How interesting that no one has suggested an SSD. I have been adding SSD's to every rig in the house. It transforms how you experience your rig as much as highspeed connection transforms how you experience the Internet.
A new GPU (at least a HD7950) and another 4GB of RAM will greatly help.
An SSD will nicely boost system response and loading times, but not FPS.
I am myself still running a Lynnfield i7 system with a HD7950 & 8GB RAM @1600p. No pressing need for an upgrade.
920 @ 3.8 is fine for any game on the market today.
I would say a 7950 would be your best bet at a low cost upgrade after you sell your 5870.
I paid $210 for mine used. You could probably get $120 for your 5870
Sorry, I forgot OP has a triple channel system.hes running a s1366, its tri channel opposed to the dual linnfield support, adding 2g would be enough for it.
but I do agree and it slipped my mind completely how much of an improvement in system performance a ssd makes, even if it is only running on sata 2
Sorry, I forgot OP has a triple channel system.
I don't think OP mentioned if his existing RAM is a 1x4GB setup or 2x2GB one. It's important to make sure all 3 RAM slots are populated for tri-channel to work.
I have an intel SSD 80gb which i run current games on and then some standard old HD's for everything else. I agree it makes the whole windows experience much faster.
Sounds like you don't have an i7 920 but an i7 860 or i7 870. So yeah no triple channel for you. Look for another dual channel 2x2gb kit or get a 2x4gb kit and sell off your 4gb kit. As for a cpu bottleneck I wouldn't worry too much. You're probably good for at least a hd 7970 or gtx 680/770. http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_690_review,12.html Even an i7 965 at 3.75(very similar to your i7 at 3.8) doesn't seem like much of a bottleneck for a dual gpu gtx 690.
Sounds like you don't have an i7 920 but an i7 860 or i7 870. So yeah no triple channel for you. Look for another dual channel 2x2gb kit or get a 2x4gb kit and sell off your 4gb kit. As for a cpu bottleneck I wouldn't worry too much. You're probably good for at least a hd 7970 or gtx 680/770. http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_690_review,12.html Even an i7 965 at 3.75(very similar to your i7 at 3.8) doesn't seem like much of a bottleneck for a dual gpu gtx 690.
Better GPU (at least a HD7950) and more RAM (at least 2x4GB) will make your system fly.Wow I goofed that one up. Looking at cpu-z and I have an i7 860 @ 3.8ghz.
Everyone here has made valid points and excellent upgrade advice, If you don't realy need to upgrade but have the $ and keen for the thrill of new hardware then go for it!
Since you mentioned you upgrade every 2-3 years why not go for a complete overhaul ? Remember you can also sell your current hardware to reimburse some of the cost of the upgrade. From what you have now a 4770K/1150 platform would fit the bill nicely giving you all Sata 6GBs ports to add an SSD (or two) allowing for plenty of future expansion. Memory is more expensive of late so go for what you can afford from min 8GBs DDR1600 or up. Since you already have a killer display with 2560x1600 capability a 3GB card with 384bit bandwith (or two) would be a good fit, again comes down to budget and the games you play, other considerations are ofcourse your PSU and CPU cooler, naturally you would want to get a decent cooler to get the most out of your unlocked Haswell..
Anything more than one HD 7970 then he would start bottlenecking, but atm the price is really sweet for one of them.
if you are happy with the current performance... you should only upgrade if you are bored and want to play with a new toy,
if I had the parts you listed, I would probably just add another 2GB of memory, and think about a new VGA for now, or maybe one of those cheap gulftowns from ebay, just for fun(it wouldn't really do much for your gaming performance)!
Not even a no-brainer: add RAM, add GPU, then if able, add beer