1440p Ultra Settings Gaming: CPU or GPU upgrade first

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ChaoticGenius

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Jun 30, 2017
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So my PC right now is pretty good, but as you can see from the title not good enough for the things I want to do.

Right now I have an fx8350 cpu and an r9 290x 8gb gpu, they are both still pretty good and I can run every game I have at 1080 ultra settings with a pretty consistent framerate. (Except GTA V, it runs at a lower framerate than I would like, I hear that is because it is a cpu intensive game and thus cpu bottle-necked when you have a good gpu) However, several months ago I bought the Acer XF270HU and I feel like I am not getting the true potential out of the monitor because I have to play most of my games at lower settings than I would like to get a consistent framerate. So now that I have saved up enough to do a big upgrade my question is, which should I upgrade first, cpu or gpu?

I want to upgrade to a Ryzen 1700x for my cpu and to a 1080 for my gpu.

By the way, although I won't be able to use g sync if I get a 1080 it should still work fine since my monitor is 144hz, right??

P.S. Although I appreciate it, please just keep the discussion to ryzen vs 1080 not to ryzen vs 7700k.
 
Solution
raisonjohn
Upgrade CPU first then GPU. My suggested build path for you:

1st phase: Upgrade CPU, MB, and RAM. Keep current GPU and PSU.
This would ensure that you'll have the opportunity to upgrade to better and more powerful GPUs in the future (which you can't do with your current FX 8350 without hindering the GPUs max. possible performance)

2nd phase: Upgrade GPU and PSU
Given ample time to save (after purchasing those expensive CPU + MB + RAM), you'd now be in a better position to select which GPU would best fit your needs. Since AMD Vega is just around the corner (intended to take on Nvidia's GTX 1070/1080/1080Ti), it would be a more logical choice for your curreent 1440p/144Hz Acer monitor to take advantage of FreeSync. If in...
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TerryLaze

TerryLaze

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May 9, 2016
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GPU will help you get the consistent framerates you had at 1080 before in 1440.
CPU will help you get higher FPS in the games you had lowish FPS in 1080.

You can use fast sync with nvidia which is actually like playing with no sync only that the GPU only sends full frames to the display so no tearing.
 
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raisonjohn

raisonjohn

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Feb 22, 2015
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Upgrade CPU first then GPU. My suggested build path for you:

1st phase: Upgrade CPU, MB, and RAM. Keep current GPU and PSU.
This would ensure that you'll have the opportunity to upgrade to better and more powerful GPUs in the future (which you can't do with your current FX 8350 without hindering the GPUs max. possible performance)

2nd phase: Upgrade GPU and PSU
Given ample time to save (after purchasing those expensive CPU + MB + RAM), you'd now be in a better position to select which GPU would best fit your needs. Since AMD Vega is just around the corner (intended to take on Nvidia's GTX 1070/1080/1080Ti), it would be a more logical choice for your curreent 1440p/144Hz Acer monitor to take advantage of FreeSync. If in case AMD Vega doesn't turn out to be as good as Nvidia's, then, at that point in time, you can always get the GTX 1080 that you wanted (but for a much lower price than today).
 
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Solution
raisonjohn

raisonjohn

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MERGED QUESTION
Question from ChaoticGenius : "1440p Ultra Settings Gaming: CPU or GPU upgrade first"







Upgrade CPU first then GPU. My suggested build path for you:

1st phase: Upgrade CPU, MB, and RAM. Keep current GPU and PSU.
This would ensure that you'll have the opportunity to upgrade to better and more powerful GPUs in the future (which you can't do with your current FX 8350 without hindering the GPUs max. possible performance)

2nd phase: Upgrade GPU and PSU
Given ample time to save (after purchasing those expensive CPU + MB + RAM), you'd now be in a better position to select which GPU would best fit your needs. Since AMD Vega is just around the corner (intended to take on Nvidia's GTX 1070/1080/1080Ti), it would be a more logical choice for your curreent 1440p/144Hz Acer monitor to take advantage of FreeSync. If in case AMD Vega doesn't turn out to be as good as Nvidia's, then, at that point in time, you can always get the GTX 1080 that you wanted (but for a much lower price than today).
 
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ChaoticGenius

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Jun 30, 2017
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Yea, I didn't realize but as I was looking around and I found out that the fx 8350 is actually like 5 years old now. I feel like I should upgrade. Maybe I will even wait until next year when the new Cannon lake is supposed to come out. If its better (and competitively priced) get that, and if not, get a then much cheaper ryzen. Thanks for your help!
 
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