Upgrade Path

[SIK1]

I'm looking for some input from the community. Would it be worth while to upgrade my graphics card, or should I just save my money until I can afford a new system.

I'm running a i5 6600k, on a Asus z170 mobo, DDR4 3200 RAM, and a 1080 8GB gpu. I'm running AH at 1440p, and for the most part I get decent frame rates, unless there is a lot of action then I do get some stutters. It looks like both the gpu, and cpu are reaching 100% usage in these situations.

Right now I can swing about $550 which puts me in the range of a 3060Ti, or 6700xt. Would upgrading the gpu give me any improvements, or am I limited by the cpu.


Thanks for any help

 
Sik

[Eagler]

My 2070 wouldn't fit in the mid tower that held my 1070..it was just abit too long

Eagler

[SIK1]

Dimensionally I should good. It's in a NZXT case, don't remember the model number, what ever was popular six years ago. There is enough room for a 300mm long triple slot card. I should also be good on the psu (Seasonic 850W gold).

My question is, will I see any improvement, or am I already bound by my cpu?

I can't afford to build a complete system right now, and if spending the money on a new gpu gives me only marginal, or no real performance increase, then I'll just deal with it until I can afford a new system.

 

[Spikes]

I would say it is likely more of a CPU bottleneck than GPU. Is your DDR4 ram in the 8-16gb range I assume? A newer gen GPU certainly wouldn't hurt if you've come across a good deal now. I tend to upgrade my cpu/mobo/ram in one cycle then the GPU in the next cycle. So you could get a new cpu/mobo now (ram should be fine) and grab a newer GPU next go around.

[oboe]

I would upgrade CPU and motherboard now, and continuing saving for a video card upgrade at a later date.    You can get a good deal on Intel CPUs now, and Ryzen's 5000 series are good and the mobo's a less expensive in general.   

Be sure to check the manufacturer's QVL or memory support list to make sure the memory you have is compatible with the motherboard - I had some DDR4-3200 CL14 which didn't work with the board I had.

[SIK1]

Upgrading the cpu/mobo is an interesting path that looks like it would yield the most results for the least amount of money. I can do either AMD or Intel cpu/mobo for around $325. I do already have 16 gb DDR4-3200 CL18 memory, so I wouldn't really need to buy much else.

 

[Bizman]

At first I was going to say that the CPU wouldn't really matter when you're past 3 GHz for a single core. That's also what our leading PC magazine recently told. And I'm quite happy with my i7-4790 which is two generations (and years) older than yours.

BUT

Then I got to thinking about my buddy who plays CS:GO semi-seriously. He used to have a similar rig to mine equipped with a GTX 1080 but in tight situations he said that although his frame rates didn't significantly drop (1440p, 144Hz monitor) he felt some sort of lag. So shopping we went and got him an Intel 10th or 11th generation based package. According to him everything now seems more fluid and he seems to see the enemy a fraction of a second faster to give him time to react. So...

A quick and dirty Google search tells that various benchmarks tell a similar story. It seems that something happened after the 8th generation, there's not much difference between i5-9600, 10600, 11600 and 12600 in performance. Is it because the extra cores take care of any background activity, I don't know. AH and many other games only can use a couple and most likely not more than four cores. But Windows has grown fatter and seems to use more resources than it used to. I've noticed that with hard disks as well, an older mediocre laptop with an HDD can suffer tremendously from high disk activity caused by updating. Apparently the programmers don't bother optimizing their code for slower computers...

Here's some further information of how a newer CPU affects gaming: https://youtu.be/hxII7cWH7dI

[Spikes]

I'd say for $550 you can easily get an 11th gen i7, mobo and cpu cooler:

$473 subtotal

That mobo may need a bios update for the CPU but there are others out there around the $140-150 price point.

Then in a couple years grab a new card as the 1080 should be sufficient.

[oboe]

Microcenter has the 11700K on sale for $199 now, and an i5-10400 is only $119.   But they don't ship.

[TequilaChaser]

I myself try to stay away from MSI motherboards,  I have always had and seen issues with them using out of random voltage and clocking on CPU, RAM, etc...

Just been my experience

ASUS,  ASROCK, GIGABYTE and another my mind fails to remember are pretty reliable  but theirs always lemons

YMMV

TC

and yes SIK1,  this is a good way to go regarding updating your computer, brother

[SIK1]

Thanks for the help guys. I really appreciate it. 

I decided to go with a i5 12400F, and Asus TUF Gaming B660 for a total of $354. I debated going with the 12600K, but even paired with one of the cheaper Z690 mobo's would be pushing $500, and I don't really need the ability to overclock.

I need to pinch every penny here because I may be chasing a hardware failure, and if the gpu decides to go tu I'd be in deep doo.

 

[TequilaChaser]

Best of luck to ya!

Let us know how it goes

<SALUTE>

TC  /  Johnny

[Bizman]

I decided to go with a i5 12400F, and Asus TUF Gaming B660 for a total of $354. I debated going with the 12600K, but even paired with one of the cheaper Z690 mobo's would be pushing $500, and I don't really need the ability to overclock.

That's good thinking, often the "second best" is good enough for half the price. And the i5-12400F seems to have good reviews being a good gaming CPU.

However the low base clock of 2.50 GHz sounds a bit low given what Skuzzy said back then when AH3 was new. If memory serves me right he said that above 3 GHz you'd be golden. And most likely for many older games that holds true as well. So if the base single core speed is important the i3-12100F might be an interesting choice. I can't tell how much the smaller cache or higher clock affect performance but according to https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-core-i3-12100-12100f-review we're talking about only 12% less performance for almost half the price. An old study said that an average user can't tell the difference less than 20% so I'd guess that would be close enough.

[SIK1]

I was concerned about the base clock speed as well. I decided to take the chance on the 12400 largely based on the many positive reviews. I did consider the 12100F, 12600K, 12700F, and the offerings from AMD. For me right now the 12400 looks like the best bang for the buck @ $160. Time will tell, everything is supposed to arrive Saturday, so Saturday afternoon looks like I'm going to be rebuilding my machine. 

I'll keep you all posted.

 

[guncrasher]

I'm looking for some input from the community. Would it be worth while to upgrade my graphics card, or should I just save my money until I can afford a new system.

I'm running a i5 6600k, on a Asus z170 mobo, DDR4 3200 RAM, and a 1080 8GB gpu. I'm running AH at 1440p, and for the most part I get decent frame rates, unless there is a lot of action then I do get some stutters. It looks like both the gpu, and cpu are reaching 100% usage in these situations.

Right now I can swing about $550 which puts me in the range of a 3060Ti, or 6700xt. Would upgrading the gpu give me any improvements, or am I limited by the cpu.


Thanks for any help

 
Sik

I have a 2500k cpu with a 970 vc.  my computer never maxed out at 1440.  have 16g of ram  ddr4 matching.  something else is affecting your system.  even at 4096 texture my fps never goes below 50.

semp