CPU or GPU upgrade first?

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Nonstoptanner

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Currently running SLI geforce 970
16gb RAM

CPU: I5 4690k 3.5ghz

I mostly play games like PUBG, and Overwatch. I am wanting to start streaming as well. I was thinking of selling my 970's and upgrading to a 1080 or 1080ti. Any suggestions or recommendations are welcome. Thanks
 
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raisonjohn
What's your monitor (resolution and refresh rate)? No point in upgrading to a GTX 1080/1080Ti if you are gaming on a 1080p/60Hz. The GTX 970 is still a powerful GPU (so, is, to an extent, your CPU). But an i5-4690K might hinder the max. possible graphic performance of a GTX 1080/1080Ti, esp. on CPU-demanding games (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17VRKPjyiTBx9Ewc2xkmaMZD2tA3gSOG3rNtH4OEiz3g/edit#gid=0).

If you have a 1440p/60Hz, that GTX 970 is still a good card for non-AAA games on high-ish settings. I think, if I was in your position, I'd only upgrade the GPU once I acquired a better monitor (somewhere in the range of a 1440p/120Hz+). Having said that, I would look into the CPU upgrade first, then the monitor+GPU...
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raisonjohn

raisonjohn

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What's your monitor (resolution and refresh rate)? No point in upgrading to a GTX 1080/1080Ti if you are gaming on a 1080p/60Hz. The GTX 970 is still a powerful GPU (so, is, to an extent, your CPU). But an i5-4690K might hinder the max. possible graphic performance of a GTX 1080/1080Ti, esp. on CPU-demanding games (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17VRKPjyiTBx9Ewc2xkmaMZD2tA3gSOG3rNtH4OEiz3g/edit#gid=0).

If you have a 1440p/60Hz, that GTX 970 is still a good card for non-AAA games on high-ish settings. I think, if I was in your position, I'd only upgrade the GPU once I acquired a better monitor (somewhere in the range of a 1440p/120Hz+). Having said that, I would look into the CPU upgrade first, then the monitor+GPU.

Since you mentioned you wanted to stream, an i7 would be beneficial for its hyper-threading (4 cores on 8 threads) as opposed to your current i5 which doesn't have hyper-threading (4 cores on 4 threads). If you don't want to change motherboards and RAMs, your CPU choice would be the i7-4790K.
 
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Rexper

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The CPU doesn't hinder the graphics quality at all. They are two different roles. The CPU affects the FPS, not the resolution or graphics settings. The GPU affects all three.

For 60hz pure gaming, no matter the resolution, your current CPU is fine. Streaming may require a little more, however.
 
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Nonstoptanner

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I have a BenQ 2411z right now, I really strive for performance in games, I would like the fastest possible performance and highest frame rates, at sacrifice of quality. Would you still recommend a CPU upgrade?
 
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Rexper

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Definitely the CPU then. You GPU can perform any target framerate, just a different graphic quality. The CPU has a set performance potential that won't change no matter the resolution or graphics settings.
 
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mrobscura

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dont listen to people say a 1080 is overkill for 1080p, its not. plus it gives you head room and allows you to play at higher res if so desired. or as in your case allows for higher refresh rate gaming. an i5 will bottleneck anything above a 1060 at 1080p and that will really hinder you if you are trying to push high fps.

id get a 4790k and then upgrade your gpu.
 
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Rexper

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That really isn't how bottlenecking works. Any CPU can bottleneck any GPU. Bottlenecking in general is inevitable. Resolution has no affect on a CPUs potential performance.

At 60hz, no matter the resolution an i5 will have no negatively affecting bottlenecks for nearly all games.

Please, read on here: https://pcpartpicker.com/forums/topic/214851-on-cpugpu-bottlenecking-in-games
 
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mrobscura

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well, youre simply wrong. there will always be a bottleneck in a system, but you want it to be you gpu so that you are getting the most performance possible. and at 1080p or lower an i5 simply cannot keep up with a card more powerful than 1060 level. the card at this res can simply do more work than the cpu can keep up with... but if you up the res the gpu has more work to do and therefore becomes the bottleneck because it can no longer outpace the cpu.
 
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