i5-6500 What should I get to upgrade an Intel i5-6500?

[Violet Rose]

I've gotten a pc recently, and as far as I can tell, it's decent with games. However, I did notice that the cpu is bringing the performance down quite a bit. I've been trying to look for what I should get as an upgrade for it without spending too much money.

Currently I have an Intel i5-6500. The motherboard is an Asus H170 PRO GAMING, so the socket is an LGA1151. If, money-wise, it's better to upgrade the motherboard too, I'd be fine hearing about that too, but I'd rather only upgrade the cpu for now.

The GPU it has is good enough for me for now, it's an Nvidia GeForce 1050ti.

And as for a budget, I don't exactly have one, but I would be fine with seeing multiple options.

I'm from the Netherlands, so if it's possible I'd prefer prices in €, as well as not having high shipping costs.

[Needfuldoer]

Your motherboard only officially supports 6th and 7th gen CPUs, and I don't think it makes much sense to replace that i5 with an i7. In order for a CPU upgrade to be worthwhile, you'd need a new motherboard too. (Add RAM to that if you go AM5.)

 

Your best value-for-money upgrade is going to be a better GPU. Don't worry about "bottlenecking" the CPU by buying "too much" GPU if you plan on upgrading everything else within a year or two, because a higher spec GPU will still be viable when it's paired with new parts.

[Violet Rose]

16 minutes ago, Needfuldoer said:

Your motherboard only officially supports 6th and 7th gen CPUs, and I don't think it makes much sense to replace that i5 with an i7. In order for a CPU upgrade to be worthwhile, you'd need a new motherboard too. (Add RAM to that if you go AM5.)

 

Your best value-for-money upgrade is going to be a better GPU. Don't worry about "bottlenecking" the CPU by buying "too much" GPU if you plan on upgrading everything else within a year or two, because a higher spec GPU will still be viable when it's paired with new parts.

Thank you, could I maybe also ask you what gpu you'd recommend that isn't top of the line? And I am okay with second hand gpu's, and there is quite a bit of space inside my case as it's a Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-01 Red LED Mid-Tower Gaming Case. as for my monitor, it's 1440p so upgrading to a graphics card that's more for 4k, that'd be a bit too much for me.
Yet again, thank you for taking your time to help a stranger like me.

[Needfuldoer]

2 minutes ago, Violet Rose said:

Thank you, could I maybe also ask you what gpu you'd recommend that isn't top of the line? And I am okay with second hand gpu's, and there is quite a bit of space inside my case as it's a Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-01 Red LED Mid-Tower Gaming Case. as for my monitor, it's 1440p so upgrading to a graphics card that's more for 4k, that'd be a bit too much for me.
Yet again, thank you for taking your time to help a stranger like me.

A 3060, 3060ti, 3070, or 3070ti would be plenty.

 

I'm not as sure about the AMD side.

[PDifolco]

51 minutes ago, Needfuldoer said:

A 3060, 3060ti, 3070, or 3070ti would be plenty.

 

I'm not as sure about the AMD side.

6600 to 7700xt are better deals then Nvidia all over the low to mid tier range

 

Imo Nvidia is to look at starting with the 4070, over $600 price range 

[PDifolco]

3 hours ago, Violet Rose said:

I've gotten a pc recently, and as far as I can tell, it's decent with games. However, I did notice that the cpu is bringing the performance down quite a bit. I've been trying to look for what I should get as an upgrade for it without spending too much money.

Currently I have an Intel i5-6500. The motherboard is an Asus H170 PRO GAMING, so the socket is an LGA1151. If, money-wise, it's better to upgrade the motherboard too, I'd be fine hearing about that too, but I'd rather only upgrade the cpu for now.

The GPU it has is good enough for me for now, it's an Nvidia GeForce 1050ti.

And as for a budget, I don't exactly have one, but I would be fine with seeing multiple options.

I'm from the Netherlands, so if it's possible I'd prefer prices in €, as well as not having high shipping costs.

You've bought a i5 6500 with a 1050ti recently  ? Hope it was real cheap (like $250) cause it's not good sorry...

Really there's nothing to upgrade or salvage imo, you'd better replacing everything  (except maybe the case..)

 

[Violet Rose]

18 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

You've bought a i5 6500 with a 1050ti recently  ? Hope it was real cheap (like $250) cause it's not good sorry...

Really there's nothing to upgrade or salvage imo, you'd better replacing everything  (except maybe the case..)

 

Not bought, I've gotten this entire pc from a friend as a gift.

[PDifolco]

4 minutes ago, Violet Rose said:

Not bought, I've gotten this entire pc from a friend as a gift.

Ok real cheap then  

[YoungBlade]

Here are my recommendations for you in the Netherlands right now:

 

RX 6600 for €202.95 after shipping from Megekko.nl: https://www.megekko.nl/product/1962/1026387/AMD-Videokaarten/PowerColor-FIGHTER-AMD-Radeon-RX-6600-8GB-Videokaart

RX 6650XT for €262.95 after shipping from Megekko.nl: https://www.megekko.nl/product/1962/1061146/AMD-Videokaarten/XFX-SPEEDSTER-SWFT-210-AMD-Radeon-RX-6650-XT-8GB-Videokaart

RTX 3060 12GB for €308.95 after shipping from Azerty.nl: https://azerty.nl/product/gigabyte-geforce-rtx-3060-gaming-oc-12g-rev-2-0-lhr-videokaart/4530724

RX 6700XT for €354.90 free shipping from Amazon.nl: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B08YKCC8XD

 

Any of these cards will be way faster than your current GTX 1050 Ti. They'll all likely max out your current CPU at 1080p High settings. The higher tier cards will simply offer you more performance in the future after you upgrade, and you would be safer to turn things up to Ultra graphics settings without seeing a performance hit the higher up you go.

 

I will note that the RX 6650XT is generally a bit faster than the RTX 3060, and is cheaper, but the RTX 3060 has more VRAM and gives you access to DLSS (but not Frame Generation), which may be worth the premium - it's hard to say how the cards will age compared to each other.

 

My recommendation would be to get one of the AMD cards - those are all pretty well spaced in terms of price/performance, so just getting the most expensive AMD card you can afford out of those is not a bad way to go.

[Violet Rose]

1 minute ago, YoungBlade said:

Here are my recommendations for you in the Netherlands right now:

 

RX 6600 for €202.95 after shipping from Megekko.nl: https://www.megekko.nl/product/1962/1026387/AMD-Videokaarten/PowerColor-FIGHTER-AMD-Radeon-RX-6600-8GB-Videokaart

RX 6650XT for €262.95 after shipping from Megekko.nl: https://www.megekko.nl/product/1962/1061146/AMD-Videokaarten/XFX-SPEEDSTER-SWFT-210-AMD-Radeon-RX-6650-XT-8GB-Videokaart

RTX 3060 12GB for €308.95 after shipping from Azerty.nl: https://azerty.nl/product/gigabyte-geforce-rtx-3060-gaming-oc-12g-rev-2-0-lhr-videokaart/4530724

RX 6700XT for €354.90 free shipping from Amazon.nl: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B08YKCC8XD

 

Any of these cards will be way faster than your current GTX 1050 Ti. They'll all likely max out your current CPU at 1080p High settings. The higher tier cards will simply offer you more performance in the future after you upgrade, and you would be safer to turn things up to Ultra graphics settings without seeing a performance hit the higher up you go.

 

I will note that the RX 6650XT is generally a bit faster than the RTX 3060, and is cheaper, but the RTX 3060 has more VRAM and gives you access to DLSS (but not Frame Generation), which may be worth the premium - it's hard to say how the cards will age compared to each other.

 

My recommendation would be to get one of the AMD cards - those are all pretty well spaced in terms of price/performance, so just getting the most expensive AMD card you can afford out of those is not a bad way to go.

Thank you so much! The other people were helpful but your response really helped me. I'm kinda clueless when it comes to what to get when on a budget, as before this pc I had a gaming laptop, so never had to upgrade. (Laptop sadly died due to corrupt ssd + battery expanding)

Also if I had to upgrade the motherboard, should I go AMD or Intel? Sorry if I'm asking too much.

[YoungBlade]

2 hours ago, Violet Rose said:

Thank you so much! The other people were helpful but your response really helped me. I'm kinda clueless when it comes to what to get when on a budget, as before this pc I had a gaming laptop, so never had to upgrade. (Laptop sadly died due to corrupt ssd + battery expanding)

Also if I had to upgrade the motherboard, should I go AMD or Intel? Sorry if I'm asking too much.

You're welcome!

 

Both Intel and AMD are good options for CPUs right now - you can really go either way. Intel offers better multicore productivity performance at the mid-range if you care about that, and AMD has a better upgrade potential to put a future CPU on the same platform with AM5 (600 series motherboards). If your budget is very limited, AMD's previous generation is also a good option, as you can typically get the platform for a discount compared to low-end Intel options.

 

However, AMD is going to be launching new APUs in a few months if rumors are to be believed, so that could shake up the market at the low end. It's probably better to come back to the Forums when you're ready to upgrade to ask again in case things have changed.

[Violet Rose]

On 11/25/2023 at 5:41 PM, YoungBlade said:

Here are my recommendations for you in the Netherlands right now:

 

RX 6600 for €202.95 after shipping from Megekko.nl: https://www.megekko.nl/product/1962/1026387/AMD-Videokaarten/PowerColor-FIGHTER-AMD-Radeon-RX-6600-8GB-Videokaart

RX 6650XT for €262.95 after shipping from Megekko.nl: https://www.megekko.nl/product/1962/1061146/AMD-Videokaarten/XFX-SPEEDSTER-SWFT-210-AMD-Radeon-RX-6650-XT-8GB-Videokaart

RTX 3060 12GB for €308.95 after shipping from Azerty.nl: https://azerty.nl/product/gigabyte-geforce-rtx-3060-gaming-oc-12g-rev-2-0-lhr-videokaart/4530724

RX 6700XT for €354.90 free shipping from Amazon.nl: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B08YKCC8XD

 

Any of these cards will be way faster than your current GTX 1050 Ti. They'll all likely max out your current CPU at 1080p High settings. The higher tier cards will simply offer you more performance in the future after you upgrade, and you would be safer to turn things up to Ultra graphics settings without seeing a performance hit the higher up you go.

 

I will note that the RX 6650XT is generally a bit faster than the RTX 3060, and is cheaper, but the RTX 3060 has more VRAM and gives you access to DLSS (but not Frame Generation), which may be worth the premium - it's hard to say how the cards will age compared to each other.

 

My recommendation would be to get one of the AMD cards - those are all pretty well spaced in terms of price/performance, so just getting the most expensive AMD card you can afford out of those is not a bad way to go.

I actually found a Sapphire Pulse RX 5700 XT Pulse Black Edition for just €149,95 because it's second hand and on sale for 50%. Do you think that's a good card to upgrade to from my 1050ti?

[YoungBlade]

2 hours ago, Violet Rose said:

I actually found a Sapphire Pulse RX 5700 XT Pulse Black Edition for just €149,95 because it's second hand and on sale for 50%. Do you think that's a good card to upgrade to from my 1050ti?

The 5700XT is almost as fast as the 6650XT in most games. The only thing is that it lacks hardware ray tracing support, but the 6650XT isn't really fast enough for RT in most games anyway, so it's not a huge loss.

 

At that price, it's certainly a good value.