Trying to decide whether to upgrade GPU or CPU first.

[Timedye]

Hi, all.

I've recently decided that I'm not overly happy with how games perform on my machine. Most run alright at 720p at medium-to-high settings, but I want to be able to run them good in 1080p in high-to-ultra settings.

I can only afford to upgrade one component per month, so I'm wondering what I should upgrade first in September, GPU or CPU?

Current components:

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 960 T 3.00GHz
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 460 1GB GDDR5

Here are the components I'm planning on getting:

CPU: AMD FX-8350 8-Core Black Edition 4.00GHz
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX760 SuperClocked 2GB GDDR5

Which should I upgrade first?

 

[DSzymborski]

Hi, all.

I've recently decided that I'm not overly happy with how games perform on my machine. Most run alright at 720p at medium-to-high settings, but I want to be able to run them good in 1080p in high-to-ultra settings.

I can only afford to upgrade one component per month, so I'm wondering what I should upgrade first in September, GPU or CPU?

Current components:

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 960 T 3.00GHz
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 460 1GB GDDR5

Here are the components I'm planning on getting:

CPU: AMD FX-8350 8-Core Black Edition 4.00GHz
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX760 SuperClocked 2GB GDDR5

Which should I upgrade first?

If you find your games playable and satisfying and would just like to see a bit more, in a non-urgent sense, generally upgrade the CPU first. GPU tech ages quicker than CPU tech does and without any big CPUs dropping in the next few months, getting a CPU now gives you better options for the GPU - more price drops and possibly more information on the Radeon HD 9000 series. Waiting a few months for a CPU upgrade won't help you that much as there's not a lot of downward pressure on prices and a few months won't get you to Steamroller.

If, on the other hand, you're unhappy with the games you're currently playing, then it makes sense to prioritize the GPU. That's where you'll get the biggest upgrade in gaming.

 

[lazyboy947]

Did u attempt to unlock that 960t to a x6? would help quite a bit along with an OC or just an OC. Also getting a newer gpu will help quite a bit, but will prob be held back by a 3.0ghz x4 as a radeon hd 5850 does lol (friend runs a 945 with a 5850 99% cpu use, 85% gpu use). Matters on the game but multi core use is becoming more common and newer games run fine on a quad core but 3.0ghz is pretty low for a phenom, so id attempt to unlock the cores and or OC if u can and go from there and get the gpu.

If u can do one for sure a month then prob get the gpu first as i dont see a huge improvement in fps while still using the 460.

I agree with DS as gpu go out of date quite fast as u could wait for the 9000series but then again there is always something u can wait for, its either steamroller, 9000 series, price drops etc nvidias prices dont drop too quickly so in a month i dont see the 760 lowering alot if any $10-20 and thats pushing it. Unless u can find one or the other on sale get it first, usually a 8350 goes on sale for $170

 

[simon12]

If you want to run at a higher res. than you can at the moment a CPU upgrade will not help at all so get the 760.