M4A77D with Athlon64 X2 4200+

6 GB DDR2

GTX 260 216 core

TX850V2

so I am looking more closely to see what I can do with the rig and avoid spending $$$ if at all posssible

when I saw the HD 7970 outperform the GTX 680 playing Metro 2033 I was suprised

Corsair Carbide 300R, TX850V2, Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0, Phenom II 965 C3 BE, G.SKILL RipjawsX DDR3-2133 8 GB, GTX 260 SLI, Asus PA238QR, Windows 7 x64 Enterprise

Asus M4A77D, Athlon64 X2 4200+, DDR2-800 6 GB, HD 5450, cheap 450W, Server 2012

Sadly with a dual core cpu you are not outperforming gtx680 with a 7970, you would lose more than half of its capabilities due to bottlenecks, I wouldn't go higher than hd5700/6700 series.

right now I am scanning ebay etc for a better cpu, mainly I am looking for x4 as I realize my cpu is going to be working up a sweat more and more

my board can use up to am3 so i have some options in that dept

Corsair Carbide 300R, TX850V2, Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0, Phenom II 965 C3 BE, G.SKILL RipjawsX DDR3-2133 8 GB, GTX 260 SLI, Asus PA238QR, Windows 7 x64 Enterprise

Asus M4A77D, Athlon64 X2 4200+, DDR2-800 6 GB, HD 5450, cheap 450W, Server 2012

It would be cheaper to buy a all new motherboard, cpu and ram than one 7970 and you would see a better overall performance increace.

Even if you upgrade the cpu to a phenomII 970 it will still bottleneck the 7970 pretty bad.

I noticed a Phenom II 945 for << $100 and it looks like it would be a suitable improvement.

I can certainly afford this CPU.

Most I am looking for 3 GHz or faster + 4 or more cores and this seems to be the best bang for my $ given my current rig

then I can look at maybe a newer motherboard now that some more choices are out there

Corsair Carbide 300R, TX850V2, Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0, Phenom II 965 C3 BE, G.SKILL RipjawsX DDR3-2133 8 GB, GTX 260 SLI, Asus PA238QR, Windows 7 x64 Enterprise

Asus M4A77D, Athlon64 X2 4200+, DDR2-800 6 GB, HD 5450, cheap 450W, Server 2012