CPU+GPU upgrade or just GPU mega upgrade

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David Taquet

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Oct 29, 2014
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Hi,

I now have a core i5 4690 (up to 3.9GHZ) on my mobo socket LGA 1150 along a MSI gaming GTX 970.

I am looking for an upgrade and for the same price (special sale) could have

A. GTX 1080

or

B. Core i7 Kabylake+ mobo + GTX 1070

Looking at the thread dedicated to bottlenecks, it says my current GPU would be bottlenecked in CPU-bound games.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17VRKPjyiTBx9Ewc2xkmaMZD2tA3gSOG3rNtH4OEiz3g/edit#gid=0

I intent on playing at high details at 1440p or 4K, mostly RPGs, FPS, and action games. I never play racing, RTS, simulations.

Would the bottleneck sot me a few FPS, or would it be more drastic?

Which upgrade is the most judicious?

Thanks!
 
Solution
n0ns3ns3
the resolution and graphics details level are purely GPU tasks.
the refresh rate (FPS) is both CPU and GPU dependent.
so if you plan to have a 60Hz monitor, there is no need to upgrade the CPU - just get a best GPU you can comfortably afford.
if you intend to play on 1440p@144Hz monitor, get an i7.

P.S.
it's very strange to see 300$ CPU and over 300$ GPU (plus whatever MB) for the price if under 500$ GTX 1080. If it's not 7700K + z270 MB it's kinda not worth it. not to mention that you are going to need the new RAM.
you can simply get a i7 4770K/4790K and put it into your existing setup. and have the same gaming performance.
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raisonjohn

raisonjohn

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Feb 22, 2015
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Get the GPU alone. You'd get higher FPS with an i5-4690 + GTX 1080 than an i7-77xx + GTX 1070 - esp. if you are looking to game at 1440p or 4K. "Bottleneck" is not drastic, and you can always decrease in-game graphics settings to get acceptable frame rates.
 
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n0ns3ns3

n0ns3ns3

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May 25, 2016
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the resolution and graphics details level are purely GPU tasks.
the refresh rate (FPS) is both CPU and GPU dependent.
so if you plan to have a 60Hz monitor, there is no need to upgrade the CPU - just get a best GPU you can comfortably afford.
if you intend to play on 1440p@144Hz monitor, get an i7.

P.S.
it's very strange to see 300$ CPU and over 300$ GPU (plus whatever MB) for the price if under 500$ GTX 1080. If it's not 7700K + z270 MB it's kinda not worth it. not to mention that you are going to need the new RAM.
you can simply get a i7 4770K/4790K and put it into your existing setup. and have the same gaming performance.
 
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Solution
S

Sedivy

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Dec 17, 2016
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Honestly, if you can get a kaby lake i7, mobo and 1070 all for the price of a 1080, I'd go with that but that really depends on what games you play and how much you play them. Are cpu heavy games a big part of your gaming repertoire?
 
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David Taquet

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Oct 29, 2014
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Well, I am not sure what CPU-bound games are. I looked on the web and it seems athat strategy, and RTS are the case but some other games like Fallout 4 too.

I mostly play AAA games, like Witcher 3, Andromeda, Bethesda games, and such.



 
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David Taquet

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Oct 29, 2014
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Thanks for the advice. I live in Japan, and it is a special sale. Compared to the US and EU, the GPU is more expensive here but CPU and mobo are in line with the prices in the US, which may explain the similar price between the two sets.

I never played on a 1440p, 144HZ monitor but am thinking of making the investment once I have the GPU. But I guess 60Hz is good enough for me.



 
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Sedivy

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An example of a cpu heavy game would be minecraft (without shaders), some mmos like wow, some fps like counter strike:go, some rts like civ V (mainly due to horrid optimization) or city skylines. That is not to say none of those games use gpu or vice versa, just that they're heavy on cpu usage, uncommonly so for a game.
Prices...I find interesting as I wouldn't expect japan to be more expensive on electronics than us or canada. Sure makes upgrade calculations different.
 
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David Taquet

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Oct 29, 2014
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Japan has a pretty high cost of living since average wages a a bit higher than some countries. New consoles games do not have capped prices, as in the EU or US, and often cost around 75-80$.

To give you details, the price of the MSI GTX 1080 gaming X is 700 US$, more than 100 dollars more than in the US.



 
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Kurtisdede

Kurtisdede

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Jun 10, 2017
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GTX 1080. It will be better than a i7+1070. Not to mention you'll need to buy a new mobo and ram if you go for a i7. And honestly, with Ryzen, imo its not worth it to get the i7.
 
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