GPU for an i5-6600

[AnaMontenegro]

Hi everyone,

 

Like the title says, I currently have a i5-6600 and 16GB of RAM, old GPU that desperately needs some upgrading BUT I don't wanna get something that'd be bottle necked by that CPU.

 

Notes:

• I have no estimate for when I can upgrade the CPU, am not made of money, so it might have to last quite a few years still, no "get this GPU and upgrade to this CPU later on."
• Need an Nvidia card, AMD really doesn't like the stuff I need for work.
• VRAM needs to be minimum 8GB, that's my main problem with my current CPU, not enough VRAM.
• No second hand stuff, not dealing with that stuff.

I was looking at an RTX 3050 8GB which is an upgrade over my current GPU, but the prices where I live haven't come down as I'd like, specially since that's a two generations old GPU by now, the RTX 3060 12GB looks tempting too and I'd love that much VRAM, but for the same price I can get an RTX 4060 8GB, less VRAM but only one generation old, thing is I'm not sure if my i5-6600 would bottle neck the 4060, or even the 3000 series...

 

So I bring it to you, wizards of hardware, what say you... ?

 

[Why_Me]

Just now, AnaMontenegro said:

Hi everyone,

 

Like the title says, I currently have a i5-6600 and 16GB of RAM, old GPU that desperately needs some upgrading BUT I don't wanna get something that'd be bottle necked by that CPU.

 

Notes:

• I have no estimate for when I can upgrade the CPU, am not made of money, so it might have to last quite a few years still, no "get this GPU and upgrade to this CPU later on."
• Need an Nvidia card, AMD really doesn't like the stuff I need for work.
• VRAM needs to be minimum 8GB, that's my main problem with my current CPU, not enough VRAM.
• No second hand stuff, not dealing with that stuff.

I was looking at an RTX 3050 8GB which is an upgrade over my current GPU, but the prices where I live haven't come down as I'd like, specially since that's a two generations old GPU by now, the RTX 3060 12GB looks tempting too and I'd love that much VRAM, but for the same price I can get an RTX 4060 8GB, less VRAM but only one generation old, thing is I'm not sure if my i5-6600 would bottle neck the 4060, or even the 3000 series...

 

So I bring it to you, wizards of hardware, what say you... ?

 

The 3060 12GB is a solid gpu ^^

[emosun]

7 minutes ago, AnaMontenegro said:

I'm not sure if my i5-6600 would bottle neck the 4060, or even the 3000 series...

it depends on the task you are doing

tasks are what dictate a bottleneck , not parts simply existing in a machine

7 minutes ago, AnaMontenegro said:

Need an Nvidia card, AMD really doesn't like the stuff I need for work.

did you want to tell us what you need the card to do or is that part of the challenge

[emosun]

Also yeah that cpu does really suck. The gpu could most likely run windows by itself faster than that cpu could. You should actually check the cpu usage while doing whatever your mystery task is to see if it's even worth installing one.

[Needfuldoer]

Do you plan on upgrading your platform (CPU/RAM/motherboard) in the next year or so?

 

If you are, buy the GPU you'll want for that machine and don't worry about bottlenecking it. Yes it won't work to 100% of its full potential until you upgrade everything else, but that's better than holding your next PC back (or buying two GPUs).

[AnaMontenegro]

1 minute ago, Needfuldoer said:

Do you plan on upgrading your platform (CPU/RAM/motherboard) in the next year or so?

 

14 minutes ago, AnaMontenegro said:

I have no estimate for when I can upgrade the CPU, am not made of money, so it might have to last quite a few years still, no "get this GPU and upgrade to this CPU later on."

^^^^^^

5 minutes ago, emosun said:

did you want to tell us what you need the card to do

For privacy reasons, I'll just say it needs to run quite an old OpenGL program that soaks up a lot of VRAM.

 

Here are the options I was looking at...

 

RTX 3050 8GB, for 239,90 local coins
RTX 3060 12GB, for 329,90 local coins
RTX 4060 8GB, for 319,90 local coins
RTX 5060 8GB, for 329,90 local coins

 

You see the 3050 is where I had my heart at, because I don't think the i5-6600 can use more than that if that at all and that'd be twice the VRAM I have on my GPU right now.

So the 3060 12GB would be great for the VRAM alone, only for that money there's literally current and last gen cards, so how am I gonna convince myself to pay the same price for something two generations old just for an extra 4GB of VRAM... ? And yes I'm all about the VRAM so it should be a clear choice but if I wasn't conflicted I wouldn't have made the topic.

[Tetras]

Just now, AnaMontenegro said:

Here are the options I was looking at...

 

RTX 3050 8GB, for 239,90 local coins
RTX 3060 12GB, for 329,90 local coins
RTX 4060 8GB, for 319,90 local coins
RTX 5060 8GB, for 329,90 local coins

 

You see the 3050 is where I had my heart at, because I don't think the i5-6600 can use more than that if that at all and that'd be twice the VRAM I have on my GPU right now.

So the 3060 12GB would be great for the VRAM alone, only for that money there's literally current and last gen cards, so how am I gonna convince myself to pay the same price for something two generations old just for an extra 4GB of VRAM... ? And yes I'm all about the VRAM so it should be a clear choice but if I wasn't conflicted I wouldn't have made the topic.

For gaming: the 3050 8GB has been generally regarded as a bad buy, mainly because it was overpriced when the RX 6600 was so much faster. I don't know if compute would change that calculation/recommendation, but it is likely that it would.

 

The 3060 12GB is still a good card, but the 4060 has lower power consumption, which could edge it unless you know you're going to be pushing the VRAM. There's a video about the topic here (timestamps in the description):

 

4 minutes ago, AnaMontenegro said:

For privacy reasons, I'll just say it needs to run quite an old OpenGL program that soaks up a lot of VRAM.

The 5060, I think you'd have to be careful of that for niche use cases (sounds like yours is), because of nvidia dropping 32-bit support with 5000 series GPUs. I believe (but can't direct you anywhere to confirm it) this includes 32-bit OpenGL.

[okkee]

26 minutes ago, AnaMontenegro said:

Hi everyone,

 

Like the title says, I currently have a i5-6600 and 16GB of RAM, old GPU that desperately needs some upgrading BUT I don't wanna get something that'd be bottle necked by that CPU.

 

Notes:

• I have no estimate for when I can upgrade the CPU, am not made of money, so it might have to last quite a few years still, no "get this GPU and upgrade to this CPU later on."
• Need an Nvidia card, AMD really doesn't like the stuff I need for work.
• VRAM needs to be minimum 8GB, that's my main problem with my current CPU, not enough VRAM.
• No second hand stuff, not dealing with that stuff.

I was looking at an RTX 3050 8GB which is an upgrade over my current GPU, but the prices where I live haven't come down as I'd like, specially since that's a two generations old GPU by now, the RTX 3060 12GB looks tempting too and I'd love that much VRAM, but for the same price I can get an RTX 4060 8GB, less VRAM but only one generation old, thing is I'm not sure if my i5-6600 would bottle neck the 4060, or even the 3000 series...

 

So I bring it to you, wizards of hardware, what say you... ?

 

If you really need the VRAM then get the 3060 12gb, otherwise get the 4060. However, it's kind of a waste to pair it with a i5-6600. If you're planning to upgrade the rig anytime soon then maybe it works.

[KidKid]

1 hour ago, AnaMontenegro said:

Hi everyone,

 

Like the title says, I currently have a i5-6600 and 16GB of RAM, old GPU that desperately needs some upgrading BUT I don't wanna get something that'd be bottle necked by that CPU.

 

Notes:

• I have no estimate for when I can upgrade the CPU, am not made of money, so it might have to last quite a few years still, no "get this GPU and upgrade to this CPU later on."
• Need an Nvidia card, AMD really doesn't like the stuff I need for work.
• VRAM needs to be minimum 8GB, that's my main problem with my current CPU, not enough VRAM.
• No second hand stuff, not dealing with that stuff.

I was looking at an RTX 3050 8GB which is an upgrade over my current GPU, but the prices where I live haven't come down as I'd like, specially since that's a two generations old GPU by now, the RTX 3060 12GB looks tempting too and I'd love that much VRAM, but for the same price I can get an RTX 4060 8GB, less VRAM but only one generation old, thing is I'm not sure if my i5-6600 would bottle neck the 4060, or even the 3000 series...

 

So I bring it to you, wizards of hardware, what say you... ?

 

Those GPUs are quite decent and might bottleneck your i5-6600. What GPU do you have now? If you want a 30 or 40 class Nvidia GPU, it'll bottleneck most likely, and it would be good to wait for an entire system overhaul, CPU and all.

[thewelshbrummie]

2 hours ago, AnaMontenegro said:

I have no estimate for when I can upgrade the CPU, am not made of money, so it might have to last quite a few years still, no "get this GPU and upgrade to this CPU later on."

So you're buying for now. I'd go with the 3060 just in case you end up needing the extra VRAM. Just make sure you don't get the 3060 variant with 8GB RAM, those do exist and aren't worth the compromise over the 3050.

 

For added context, I have a 3060 that I'm using with my 10th gen Intel PC purchased 3 years ago. It was either overpay a bit for a lower end GPU than I'd like or go without a GPU of any kind. But it's still been a reasonable purchase.

 

My long term plan has been to reuse it my old 4th gen Intel build from 2013. I'm sure the GPU will be the limiting factor vs the CPU but I have no issue in doing so and I doubt you'd regret getting the extra VRAM now.