Upgrading my PC and obvious bottlenecks

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CPUGuy78

Commendable
Oct 27, 2016
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1,510
Hey guys, I'm just trying to get some opinions on what I should do with my PC.

I have used this PC as my primary gaming machine since 2010 so it's pretty dated, but I don't have the funds to buy an all out new rig just yet.

my specs:

AMD Athlon II X4 2.9Ghz
8Gb ram
Radeon HD 6770 1GB

I could still pretty much run any game until the new consoles game out, at which my point I can't really play any new games well.

I can only afford a GPU upgrade and I'm not sure whether to get an RX 460 or an RX 470.

I know the 470 is very superior but will I see any performance gains with it or will my CPU simply be too much of a bottleneck?

Thanks
 
Solution
Ecky
I'd grab a 1050 (non-Ti) over the 460. For $10 more, it's a faster card, draws less power, and more importantly, will probably perform much better with a weak CPU.

gtx-1050-rotr-100689220-large.jpg
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Ecky

Ecky

Illustrious
Feb 3, 2013
7,592
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Your CPU will likely cause terrible performance issues in many new games, though some will still run alright. Not even the best GPU in the world would improve that. However, a GPU upgrade can't hurt, and even if your framerates don't improve you'll be able to run higher graphical settings.

Food for thought: nVidia's cards have better DX11 drivers which have far less CPU overhead, making them run better with older and slower CPUs. You might consider the GTX 1050 Ti or GTX 1060 3GB cards, rather than AMD's RX cards.
 
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CPUGuy78

Commendable
Oct 27, 2016
4
0
1,510


I was also considering getting the GTX 1050 TI but I read that it's far worse than the 470. However the CPU overhead you mentioned does seem much more valuable.
 
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Ecky

Ecky

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Feb 3, 2013
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The 1050Ti is slower than the 470 but it's faster than the 460 and priced (at least MSRP) is roughly between the two. The RX 460's MSRP is $100, the 1050's is $110, the 1050 Ti's is $140, and the 470's is $170. The 1060 3GB's is $200, and it's a fair bit faster than the 470, and has less driver overhead.
 
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CPUGuy78

Commendable
Oct 27, 2016
4
0
1,510


How would the 1060's performance reflect with my CPU? Here in Canada the 3gb model is $300
 
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Ecky

Ecky

Illustrious
Feb 3, 2013
7,592
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38,960
CPU and GPU performance are largely independent of each other.

Just an example: back in 2000, I dropped a Geforce 2 MX400 into a Pentium 1 computer, to play Quake 3 arena. With my old video card, I was getting about 30fps at low settings, and less if I increased them. The new card also gave me 30fps at low settings, but I was able to max out the game and still get 30fps.

If in a game (let's say Battlefield) you're only getting 30fps now, a new video card may not help that at all. However, you'll be able to run much higher graphical settings and get that same 30fps. How high will depend on how much money you put into the card. Any card you buy, you'll be able to carry over to a new build, but if you spend less on a card now you'll be able to replace your CPU a bit sooner with the money saved.
 
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C

CPUGuy78

Commendable
Oct 27, 2016
4
0
1,510


Yeah, I'm probably going to end up going with the RX 460 since it's the cheapest but I'm unsure of whether it would even be worth it at that point. I'll have to sleep on it haha.
 
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