Future upgrade from Sandy system

[lonestar31]

I am thinking about upgrading my current rig once I finish getting our home office built. You can find my current specifications in my signature below, and I will be cannibalizing a few parts from it as well. I want to keep the upgrade at or below 400 US at the moment so the wife doesn't go ballistic. I would also like to also leave room in the system for future upgrading/overclocking as I want to get deeper into computer tech. This is one of the main reasons I am going with a new case as the M9 is not very flexible. I have compiled the following list from Part-picker as a possible path to follow. Please feel free to add your input and advise as you see fit. Thank you 

 

Part Picker list  

[Mark77]

Just to a dual core i3-6100?  I personally think you're wasting your money upgrading from Sandy Bridge at all since the i5-2400 still holds its own quite well compared to that CPU.

 

Personally I'd put in a bigger/nicer SSD than what you spec'ed (maybe a 500gb model!).  Throw your new video card on that board.  And run it for a few more years.  You can also move the parts into a new case if you're not pleased with the existing one. 

[lonestar31]

2 minutes ago, Mark77 said:

Just to a dual core i3-6100?  I personally think you're wasting your money upgrading from Sandy Bridge at all since the i5-2400 still holds its own quite well compared to that CPU.

 

Personally I'd put in a bigger/nicer SSD than what you spec'ed (maybe a 500gb model!).  Throw your new video card on that board.  And run it for a few more years.  You can also move the parts into a new case if you're not pleased with the existing one. 

Which is why I am asking for some advise, and you make a solid point. Hell the only reason I bought that GPU was because my old 5750 died in storage and I couldn't upgrade to Windows 10 without a GPU to run the monitor. I was mainly looking at this because DDR3 seems to be on the way out and I could move up to DDR4 with this. Still I could simply put in a Sandy K chip, SSD and keep running this one just like you said with little problem, it is an option. 

[BarnacleStinson]

Agreed, get an i5-6600k or an i5-6500 if you absolutely MUST move on from Sandy, unless you plan to sell the i3 and upgrade to an i5 later. If it matters to you, you could get a second 960 for SLI, or upgrade to a 1060. Is it still early enough to return the 960 you already have? In my opinion, you could get The ASRock Extreme3 board, which allows for SLI IF you want to SLI another 960 with your current one, and if you decide to return the 960 and get a 1060, the ASROck board is still $10 cheaper. That $10 allows you to upgrade to the NZXT S340 case and still stay under $400. That case has 4 fans, it's got decent build quality, a side window, plenty of room for components, and a PSU shroud. Basically a little compartment to hid your PSU and hard drives.

Take a look at this.

[lonestar31]

16 hours ago, BarnacleStinson said:

Agreed, get an i5-6600k or an i5-6500 if you absolutely MUST move on from Sandy, unless you plan to sell the i3 and upgrade to an i5 later. If it matters to you, you could get a second 960 for SLI, or upgrade to a 1060. Is it still early enough to return the 960 you already have? In my opinion, you could get The ASRock Extreme3 board, which allows for SLI IF you want to SLI another 960 with your current one, and if you decide to return the 960 and get a 1060, the ASROck board is still $10 cheaper. That $10 allows you to upgrade to the NZXT S340 case and still stay under $400. That case has 4 fans, it's got decent build quality, a side window, plenty of room for components, and a PSU shroud. Basically a little compartment to hid your PSU and hard drives.

Take a look at this.

That is a very nice case, and I think I am leaning to most or your recommendations to do just a case and SSD upgrade for now. One of the main reasons for this Q&A is I plan to start taking courses in IT at my local Community college which I explained and sought advice for in this post. I was thinking it might be worthwhile to upgrade, but now I will simply leave it as is so I can tinker and learn instead. I will update this if and when I start to move forward as I am in the middle of a job search for now. Thank you all for your advise and input.