you so much for reading this/giving me feedback/your suggestions! <3

[AlRayes_BRN]

You can get the 4790k and GSkill Trident X ram, DDR4 ram is still not mature and expensive.

 

The 970 is a great card for its performance and price, you can always add another one when games start to get more demanding, also Samsung 840 EVO SSDs are on sale now and you can grab one