Should I upgrade my cpu or my gpu first

Jesse_E · Feb 27, 2015

My current specs are the athlon x4 750k a sapphire r7 260x and a 430 watt psu, In my upgrade im looking for a i5 4460 and a gtx 970 but dont know which one to buy first

tambeshakunt · Feb 27, 2015

The i5 will be a better upgrade. The 970 might be slightly held back by the 750k.

You should get a H97 board with the i5 for best results.

Also what make and model is your PSU?

boosted1g · Feb 27, 2015

Get the i5 and new motherboard first.

The 750k will be a big bottleneck for a 970, it would even noticeably bottleneck a 960
Plus the 970 is more likely to go down in price between now and when you can get it over the i5 cpu.
You will also need a bigger PSU for the GTX-970, and a CX series PSU is not very good for high end cards like that.

geofelt · Feb 27, 2015

It depends on your games.
Here is my stock answer:
------------------------------------------------------------
To help clarify your CPU/GPU options, run these two tests:

a) Run your games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

b) Limit your cpu, either by reducing the OC, or, in windows power management, limit the maximum cpu% to something like 70%.
Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.
Conversely what a 30% improvement in core speed might do.

You could also experiment with removing one core. You can do this in the windows msconfig boot advanced options option. set the number of processors to less than you have.
This will tell you how sensitive your games are to the benefits of many cores.

If your FPS drops significantly, it is an indicator that your cpu is the limiting factor, and a cpu upgrade is in order.

It is possible that both tests are positive, indicating that you have a well balanced system, and both cpu and gpu need to be upgraded to get better gaming FPS.
-------------------------------------------------------------

Epsilon_0EVP · Feb 27, 2015

I think this might depend on what you plan to do with this machine. For gaming on CPU light games, the 750K wouldn't be as bad of a bottleneck, but if you need video editing or games known to put load on the CPU the 4460 is a safer upgrade. In the end, though, upgrading to the i5 also gives you a better upgrade path, so if you're undecided or unsure upgrading the CPU first is probably a better idea in the long term, although do not expect massive FPS gains in all games.

Jesse_E · Feb 27, 2015

Im not planning any video editing and i've also watched a video of austin evans and my plan is starting to look like this: first new gpu + psu and sell my r7 260x to save up for a new cpu and get a 20 fps increase because of the gtx 970 then later when i have enough money im buying the i5 4460 + new motherboard and get another 20fps increase because the bottleneck is gone. Is this a smart plan?

Epsilon_0EVP · Feb 27, 2015

Jesse_E :

If you expect to use more games that put a load on the GPU, that could be a good plan. In the end, the order of the upgrades won't be a huge issue.

However, consider this: CPU's tend to go obsolete slower than GPU's nowadays. So if you get the 4460 now, it will last you longer than the 970 would. Furthermore, since you'd upgrade your graphics card later, you could also get a newer, stronger card (R9 390 or GTX 1070?) for a similar price. So for that reason, getting the 4460 first might make sense in the long run, but you wouldn't see as big of an improvement off the bat.

Jesse_E · Feb 27, 2015

geofelt :

It depends on your games.
Here is my stock answer:
------------------------------------------------------------
To help clarify your CPU/GPU options, run these two tests:

a) Run your games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

b) Limit your cpu, either by reducing the OC, or, in windows power management, limit the maximum cpu% to something like 70%.
Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.
Conversely what a 30% improvement in core speed might do.

You could also experiment with removing one core. You can do this in the windows msconfig boot advanced options option. set the number of processors to less than you have.
This will tell you how sensitive your games are to the benefits of many cores.

If your FPS drops significantly, it is an indicator that your cpu is the limiting factor, and a cpu upgrade is in order.

It is possible that both tests are positive, indicating that you have a well balanced system, and both cpu and gpu need to be upgraded to get better gaming FPS.
-------------------------------------------------------------

I've done some benchmarking with farcry3 and i saw a giant fps increase when changing my resolution from 1080p to 720p
and saw a even bigger increase when chaning my settings from high to medium to low

Jesse_E · Feb 27, 2015

Epsilon_0EVP :

Jesse_E :

If you expect to use more games that put a load on the GPU, that could be a good plan. In the end, the order of the upgrades won't be a huge issue.

However, consider this: CPU's tend to go obsolete slower than GPU's nowadays. So if you get the 4460 now, it will last you longer than the 970 would. Furthermore, since you'd upgrade your graphics card later, you could also get a newer, stronger card (R9 390 or GTX 1070?) for a similar price. So for that reason, getting the 4460 first might make sense in the long run, but you wouldn't see as big of an improvement off the bat.

The same thing can be said of the cpu you know.

Epsilon_0EVP · Feb 27, 2015

Jesse_E :

No, because (as I very clearly stated) CPU's do not show improvements as big as GPU's. The next series of Intel processors will be a die shrink, which will cause almost no performance gain, and even then the next series is only likely to improve performance by 5%-10%, and in games probably even less. On the other hand, the R9 300 series is rumored to be up to 40% more powerful than current cards, and one generation further would be even more powerful. Thus, the 4460 would be a much longer-lasting upgrade, and overall the better long-term strategy with less immediate gain.

Jesse_E · Feb 28, 2015

Epsilon_0EVP :

Jesse_E :

No, because (as I very clearly stated) CPU's do not show improvements as big as GPU's. The next series of Intel processors will be a die shrink, which will cause almost no performance gain, and even then the next series is only likely to improve performance by 5%-10%, and in games probably even less. On the other hand, the R9 300 series is rumored to be up to 40% more powerful than current cards, and one generation further would be even more powerful. Thus, the 4460 would be a much longer-lasting upgrade, and overall the better long-term strategy with less immediate gain.

how long acctually till the i5 4460 gets out dated? Im mean when do quad cores become to weak to run newer games because i want to play games without having to upgrade every year.

tambeshakunt · Feb 28, 2015

i5 4460 will be good for at least another 1-2 years. Its only very recently that games have been asking for quad cores as minimum requirement so it should stay for a while.

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