What should I upgrade next for 1440p gaming? (Gaming PC)

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WizardOne

Prominent
Mar 26, 2017
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510
Hello all,

I purchased a pre-built gaming PC last year for just under £700. I was hoping that based on my research of the reviews for some of the latest games that my new PC would be able to deliver decent gaming performance at 1080p.

Current specs:

  • Processor: Intel Core i5-6400
    Motherboard: Asus H110M-R
    Graphics Card: KFA2 GTX 1060 6GB.
    RAM: Crucial 8GB DDR4 (2133mhz).
    PSU: FSP 500w
    Storage: 240GB SSD and a 1TB HDD for storage
    OS: Windows 10 64bit.
The two main games I am currently playing are Battlefield 1 and The Division. In the story mode of both games on high settings I usually get 60fps+ on 1080p. But in multiplayer there are usual dips to 50fps, in some cases to below this. With a few tweaks to the settings mostly down from high to medium, I have been able to get the locked 60fps.

I am looking to see which of the current components could be upgraded to deliver consistent 60fps on 1440p on high settings. My budget is around £200 (in addition to the money set aside for a 1440p monitor), but I am hoping to have saved up more by later this year.

Many thanks!
Wiz
 
Solution
Supernova1138
The cheapest CPU upgrade would be to just grab a locked i7 like the 6700 or 7700, which would help you in the games that are giving you difficulty due to your CPU now. You could also get the 6700k and 7700k, which would work on your board, you just wouldn't be able to overclock them, the 'k' SKUs are clocked a bit higher out of the box so that might be worth considering. As for RAM, 8GB is okay for the moment, though there are some games that do benefit from having more, either due to poor optimization leading to memory leaks, or if you're running lots of stuff in the background. If you feel 8GB is getting tight you can bump up to 16GB, though since you have an H110 board you'll have to replace your existing RAM and get 2 8GB sticks...
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Supernova1138

Supernova1138

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Mar 22, 2011
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Well you have two problems, on CPU heavy multiplayer games like Battlefield 1, you're going to get dips below 60FPS due to having a very low clocked i5. On the other hand, the GTX 1060 can't do 60FPS on high settings at 1440p in a lot of newer AAA titles, you need a GTX 1070 or higher for that. If you want a solid 60FPS, you're probably going to need to upgrade both components, though the GPU would be a higher priority in most titles. Sadly, 200 pounds won't be enough to really help you there, the GTX 1070 costs more than that, and moving to a Core i7 would also cost more than that. At best you can move to a higher clocked i5, which would help to an extent, though in Battlefield, you pretty much need an overclockable i5 to hold above 60FPS in multiplayer, which would require a new motherboard as well, H110 boards don't allow for overclocking.
 
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WizardOne

Prominent
Mar 26, 2017
2
0
510


Thanks for your reply Supernova1138, much appreciated. Based on what I've read, what you have explained makes a lot of sense. I wish I had invested a little more in going for a model up from the PC I purchased. Fortunately I have yet to buy the 1440p monitor, and I'm hoping to save up another £400 or so by the end of the year.

Definitely I am considering a GTX 1070 - prices will likely fall to around/below £300 in the coming months. Which would leave me around £300 for upgrading the processor and mobo. Do you think it is worth upgrading from the Core i5-6400 to the Core i7-6700 (non-k version for around £270) - or spending a little bit extra and going for the core i7-6700K and a Z170 mobo (around £400 all in)? (Budget permitting as prices continue to drop: the Core i7-7700K and Z270 mobo)

Also, could there be any meaningful gains in adding more RAM at this point?

Cheers mate.
Wiz
 
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Supernova1138

Supernova1138

Illustrious
Mar 22, 2011
5,340
54
37,690
The cheapest CPU upgrade would be to just grab a locked i7 like the 6700 or 7700, which would help you in the games that are giving you difficulty due to your CPU now. You could also get the 6700k and 7700k, which would work on your board, you just wouldn't be able to overclock them, the 'k' SKUs are clocked a bit higher out of the box so that might be worth considering. As for RAM, 8GB is okay for the moment, though there are some games that do benefit from having more, either due to poor optimization leading to memory leaks, or if you're running lots of stuff in the background. If you feel 8GB is getting tight you can bump up to 16GB, though since you have an H110 board you'll have to replace your existing RAM and get 2 8GB sticks, all other Intel chipsets offer 4 RAM slots and you could have just added another 8GB.

As for the GPU, the GTX 1070 is currently the lowest cost option, though by the end of the year, AMD will have their new high end cards out and Nvidia might also have some new products as well, so there may be something better than the 1070 available in your price range by the time you're ready to buy. The GTX 1080 got a price cut recently due to the 1080Ti launch, and might be worth looking at if you can afford it or any sort of equivalent that shows up later.
 
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