Avoiding the bottleneck

[Soveposen]

The ultimate question: how do I avoid bottlenecking my system as much as possible.

 

I’m looking for either a cpu upgrade or an upgrade of my graphics card, but I’m not sure where the biggest upgrade is and how I avoid bottlenecking either part.

 

My build is:

 

i5 6500

gtx 1060

gigabyte z170 gaming k3

16 gb ddr4 (corsair I think)

several hdd for storage and ssd for boot.

 

I’m aiming for a value build not a high-end but primarily for gaming. The choices I have been thinking about is either going for a rtx 2060 or ryzen 5 3600 + MSI tomahawk max atx. What part would I benefit most from FPS wise and will I bottleneck the new part if I don’t upgrade both the cpu and gpu?

 

[Dappner]

29 minutes ago, Soveposen said:

The ultimate question: how do I avoid bottlenecking my system as much as possible.

 

I’m looking for either a cpu upgrade or an upgrade of my graphics card, but I’m not sure where the biggest upgrade is and how I avoid bottlenecking either part.

 

My build is:

 

i5 6500

gtx 1060

gigabyte z170 gaming k3

16 gb ddr4 (corsair I think)

several hdd for storage and ssd for boot.

 

I’m aiming for a value build not a high-end but primarily for gaming. The choices I have been thinking about is either going for a rtx 2060 or ryzen 5 3600 + MSI tomahawk max atx. What part would I benefit most from FPS wise and will I bottleneck the new part if I don’t upgrade both the cpu and gpu?

 

Your cpu will probably start bottlenecking if you get a much better gpu. I'd upgrade your cpu right now and then wait another year or so before upgrading the gpu.

 

Shouldn't be bottlenecking with your current setup.

[1signig]

A gpu getting bottlenecked isnt much of a worry so upgrade your cpu now (or soon) then upgrade your gpu.

[Ed Swayzy]

take a look at this calculator, plug in the cpu and gpu models youre looking to buy and it will tell you how they pair together. https://pc-builds.com/calculator/

For example a RTX 2060 and a Ryzen 3600 will cause a 16.06% bottleneck according to the calculator and anything above 10% is considered a bottleneck. If you were to replace the 3600 with a i5 9600k it pairs better with the rtx 2060, or if you still want the 3600 its better to go with a 1080ti  

[NineEyeRon]

If your experience improves then a bottleneck isn’t worth worrying about.

 

if you gain 40 FPS instead of 50 then what is the issue?

 

A weaker card might only improve you 35 FPS instead of 45...

 

If you can afford it get GPU now and save for a CPU later. You will forget about he bottleneck by the time you get a new CPu and the performance gained will feel good!

[Soveposen]

Thank you so much for the inputs. Brilliant tool btw @Ed Swayzy, didn't know it before.

 

@NineEyeRon Good point. My CPU is also older than the GPU, so it might just be time for an upgrade in that region.