New CPU now or later?

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marckh

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Jan 18, 2014
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So I'm going to either be getting a new GPU or CPU in may. I can't really decide which way to go though.

Current specs:
GPU: AMD Radeon HD 6850 1 GB GDDR5
CPU: Intel Core i5-540 3.07 GHz
Motherboard: ASRock H55M-LE
RAM: 8192 GB
Memory: 2 TB

So I wanted to get either any i5 3000 or 4000 series cpu, but doing so, would require me to upgrade my motherboard, and that would consume my budget.

Although, getting a GPU that would satisfy my needs, it would bottleneck the GPU, due to my low-end CPU, and I wouldn't get much of an increase in performance.

Most of you would probably recommend me to get the CPU, and save up for the GPU, unless the bottleneck would really decrease so much performance, that it would make very little difference getting a new gpu, then I will definitely just stick with getting a new CPU.

For reference, I am not sure what GPU to get, as I have alot in mind, set for different budgets.
Some card that has the equivalent performance of something inbetween a GTX 660 to a R9 280X.

All I'm looking for, is advice on what path to go, cause I'm not sure how bad the bottleneck would be, and I can be pretty ignorant, when buying things for myself, I tend to overlook what is the most efficient way to go.

If any of the above was difficult to understand, please ask me to explain said part further, and I will do my best. (english is not my first language)
 
Solution
mrmez
I just got a 280x for my 7 year old PC, upgraded from an HD 5850.
It's an old Q6600 (one of the first real quads). I can get a great over clock on it, 2.4Ghz stock -> 3.0 with no voltage increase.

While most new games are pushing the CPU reasonably hard, I still think the GPU is the limiting factor.
Likewise, id also need a new Mobo and Ram (along with a SATA DVD drive and probably a new HSF too), which makes it a pretty expensive exercise for something I don't use all that much.

Games I play atm: (1920x1080)
Skyrim: Max settings and it hardly drops below 60fps
Crysis 3:Med-High settings. FPS vary quite a lot, but never below 30fps. I'll need to do more testing.
Farcry 3: High-Max. Averages ~60 but I'll also need to play it a bit...
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Xexoxix

Xexoxix

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Oct 24, 2012
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I believe that a CPU upgrade would be the best way to go, because that leaves more room to upgrade your CPU to something more powerful in the future (if you want to). Plus, I think under RAM, you meant to say MB instead of GB, cause I think 8192GB of RAM is impossible! Here is a benchmark comparing your CPU to an older generation CPU,
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/143?vs=288
I hope this helps. However, a GPU upgrade would boost your performance, but the GPU you have right now seems like it is poorly matched with the right CPU. Honestly, it is truly up to you. I will say, your English is excellent! Better than an uncomfortably large population where I live (USA).
 
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mrmez

mrmez

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Aug 15, 2006
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I just got a 280x for my 7 year old PC, upgraded from an HD 5850.
It's an old Q6600 (one of the first real quads). I can get a great over clock on it, 2.4Ghz stock -> 3.0 with no voltage increase.

While most new games are pushing the CPU reasonably hard, I still think the GPU is the limiting factor.
Likewise, id also need a new Mobo and Ram (along with a SATA DVD drive and probably a new HSF too), which makes it a pretty expensive exercise for something I don't use all that much.

Games I play atm: (1920x1080)
Skyrim: Max settings and it hardly drops below 60fps
Crysis 3:Med-High settings. FPS vary quite a lot, but never below 30fps. I'll need to do more testing.
Farcry 3: High-Max. Averages ~60 but I'll also need to play it a bit more.

For $330 AUD, the 280x turned my 7 year old system into a high end machine for today. The CPU has been running at 2.8Ghz, and the GFX card stock. This particular 280x should see 10% improvement on FPS with an OC, and if I OC the CPU to ~3.2Ghz I should get a solid increase.
 
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Solution
M

marckh

Honorable
Jan 18, 2014
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10,530


Thanks for your answer. I have read online, that with my current CPU, it would not allow a e.g R9 280X to perform that well, due to my CPU simply not being fast enough to send the amount of data needed to the GPU. Although I'm not sure with middle-range cards.

And yes I did not mean to type in 8192 GB's of ram, that was a typo.

Also, given that I am under 18, with no income (other than monthly allowance) and still living with my parents, I don't think they would mind borrowing me a little bit of money. So it would help me make the decision of what to get.
 
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paitjsu sadff

paitjsu sadff

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Jan 29, 2014
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i went down the same path i bought a core 2 quad q6600 back in 2007 and it lasted me for 3 generations of graphics card, i first had a 8800GT 512mb on it, then i moved to a radeon HD5870 1gb and i ended up his life with an HD7950 3gb wich was bottlenecked by that CPU overclocked to 3.6ghz with hyper 212...but it was playing BF4 on high settings with 6gb of ddr2 ram 60fps steady...it was nice but when i moved to the FX-8320 the real power of the HD7950 showed up and i was ALMOST maxing BF4 so in order to max it out i sold the HD7950 for 360$ (60$ more then i paid for the card new a year eariler) and purshased a GTX780 for 500$...now i max out any games totaly with 60+fps all the time with no FPS drops except of course in crysis 3 and max payne 3...

The funniest thing about the Q6600 is that when i bought it people in here told me i should get the dual core E6750 instead wich was clocked at 2.66ghz and was performing better in games since they used at maximum 2 threads...they told me the quad core at 2.4ghz was not worth the price difference i think it was like 60$ more...do you think the E6750 would have lasted me almost 7 years and 3 generations of graphics cards and played BF4 on high settings with an HD7950? i doubt...

 
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mrmez

mrmez

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Aug 15, 2006
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Yeah, the Q6600 was definitely a great purchase. Unfortunately I got one of the very first which was the B3 stepping. Not so great for OC, but I could still hit 3Ghz with a voltage decrease.

Problem with my upgrade... In the last 5 years I haven't used my PC at all. So sinking money into a new everything, apart from a case and PSU, would be really expensive for something I now use once a week.

PS. It's still got the same water in the loop for the last 5-6 years. Hahaha!
 
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paitjsu sadff

paitjsu sadff

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Jan 29, 2014
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mine was a G0 stepping, i sold it for 120$ with the asus motherboard and the RAM...and i got an AMD FX kit with 8gb. of ddr3 for 289$...LOL
 
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