Tight Budget - What to Upgrade? FX-8320 and R9 270

[WillieDoo1994]

Hello LTT Forum, I just joined. I'm stuck! Here's my dilemma, I have the current system:

ASUS Mobo with FX-8320 - I know is  weak CPU by todays standards especially in single core performance. 

16 GB Ram 1866 MHz

Radeon R9 270 non-X 2 GB - 3Dmark of mid 4000s 

480 SSD

1 TB Barracuda 

Plenty of cooling and big case.

 

Which should I upgrade FIRST? 

The GPU: To RX 590 8 GB? $180 'or' GTX 1660 $200 both have a  3D score double of the R9 270 

OR 

The Meat - CPU, MOBO, RAM: AM4 B450 3rd gen Ryzen, RAM. while keeping the R9 270 $200-$250~

 

 

Summary:

Would the new GPU show an increase in playability in games without being choked by the FX-8320 too much? 

 

OR

 

Should I upgrade the CPU etc now and keep the R9 270 for now? Has anyone done this? I know single score will be much better with a similar multi core score. Even today I know that games like a solid single core score.  

 

What are your results and experience? I can only do one or the other right not and not the whole system. 

 

 

[Rackooo]

Quite a hard question and it really depends on the games you play. As far as future proofing goes i would recomend you upgrate the brains of the computer (cpu, ram, mb). 

 

Some games are not that cpu intensive and mostly stress out the gpu and vice versa. So it realy depends on what you play, but the 270 is quite slow for todays standards.

 

Still i stand by upgrading the heart of the computer before upgrading the gpu since you will not be able to unleash the full potential of any modern game with that processor. And it is easier to swap the graphics card out in the future, if you have all of the bassis cared off.

 

So to get to your question in summary:

 

You will notice more fps increase if you change out your graphics card, BUT in cpu intensive titles, you will experience frame drops, stutters and generaly bad gameplay experience if pairing a new graphics card with the fx. 

 

So imho, upgrade the cpu, ram and mb0

 

 

[DobertRownySr]

Upgrade your GPU first, according to this video the FX 8320 gets well over 60 FPS in most games.

 

[Bombastinator]

There’s an argument for either.   If you do one the other is going to be badly bottlenecked until the other is done.  In general CPUs are in a better position for updating than GPUs.  Your CPU is less badly off than your GPU though.  This is a problem with a balanced system.  To update it piecemeal you have to unbalance it.

[Otto_iii]

The RX590 is occasionally priced very well, like 170-180$ish, but if you can afford a 1660 (super) and source one for 200-230$ it is the superior card, and imo worth the extra 30$ as the performance scales pretty well for the extra 10-15% cost over the RX590 (as in it actually performs about 10-15% better, especially if OC is considered).  For 300-500$ i recommend all AMD, but below 300$ Nvidea is still killing it, atleast for now, maybe the 5600XT will change things if its not priced stupid.   Until you drop down to about >150$, about 125$, and the rx570 comes into play the budget end is all Nvidea right now, region depending, but in most cases. 

I've owned RX590 for about a month, and something maybe not seen in benchmarks but personally had issue with was the card seemed more so then many others i've owned to be "nearly maxed out," as in you couldn't OC it much at all, which for me weighs partly into my conclusion the 1660 is usually better choice.  That said RX590 isn't a bad card, so if you end up with one don't feel bad about it.  I'm not 100% on this but was atleast my impression with it, i could of just been bad at OCing with Polaris architecture though, didn't spend too much time trying as it didn't take nicely to it. 

[Whiro]

54 minutes ago, WillieDoo1994 said:

I can only do one or the other right not and not the whole system

Your best option will be to safe some money and upgrade both same time, you always will have bottleneck no matter what you decide to upgrade first. 
But assuming you not gonna do it and still upgrade one of them I would upgrade gpu first and oc that fx chip as far as possible. 
Other question is what psu you have in that system? Is it good enough to handle new card? And I’m not talking only about how many w but also is it good reputable brand or one of this garbage ones.

[WillieDoo1994]

20 minutes ago, Whiro said:

Your best option will be to safe some money and upgrade both same time, you always will have bottleneck no matter what you decide to upgrade first. 
But assuming you not gonna do it and still upgrade one of them I would upgrade gpu first and oc that fx chip as far as possible. 
Other question is what psu you have in that system? Is it good enough to handle new card? And I’m not talking only about how many w but also is it good reputable brand or one of this garbage ones.

I know that, I will be upgrading the whole system, but I'd like to start now anyways.

2. It is Rosewill 750 80 Gold modular. I made sure to get the best PSU, case, and fans when I first built it. I spent a good amount of money on components I wouldn't have to upgrade for a long time. I just didn't realize how crap the FX series was especially single core performance. I wish the AM3+ would've had one more solid refresh before AMD gave up on it. Oh well. It would be nice if I could've gotten some of that refund from AMD after the lawsuit. 

[WillieDoo1994]

45 minutes ago, DobertRownySr said:

Upgrade your GPU first, according to this video the FX 8320 gets well over 60 FPS in most games.

 

The 8320 is a dog today, it was a sub $200 CPU. Single core performance sucks, makes day to day tasks slow. A $200 CPU will blow this out of the water. I couldn't understand most of what that guy was saying. Thank you for the support nonetheless! 

[Bombastinator]

2 minutes ago, WillieDoo1994 said:

I know that, I will be upgrading the whole system, but I'd like to start now anyways.

2. It is Rosewill 750 80 Gold modular. I made sure to get the best PSU, case, and fans when I first built it. I spent a good amount of money on components I wouldn't have to upgrade for a long time. I just didn't realize how crap the FX series was especially single core performance. I wish the AM3+ would've had one more solid refresh before AMD gave up on it. Oh well. It would be nice if I could've gotten some of that refund from AMD after the lawsuit. 

Well if you want to buy now, and you’re treating it as a long term project, there a strong argument for CPUs.  A CPU needs a motherboard, and AMD seems to be trying to weaken the argument for PCIE 3.0 with some of its new GPU offerings.  I’d still call it strong medium though.  You’re likely going to want to get fast low cas memory with those Samsung chips that have been discussed as they’re apparently some of the most overclockable out right now if you’re going on the “spend what it takes” model.  I’m not overfond of the current x570 offerings for motherboards myself.  The good ones are hellaciously expensive.  Maybe buy a lower end b450 and expect to have to update it just before AM5 comes out.  My personal preference is for the 3700x over the 3600x because more cores, though the 3600 is better bang/buck atm.

[WillieDoo1994]

4 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Well if you want to buy now, and you’re treating it as a long term project, there a strong argument for CPUs.  A CPU needs a motherboard, and AMD seems to be trying to weaken the argument for PCIE 3.0 with some of its new GPU offerings.  I’d still call it strong medium though.  You’re likely going to want to get fast low cas memory with those Samsung chips that have been discussed as they’re apparently some of the most overclockable out right now if you’re going on the “spend what it takes” model.  I’m not overfond of the current x570 offerings for motherboards myself.  The good ones are hellaciously expensive.  Maybe buy a lower end b450 and expect to have to update it just before AM5 comes out.  My personal preference is for the 3700x over the 3600x because more cores, though the 3600 is better bang/buck atm.

AM5? So soon? I would hope AMD does an AM4+ first...I feel like Ryzen just came out! I will most likely be going with the 3600 unless the 3700X has a good deal at the time of purchase. I feel like CPU's age better than GPU's do to constant changing game offerings. I do a wide range of games. Right now, running any newer titles make the 270 suffer more and more, My friend plays VR chat and I was horrified at the stuttering! 

[Bombastinator]

2 minutes ago, WillieDoo1994 said:

AM5? So soon? I would hope AMD does an AM4+ first...I feel like Ryzen just came out! I will most likely be going with the 3600 unless the 3700X has a good deal at the time of purchase. I feel like CPU's age better than GPU's do to constant changing game offerings. I do a wide range of games. Right now, running any newer titles make the 270 suffer more and more, My friend plays VR chat and I was horrified at the stuttering! 

Am4 is supposedly going to live on until DDR5, or so rumors say.  Whether that is as an am4+ or not I do not know.

[PrinnyExplodes]

Honestly....it is always better to upgrade everything BUT i understand if you are strapped for cash.

 

If you want to get the most out of your current system, I would recommend buying a used GTX 1070. You can get one for ~ $185 US. You get the same performance as the 1660 ti. Or get a GTX 1070 ti for ~ $210 USD (similar performance to the RTX 2060 6GB). Then get the rest later.

 

At least you can hit over 100 fps with those graphics cards at 1080p despite the CPU that is holding it back but you will notice stuttering in some titles.

[Bombastinator]

1 minute ago, PrinnyExplodes said:

Honestly....it is always better to upgrade everything BUT i understand if you are strapped for cash.

 

If you want to get the most out of your current system, I would recommend buying a used GTX 1070. You can get one for ~ $185 US. You get the same performance as the 1660 ti. Or get a GTX 1070 ti for ~ $210 USD (similar performance to the RTX 2060 6GB). Then get the rest later.

 

At least you can hit over 100 fps with those graphics cards at 1080p despite the CPU that is holding it back but you will notice stuttering in some titles.

Yup it’s basically a now or later argument.  Gaming now GPU, Best Buy atm? CPU.  Depends on what you want.