Which do you think needs upgrading most: Athlon X4 760K or GTX 660?

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Shaun_20

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I have been looking for an answer for this and the most I could find was if It would bottleneck it but unsure by how much. I don't have much money to upgrade both and If I was to upgrade CPU, I would need to change motherboard aswell as CPU.
What would you recommended I do?

PC Specs:
Cpu: Athlon X4 760K
Gpu: Evga GTX 660
Motherboard: F2A68HM-HD2
Ram: 12GB
Storage: SSD 850 EVO 250GB

If you need any more info, Please let me know.
 
Solution
madmatt30
^ 380 vs 480 = heart vs head mate.
50% more performance for 50% more money .

If I were building mid budget rigs for people at the minute I'd be grabbing a load of 380's at that price.

If I were building for myself I'd be sticking that 480 in it without a shadow of a doubt ;-)
Make of that what you will.
The 380 will give you good fps at high settings on just about any title.
The 480 will probably do about the same due to CPU limitations but is a LOT more future proof.
£60 is £60 though.
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kaptainkuftic

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It depends. Most of your build is beginning to show its age, but you have options:

You could upgrade the gpu, but I think you'll run into a bottleneck pretty fast with that option given your cpu/mobo.

You could SLI the 660, which will give you a performance boost and some more years out of that setup, but it's bad for the future depending on what you do with your computer. Also, I'm not actually sure you could fit it on that mobo, you'd have to do some research.

You could upgrade the cpu/mobo, which I think is the best option, because you could conceivably get a DDR4 set up, effectively leaving room for the future, but it's hard to say without your budget constraints.

It comes down to what you do with your computer. Gaming? probably go for the SLI depending on the budget. Adobe Illustrator? cpu/mobo no questions asked. Streaming? hold off until you can improve everything unless you're okay with like 360p.
 
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Shaun_20

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Thanks for the quick reply!

I plan on using this PC for gaming so it appears I need to upgrade my GPU but I check my motherboard and it doesn't appear to support any kind of sli, With it only having 1 PCI-e port on it. Would you recommend any of the new mid range cards available such as the RX 480 or the GTX 1060 if I could afford them or would it bottleneck it too much to be worth it?

One other question I had was CPU wise, What is good for budgets these days, I remember the Fx chips lloking like it would be good to get but now Im hearing that the Am3+ Socket is dying. Cant' be sure on that but any help with all of this is very appreciated!

 
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madmatt30

madmatt30

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What country are you & what's your budget??

In all honesty the 380 is maybe the card id look at pairing with that 760k , you could look at the 480 with regards purely to future proofing but it is foundto be somewhat limited (i doubt it'll perform much differently to the 380 paired with your setup)

Disregard 660sli anyway , waste of money imo.
 
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Shaun_20

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Thanks for quick reply!
I was thinking of getting one of those new Gtx 1060 or rx 480's that came out recently. Would it bottleneck too much to be worth the extra cost or would not?

Thanks for any help on the matter!

 
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geofelt

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a PERENNIAL QUESTION.

It depends on the types of games you play. Strategy games, sims, and mmo will depend on cpu performance of the single master thread.
Your cpu options for that motherboard are essentially nil.

If your need is for graphics, that is easy.

How to tell?
Here is my stock approach:
------------------------------------------------------------
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 should also experiment with removing one core. You can do this in the windows msconfig boot advanced options option. You will need to reboot for the change to take effect. 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.
-------------------------------------------------------------
 
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kaptainkuftic

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Absolutely take a look at madmatt's reply. I'm not terribly familiar with your cpu, so his reply might be more helpful, as I was operating on passmark scores for the most part.

I have an AMD 8350, which is on AM3+. It's honestly a bit underwhelming to me, but it feels pretty solid for the price point. Something like $120 on a Newegg sale. If you go AMD, right now a decent budget to go in with is $150. Much more than that and you may as well just go with Intel, where I think a good budget is around $200.
 
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madmatt30

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Depends on country mate , in the UK you can pick up a sub £200 RX480 , cheapest 1060 is £240.
4gb 380's go for around £140 at the minute , so there's a big price difference between those cards.
If you have the budget then a 480 or 1060 is not out of the question for future proofing as long as you're aware that you'll only be using 60-70% of its capabilities at the moment.
 
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Shaun_20

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Thanks for quick reply!

I live in Ireland and budget is 150-200 but can add more to it if I really needed to.
Would it be worth it to invest into a GTX 1060 or RX 480 or would the bottleneck be too much to be worth the investment.

One other question I had was If anyone knew good places to buy PC parts in Ireland, Most threads I find are years old and some of the websites just dont exist anymore.

(Btw, I accidentally selected best answer and now I don't know what to do about it, I hope it didn't close the thread, apologize if it did.)
 
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Shaun_20

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Yeah, I didn't mean to select it, New to site and was hoping to send reply to answer.
I appreciate all the feedback I got back though and hope anyone else with similar question who finds this thread can make use of it.

Edit: Oh, it got undone, thanks for fixing my mess up!
 
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Anarkie13

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I agree with the suggestion of replacing the GPU. I'll take it one step further though. Look for someone offloading a GTX 970/980/980Ti for cheap. With the new generation getting people to buy in on upgrades, a lot of people are unloading their last gen cards at a good amount less.

Budget gaming builds are all about timing. Right now the timing is ideal for secondhand GPUs.

In the classified section here I saw a 970 for $175, could probably get it for a bit less than that even.
 
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Shaun_20

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Im not the most tech savvy but I will give it a shot but I was wondering If is there any chance of damage happening to the Pc or not?
Any videos/ articals on how to do this would also be massive appreciated!
 
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Shaun_20

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I live in the ROI but I can use postal motel for places that only shit to uk and NI for a few extra cost.
Thanks for the all the help and I hope I can find something I can afford.
Many thanks again!

Edit: Btw, sorry for the mess up, Ill try to not mess up like that again!
 
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Shaun_20

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Thanks for the quick reply!

One question I wanted to through out was the idea of but second hand components, It that generally fround upon or a sound idea?

And what are your thoughts on getting an RX 480 or GTX 1060, worth the extra cost or would it be bottle necked to the point of not being worth it?
 
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madmatt30

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Sapphire AMD Radeon R9 380 Nitro 4 GB GDDR5 Graphics Card
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B016EY8JMG/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_HtmMxbXQSZGVG

Zotac GeForce GTX 970 Graphic Card (4GB, DDR5, 256 Bit) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NNXVPS2/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_SvmMxbRVAB7W0

Rx - 480
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/sapphire-radeon-rx-480-nitro-4096mb-gddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-37d-sp.html

Those are your best buys currently from UK stocks.

The 380 is a blazing good price & offers generally double the performance of your 660.
Many people would say disregard the 970 but the fact remains its a good card still & readily available.
Obvious performance pick is the 480 but its preorder only (should be in stock on the 29th) .
On an ideal pairing basis the 380 is the sensible choice really at the discounted price point it is now
 
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madmatt30

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The 480 4gb nitro is worth buying at £200 if you're prepared to wait for stock to come in.
You won't get the most from it now but if you upgrade in the future you'll be covered.
Ignore 'bottlenecks' for the time being , at £200 its most definitely the best priced GPU in the UK at this present time IMO.
 
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Anarkie13

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I've had several second hand GPUs and even CPUs. I'd never go used on a PSU or HDD. But most other components are fine.

As for bottlenecking, anything you get will be bottlenecked. But as long as you have plans to open it up in the future, no reason not to buy now.
 
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Shaun_20

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Thanks for the fast responses madmatt! Seriously, You have been so helpful for me, thank you so much!

Would you think that the Rx 480 would be worth the wait or 380 just too good for the price to performance?

Thanks again!

Edit: Didn't see other answer below reply, Sorry.
Thanks for all the help!
 
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madmatt30

madmatt30

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^ 380 vs 480 = heart vs head mate.
50% more performance for 50% more money .

If I were building mid budget rigs for people at the minute I'd be grabbing a load of 380's at that price.

If I were building for myself I'd be sticking that 480 in it without a shadow of a doubt ;-)
Make of that what you will.
The 380 will give you good fps at high settings on just about any title.
The 480 will probably do about the same due to CPU limitations but is a LOT more future proof.
£60 is £60 though.
 
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Shaun_20

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Ok, I think Im going to go with the Rx 480, I'd rather buy something that can future proof my PC for a little longer.

Thank you so much for all the help. I hope you have a great day cause you sure made mine, This was a really confusing situation for me but you made it really easy to understand, simple to follow with links and helpful opinions. I hope these answers helps other just as much as it helped me!

Thanks again!
 
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madmatt30

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no probs mate,happy to help.
I think you made the right decision but I didnt want to spend your money for you.
2 years back I dropped a gtx 970 into my fx6300 build &had numerous comments stating that a 6300 cant manage a 970 fully.
2 years down the line today & its actually the 970 that is limiting gaming settings rather than my cpu - go figure ;-)

Rogue Leader ( one of the mods on here) has a 480 4gb paired with an old phenom 965 (with a bit of an overclock granted) - he's perfectly happy with performance & that 760k is on a similar performance rating to his old cpu.
Bear in mind you can always overclock that 760k a little if you drop a 15-20 quid aftermarket cooler on it.

4.2/4.3 ghz is easily doable & can push quite a few more fps in cpu hungry titles.

 
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