Computer upgrades - good deal or nah

[Nash]

I want to do small upgrades to my current rig without buying a new motherboard.

Current specs:

Intel i7 920 @ 2.67 GHz
3 GB Kingston Hyper X 1600 MHz DDR3
nvidia GTX 460

New stuff:

Intel i7 950 @ 3.06 GHz = $95 (used, with box and fan)
12 GB Kingston HyperX Fury 1600MHz DDR3 = $105 (new, unopened box)
???? [still looking around for a new graphics card, preferrably used)

Prices look okay or rip-off?

[XanderK9]

The CPU is pretty cheap, but you may be able to save a little more on ebay. Perhaps you could find the best CPU your motherboard can support, although they usually seem to go for 150-200+. For the memory, you may be able to get a 16GB kit for minimum 150$ (unless your motherboard requires a triple channel kit, which is doubtful), but that price is good.

[xenoxols]

What motherboard do you currently have?

[BouncyTEM]

i'm sure a GTX 960 would fit for the graphics card upgrade. Decently powerful, sits around $200, should be pretty reasonable.

[Hellsmith1]

Hay Nash I worked on computer desktop plus I use to repair computer parts to before maybe I can help you out.
What type of Windows computer do you have right now?

[edward850]

Hay Nash I worked on computer desktop plus I use to repair computer parts to before maybe I can help you out.

What type of Windows computer do you have right now?

I use to repair computer parts to before

Windows computer

One of these things is not like the other
One of these things just doesn't belong

[DaMan]

You won't notice an extra 300MHZ.

[Nash]

DaMan: so are you saying shelling out 90 bucks for an extra 300 MHz isn't worth it?

My motherboard: ASUS Rampage 2 Extreme

[Hellser]

DaMan: so are you saying shelling out 90 bucks for an extra 300 MHz isn't worth it?

My motherboard: ASUS Rampage 2 Extreme

Not that much, I'm afraid.. and your motherboard is really holding you back from upgrading. It uses a 1366 Socket, and the Core i7 970 is the best you can get (outside of maybe the 970x). If you had a 1155, you might* be able to use a Intel Core i7 3770 (3rd Generation compared to your 1st).

*=BIOS flash and contacting the manufacture to see if the motherboard can handle the 3rd Gen CPU.

[Nash]

Yeah, I realize that. This is an old rig from 2010. I'm not looking to build the next ultimate huge rig, I'm just trying to squeeze out a little more juice using what's available... the main reason I'm upgrading this is so that I have some leeway when running Unity or Unreal Engine 4 editors...

I have a pretty maxed out Intel 4790k rig which I built last-year ish but I'm using that for my audio production studio... so I've pretty much blew my computer budget already haha. I won't be able to build another rig until probably end of this year...

[Kappes Buur]

.... I won't be able to build another rig until probably end of this year...

I would wait until then.
However, of the options you mentioned, only go for the larger memory if you really must have that.

Always verify that your power supply can deliver enough juice for the upgrade.
My personal preference is to always double the watts for the system at hand, so that I am set for future upgrades,
particularly more powerful graphics cards.

[GooberMan]

+1 for memory. It'll make a far larger difference to performance than the bump in CPU speed.

[Nash]

Sooo is the consensus that I'd be wasting $90 for non-existent gain here is what I'm reading? :D

[edward850]

Your current equipment is already reaching obsolescence, but if you plan on rebuilding your rig anyway, you might as well rebuild it later rather than upgrading the current one now. It'll cost you less in the long run.
Besides, constantly trying to upgrade while leaving the motherboard the same is only going to bite you back in ways that you may have never even heard of or fathomed. My favourite being CPUs running below rating in underpowered sockets, causing intermittent performance issues.

[XanderK9]

Unless you wish to keep that computer afterward, you can always keep the ram for the new rig, at least (perhaps aim for a 16GB kit instead).