Should I upgrade my CPU+Mobo or my GPU? $250 budget

fsucory08 · Feb 23, 2017

Specs: i3 3220, EVGA 960 2gb, 8gb DDR3 ram, Gigabyte GA-Z68A

My thought process is that I can upgrade my CPU+Mobo now and wait on my GPU or I can upgrade my GPU now and then wait on my CPU+Mobo.

What would be the best choice with a $250 budget, and if I mainly use my PC for gaming?

bicycle_repair_man · Feb 23, 2017

Upgrade the GPU if gaming is your priority. You could pick up a GTX 1060 within your budget.

fsucory08 · Feb 23, 2017

Would the i3 be a significant bottleneck?

DRagor · Feb 23, 2017

With 250 budget, you can't upgrade CPU+mobo much (you would most likely also need new RAM at this point). So go for GPU first.
(Good CPU ~200, new mobo at least 80, plus RAM ~50)

bicycle_repair_man · Feb 23, 2017

Your current CPU is still fine.

If you went for an RX 480 4GB, you'd have some leftover cash that could go towards a new CPU, motherboard and RAM.

lfkfkfkffs · Feb 23, 2017

I would get a 2nd gen i5 off ebay. You can sell your old chip and the i5 fairly quickly once you upgrade.

fsucory08 · Feb 23, 2017

I was thinking about upgrading to an i7 3770, used obviously, but then my concern is I am still locked into an old architecture.

lfkfkfkffs · Feb 23, 2017

The 2nd gen i5's and i'7s sell like crazy. So if you upgraded to something like http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Core-i5-2500-3-30GHz-6MB-CPU-Quad-Core-LGA1155-SROOT-Processor-/332135696636?hash=item4d54d488fc:g:iBUAAOSw5cNYE5Jq or even a 2500k you could always get the money back fairly quickly.

bicycle_repair_man · Feb 23, 2017

A 2500K or 2600K would be a good buy, but only if you had a P67, Z68 or Z77 motherboard. An i7-3770 is likely all the CPU you'd need for the next few years. CPU performance hasn't moved on a great deal since Sandy Bridge.

lfkfkfkffs · Feb 23, 2017

He has a zed motherboard

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