to upgrade gpu or cpu first?

Omar Strobe · Apr 17, 2014

my current GPU is xfx radeon 6950 2gb and im planning to upgrade to a r9 280x 3gb hopefully will max out most games and im using a amd BE phenom II x6 1090t @ 3.8ghz and i was planning to upgrade the cpu later to a i7 4770k. what would be the best thing to do first? get a gpu firs tor cpu? if i get the gpu it will buy me time ot get a broadwell i7 idk if the difference is that big form the haswell.. but anyways someone help me out with a opinion.

X79 · Apr 17, 2014

An i5 is good enough for gaming. i7's don't add that much; if it's just gaming.

You'll have to remember that you'll have to upgrade other parts too. Like your PSU and motherboard.

Omar Strobe · Apr 17, 2014

X79 :

im using a 1000w PSU and 8gb ddr3 1600mhz... so an i5 is better than my 6x 1090t right? should i stick to my x6 1090t for a while and just get a new GPU i want the r9 280x, atm i have 6950 2gb

cst1992 · Apr 17, 2014

Get the 780Ti SLI if you have a 1000W power supply, otherwise, why waste money on such a huge power supply?

Omar Strobe · Apr 17, 2014

cst1992 :

ill keep that in mind and also is my x6 1090t still good to use for a while? all i need is to upgrade my gpu?

maurelie · Apr 17, 2014

Omar Strobe :

Hi,
The X6 1090T is still good CPU, and it will handle the R9 280X. If you run the CPU at stock speeds, the GPU might hold you down, but if you overclock it to 3.8-4.0, i don't think there will be any bottlenecks.

Omar Strobe · Apr 17, 2014

maurelie :

thanks for the response... i have it over clocked at 3.8ghz but im not sure how to get it at 4.0ghz. i would like to try. as far as the future cpu upgrade goes, which would you get, i7 4770k, ,amd 8350 or i5 4670k? i do mainly gaming,browsing music, some video editing but rare. im using also g.skill 1600 8gb ddr3 ram also.

maurelie · Apr 17, 2014

Omar Strobe :

maurelie :

thanks for the response... i have it over clocked at 3.8ghz but im not sure how to get it at 4.0ghz. i would like to try. as far as the future cpu upgrade goes, which would you get, i7 4770k, ,amd 8350 or i5 4670k? i do mainly gaming,browsing music, some video editing but rare. im using also g.skill 1600 8gb ddr3 ram also.

Definitely the i5 4670k, no need for i7 4770k or FX 8350 for gaming. The i7 or FX 8350 shine in heavily threaded tasks such as video editing/rendering and other applications.

Omar Strobe · Apr 17, 2014

maurelie :

Omar Strobe :

Definitely the i5 4670k, no need for i7 4770k or FX 8350 for gaming. The i7 or FX 8350 shine in heavily threaded tasks such as video editing/rendering and other applications.

well if i get that i5 4670k it will be way better than my 6x right? will it be better than the 8350? the 8350 is cheaper also...i just want the best cpu with no lag, on my apps and games for the cash... and the mobo as well i dont want the socket to be dead. i want my mobo to support the new broadwell later this year..... i mean if i can get a i7 for about th same price as the i5 why not get tha 4770k right?

maurelie · Apr 17, 2014

Omar Strobe :

maurelie :

well if i get that i5 4670k it will be way better than my 6x right? will it be better than the 8350? the 8350 is cheaper also...i just want the best cpu with no lag, on my apps and games for the cash... and the mobo as well i dont want the socket to be dead. i want my mobo to support the new broadwell later this year..... i mean if i can get a i7 for about th same price as the i5 why not get tha 4770k right?

i5 4670k is $100 cheaper than the i7 4770k. The thing is games will not utilize the hyperthreading features of the i7 4770k, so why spend $100 more for 0% performance in games.
The i5 4670k is better than the x6 1090T and FX 8350, because of its stronger single core performance. Most games today will not use more than 4 cores. While the X6 and the FX 8350 have more cores, they are weaker than the i5's 4670k

Omar Strobe · Apr 17, 2014

maurelie :

Omar Strobe :

i5 4670k is $100 cheaper than the i7 4770k. The thing is games will not utilize the hyperthreading features of the i7 4770k, so why spend $100 more for 0% performance in games.
The i5 4670k is better than the x6 1090T and FX 8350, because of its stronger single core performance. Most games today will not use more than 4 cores. While the X6 and the FX 8350 have more cores, they are weaker than the i5's 4670k

ok cool i guess im leaning towards a i5 4670k but if i can get a i7 4770k for a reall good price like under $300 ill go with that but real question now.. do i need to upgrade my cpu first at the moment and use the 69550 for a bir more or do i just upgrade my gpu and stick with the x6 for another year or 2? i play titanfall,starcraft 2, f2p games on steam and the soon plants vs zombies garden warfare.. and tomb raider

maurelie · Apr 17, 2014

Omar Strobe :

maurelie :

Omar Strobe :

i5 4670k is $100 cheaper than the i7 4770k. The thing is games will not utilize the hyperthreading features of the i7 4770k, so why spend $100 more for 0% performance in games.
The i5 4670k is better than the x6 1090T and FX 8350, because of its stronger single core performance. Most games today will not use more than 4 cores. While the X6 and the FX 8350 have more cores, they are weaker than the i5's 4670k

ok cool i guess im leaning towards a i5 4670k but if i can get a i7 4770k for a reall good price like under $300 ill go with that but real question now.. do i need to upgrade my cpu first at the moment and use the 69550 for a bir more or do i just upgrade my gpu and stick with the x6 for another year or 2? i play titanfall,starcraft 2, f2p games on steam and the soon plants vs zombies garden warfare.. and tomb raider

I would say, stay with the same CPU, upgrade GPU. In Q1 2015 there will be new Intel Broadwell processors. I believe than it will be the time to buy new processor.

Omar Strobe · Apr 17, 2014

exactly what my gut felt was to just upgrade to gpu first..so should i get 280x or 290x, im only gaming on 1080p one monitor.. im leaning on the 280x i just wanna max out as much as possible out of my games

maurelie · Apr 17, 2014

Omar Strobe :

maurelie :

Omar Strobe :

maurelie :

ok cool i guess im leaning towards a i5 4670k but if i can get a i7 4770k for a reall good price like under $300 ill go with that but real question now.. do i need to upgrade my cpu first at the moment and use the 69550 for a bir more or do i just upgrade my gpu and stick with the x6 for another year or 2? i play titanfall,starcraft 2, f2p games on steam and the soon plants vs zombies garden warfare.. and tomb raider

I would say, stay with the same CPU, upgrade GPU. In Q1 2015 there will be new Intel Broadwell processors. I believe than it will be the time to buy new processor.

exactly what my gut felt was to just upgrade to gpu first..so should i get 280x or 290x, im only gaming on 1080p one monitor.. im leaning on the 280x i just wanna max out as much as possible out of my games

If you will be gaming on 1080p, get the R9 280X or GTX 770

coolcole01 · Apr 17, 2014

Gpu no doubt the 1090t is still a good cpu

Omar Strobe · Apr 17, 2014

coolcole01 :

sweet so i should just wait for those new broad well cpus while i game on a new gpu for the time being still using 6x? sounds good. i wanted to upgrade to 4770k but i guess ill wait it out

Omar Strobe · Apr 17, 2014

If you will be gaming on 1080p, get the R9 280X or GTX 770[/quotemsg]

thanks man i really appreciate your help. it meant a lot. i will get r9 280x and i will wait for the new broadwells to release... unless i can get a sweet deal on a 4770k this year

coolcole01 · Apr 17, 2014

Getting the gpu is the way the 1090t still has the power to push a great card but microcenter does have 4670 for 189 and 4770k for 269.

Omar Strobe · Apr 17, 2014

coolcole01 :

how long will my 1090t last me from today and on? and this is the card i think i want now http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127774 and how long will a 280x last me or a r9 290? till i have to upgrade

cst1992 · Apr 17, 2014

Guys, please edit your posts to remove quotes. All we're getting here is a good square-in-square pattern.

coolcole01 · Apr 17, 2014

From the firestrike score the 1090t looks to do fine with a powerful card at least enough for now until you get a new cpu could you run firestrike and see your current score.http://www.3dmark.com/fs/1188211

coolcole01 · Apr 17, 2014

As you can see a better cpu does get a better score
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/1188211

to upgrade gpu or cpu first?

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Splendid

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Splendid

Honorable

Honorable

Splendid

Honorable

Splendid

Splendid

Splendid

Share this page