New GPU in older rig?

I'm considering replacing my current GPU with a MSI Geforce GTX 970

How much of a performance improvement am I likely to see, bearing in mind the current spec of my system? I've been told that I'm likely to get more improvement by upgrading the Mobo/CPU/Ram, but as this would be my first ever upgrade (inherited the system) & I haven't a clue what I'm doing, I'd rather not be installing a new Mobo/Cpu/Ram etc & there's also the issue of price.

Currently:

Gigabyte X58A-UD3R

i7 920 DO @3.8GHz

6GB Corsair CMX6GX3M3A DDR3

Noctua NH-D14 Air Cooler

Gigabyte GTX 670 Windforce 3x

XFX PRO750w 80+

1920x1200 Monitor

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Can you get that 920 to 4Ghz at all?

And the 970 is good, just make sure it fits in your case first.

Either 970 or 290, I would say 8Gb of RAM is a must for gaming today.

About 20% increase in performance:

@PredatorRules said:

@miseryguts said:

I'm considering replacing my current GPU with a MSI Geforce GTX 970

How much of a performance improvement am I likely to see, bearing in mind the current spec of my system? I've been told that I'm likely to get more improvement by upgrading the CPU/Ram, but as this would be my first ever upgrade (inherited the system) & I haven't a clue what I'm doing, I'd rather not be installing a new Mobo/Cpu/Ram etc & there's also the issue of price.

Currently:

Gigabyte X58A-UD3R

i7 920 DO @3.8GHz

6GB Corsair CMX6GX3M3A DDR3

Noctua NH-D14 Air Cooler

Gigabyte GTX 670 Windforce 3x

XFX PRO750w 80+

1920x1200 Monitor

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Either 970 or 290, I would say 8Gb of RAM is a must for gaming today.

About 20% increase in performance:

More like 25%... The 670 delivers 80% of the performance that 970 gives. If 670 is 100%, then 970 should be 125% of the performance that the 670 gives :P

Charts dont give real scope in processing power . Going from a 1.3 ghz GTX 760 to 1.4 ghz 970 was more then a 20-25% difference, especially when I was playing FC4 when I upgraded. Went from low 40 averages to 60+ fps.

The chart he used is a price to performance ratio.

It is not a comparison of performance between cards so he used the wrong chart.

@miseryguts: Okey, first of all your CPU and RAM should be fine.

You could go to 9GB or 12GB RAM but it will cost a bit (due to triple channel you can't obviously go with 8GB without loosing triple channel). Although it might not be absolutely necessary, a couple of games might need 8GB at max settings.

Also this is the chart you were looking for:

Stock clock to stock clock, GTX970 is 60% faster.

But GTX970 has better factory o/ced models. So expect an other 5% higher.

So in the end. Get a GTX970. I don't know who told you that you will get more performance by upgrading cpu/ram/mobo, obviously they don't have a clue about PC gaming.

Even the $1000 i7 5960X oc/ed to @5GHz with GTX670 cannot beat i7 920@3,8GHz with GTX970 in 99% of games....

Yeah, you'll do great. I upgraded to a 970 on even less exciting hardware (although I have 8GB RAM), and saw a huge improvement.

Thanks very much for all your comments guys.. think I'll be buying a pre-owned card, a friend of a friend is upgrading (every 6 months or so apparantly) & has offered me his MSI 970 for £120 which seems like an absolute bargain afaic.