My old computer was crap.  Slow (even for when I built it) AMD with DDR2 and mechanical hard drive.  Built up a new one.

i7-4770k on Asus Z87 Pro
16GB DDR3@2400 CAS 10
Samsung 840 Pro SSD

It works really well, but I reused my GTX 650 ti 1GB.  My gaming experience is better with the faster CPU, but not dramatically.  I just started playing Skyrim and the 1GB VRAM is surely choking me.  I only game at 1080p but still.

Isn't Nvidia supposed to be coming out with some new stuff soon?  I think a 3 or 4GB 770 ought to do the trick, if prices come down.  I can wait because my computer slush fund is depleted...  

I've read on several websites that you don't need 4GB unless you're running 3 monitors.  

 

Not till late spring of next year.

ATi's new line up just released IIRC and I'm running a 7950 made by sapphire that is a 3 gig card so if your not brand biased the 7950/7970 might be something to look at if they drop in price

For gaming you would have been better off with an i5 "K" CPU and then sinking money into a graphics card. But I guess you already knew that...

I was planning on an i5-4670K, but MicroCenter had the i7-4770k on sale for $199.

I read that if you doll Skyrim up with lots of mods to make it pretty, it can use 3gb and change.

Your PC is fine, just dump the 650 and get something better. Wish I got that $200 i7. I got a $200 i5 price matched from Microcenter a month before. Though Frys was not supposed to honor the Microcenter price match (store not close enough), so I should be thankful I at least got that for $200.

How much did you spend on the RAM and SSD? Unless you got great deals, I personally would have gotten 8GB of 1600 RAM and a cheaper SSD (something like a 840 Evo). It looks like you can get around $80 for a 650Ti. So, $80 + savings on RAM and SSD + a little bit of cash = R9 270X, GTX760, HD7950, etc.

The RAM was $120.

The SSD was $200.  I'm keen on reliability and the 840 Pro has performance plus a 5-year warranty, so I think it's money well spent.  I also bought a WD Black 4TB HD, also for the reliability and 5-year warranty.

Hopefully Nvidia drops their prices some more now that AMD has changed the game with the R9s.  I'll keep my eyes open for deals on 770s and similar cards.  Want to stay with Nvidia.

Do you guys think 2GB VRAM is enough for 1080p gaming?  I see the Xbox1 and PS4 have more VRAM, so it makes me think new titles will easily use 3 or 4 GB VRAM.  Plus, like I said, I heard Skyrim can use 3-4GB as well today.

Get a couple of GTX 760's

3+ would be better.

Mine is by Xfx, but I am pretty happy with it.  And will probably buy a second one when the price drops.  Which will probably be right around the time I will want to update anyway.

I think a lot of it depends on what detail level you are gaming at. 1080p is simply the resolution the game is rendering to, what detail levels do you normally set in the game?

I know that several of the current triple A games go over 2GB of VRAM texture load in with Ultra settings. Skyrim will do that if you load a bunch of "hi res" texture mods as well as the high resolution texture pack.

I use two GTX 670s in SLI, both cards have 2GB and I can attest that some games will surpass that in Ultra settings with high res textures, but several others will not. I game at 1440p usually with Vsync on and I can get a liquid stable 60fps in nearly every game I play. Skyrim on Ultra in 1440 with the high res texture pack gets 60fps but it does occasionally "hiccup", which is when you can tell the VRAM is bouncing off the 2GB ceiling and it is swapping to normal RAM.

If I was buying a gaming card right now I'd be looking at the 770 4GB. Much like the older 670 it sits right in that sweet spot where all the cards above it have diminishing returns in performance for the dollar amount expended. Plus you can SLI it with a second 770 (like I did with my 670s) and extend it's service life by a good margin.

my gtx670 with 2GB of ram handles skyrim at 1920x1080 fine. I installed a high res pack (possible an official bethesda one if there is such a thing) but I haven't gone crazy with graphics mods

No issues with my GTX 760. Paired with 3770k and 16gb of memory.