AMD PC upgrade path (most likely only CPU & memory)

[HaMsTeYr]

Hey guys, I'm a bit stuck on this one, usually I don't even bother coming in for tech advice, coz I usually know xD

My current system stands at this:
Chassis : CoolerMaster Storm Scout
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-790XT-USB3
CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 620 @ 3.3Ghz
Cooler: CoolerMaster Hyper N520
Memory: 2x 2GB Kingston/Transcend DDR3-800 (Yes I know :x)
Power Supply: CoolerMaster GX-650W
Graphics Card: MSI GTX 460 Cyclone

I feel that there's plenty of bottlenecking going on as I have another system running an I5 750 overclocked to 4.0ghz and and a 5850 there, and that machine pulls significantly higher FPS (I know that the 5850 is only a tad faster than the 460 GTX 768MB)

So, with that, I'm thinking on whether I should upgrade my CPU to a Phenom X4 965 BE and OC from there, or step my ram up first to a pair of 4gb DDR3-1600 HyperX.

Any other models/ brand recommendations will be fine. I'm getting highly irritated at the speed of my machine atm :x

 

[Relic]

Hmm, can you be more specific in what you mean by significant improvement, the games you are playing and resolution?

An OC'd i5 750 @ 4.0GHz is better then an Athlon II X4 620 @ 3.3GHz so is the 5850 over the 460 GTX 768MB which is more inline depending on the game with a 5830. I don't really see anything unusual going on here. Of course I'd imagine an upgrade to a Phenom II X4 965 + OC with new RAM would give you a performance boost but I doubt it'll surpass your main system.

Side topic here, but I have the same HSF & case and am curious to what temps you are hitting under load with your Athlon II X4 OC'd.

 

[HaMsTeYr]

I don't expect it to surpass my australian system, though I'd expect it to perform similarly as close. I game on a 1920x1080 screen, and well, system wise is really not as responsive as on the i5 760.

Even in windows, I want the system to be snappy and responsive which I feel that my current AMD processor doesn't really offer that.

For example, in Call of Duty Black Ops, I pull about 30-50 fps, with no AA, turned down AF, pretty much most of the bells and whistles disabled. I'm under the impression that I'm under some kind of severe bottleneck somehow.

Ah, I don't really hit over 50 or 60 under load, though I'd have to do a recheck on that, I haven't seen the numbers in a while. :x

Still, would the switch to a Phenom x4 965 from an Athlon II x4 620 be a big hit in performance wise? like a noticable hit. or will switching out of Value Rams to the gaming counterparts be a better one.

My australian system runs on 8gbs (2x4gb) of G.Skill RipJaws so I don't really expect it to overtake the Intel system by any means really. I'm just shocked if this is the difference between running an Intel system in comparison to an AMD system.

Sometimes I feel that my Notebook is even snappier :x So it kinda frustrates me.

 

[orondf]

At max quality settings you should be averaging 25~35fps in Call of Duty: Black Ops. The AMD Athlon II x4 620 preforms 35~45% worse than the Intel Core i5-750 according to the game's techsopt review. Call of Duty: Black Ops' performance depends greatly on the CPU speed, but not on the amount of L3 cache, and it favors quad-core CPUs.

Sometimes I feel that my Notebook is even snappier

I feel that way too. I have a Pentium 4 CPU.