CPU OR GPU ?

[AngelAriel]

currently i have an a8-6500 (trash) and a 650 ti gpu.  I was curious if i should upgrade my cpu to a 8320 or should i upgrade my GPU.

 

simply should one upgrade their cpu/mobo first or their gpu ?

[OGFatal]

CPU. upgrading your GPU to much will just bottleneck

[Cokeman]

I say CPU

[AlwaysFSX]

If you want an 8320 you need a new motherboard too. I say GPU, as you won't be bottlenecked too bad as much as others would like to think. 

[SeanBond]

Why not both? gpu first then a cpu when broadwell comes out. 

[threadysparrow]

If you want to upgrade your CPU, stick with the APUs so you don't have to upgrade your motherboard. But there isn't an APU that's significantly better than the A8 series APUs that won't bottleneck your graphics card.

[Geekazoid]

Maybe one should add a poll to see what the general consensus on this is.

[threadysparrow]

Why not both? gpu first then a cpu when broadwell comes out. 

If he's using a mid range APU and a mid range GPU I don't think he has the budget needed to drop $600 in his system like that. If he had the budget then he wouldn't need to ask this question.

[ohJey]

Can you overclock the CPU?

 

I'd recommend a better GPU

[Briggsy]

you could buy a 212 evo cpu cooler for 30 bucks and overclock the cpu if possible (i don't know if its locked or not.)

EDIT: just looked, guess its locked to max turbo speed.

 

In truth, the A8-6500 isn't that bad of a cpu at stock speeds. it should be able to handle GPUs like a 270x or a gtx760 just fine. there are the odd games ( like Crysis 2) that can poo on a CPU, but a lot of titles will be fine with a mid-range GPU paired with a 6500.

 

but other factors, like your power supply may also be a limiting factor.

[Savant]

If you want an 8320 you need a new motherboard too. I say GPU, as you won't be bottlenecked too bad as much as others would like to think. 

Yeah he will. I had a A10 and it bottlenecked my  760 like hell.

[CyanOG]

It will probably bottleneck, but now you have to change your mobo and stuff .. 

 

ALSO if you get the 8320 get a Aftermarket CPU cooler even if youre not overclocking 

[Briggsy]

It will probably bottleneck, but now you have to change your mobo and stuff .. 

 

ALSO if you get the 8320 get a Aftermarket CPU cooler even if youre not overclocking 

 

they would definitely want to overclock. an 8350 at stock speeds has a 5% increase for single threaded performance over an A8-6500, let alone an 8320. if all 8 cores are being utilized effectively at stock speeds (video transcoding, rendering etc..), an 8350 at stock speeds would gain a 200% performance increase over the 6500.

 

My only worry, if its a game that only uses 2 cores, its going to be a lot of money spent for little improvement. keep that in mind.

[SeanBond]

If he's using a mid range APU and a mid range GPU I don't think he has the budget needed to drop $600 in his system like that. If he had the budget then he wouldn't need to ask this question.

hmm wait for broadwell for a cpu. I didn't know broadwell was out this week. Or you thought I meant go buy a 6gb 780? I think you are confused. 

[threadysparrow]

hmm wait for broadwell for a cpu. I didn't know broadwell was out this week. Or you thought I meant go buy a 6gb 780? I think you are confused. 

A new motherboard + a broadwell CPU + a graphics card better than a 650 ti is going to run about $600.

[SeanBond]

A new motherboard + a broadwell CPU + a graphics card better than a 650 ti is going to run about $600.

Okay now I must insult you. Broadwell is not out. It will not be for some time. Imbecile. So obviously buy the gpu and later get the cpu, yes the one the currently does not exist. With that motherboard that does not exist. 

[threadysparrow]

Okay now I must insult you. Broadwell is not out. It will not be for some time. Imbecile. So obviously buy the gpu and later get the cpu, yes the one the currently does not exist. With that motherboard that does not exist. 

Ok so I must now insult you. Imbecile. He obviously only has the money to buy 1 component. We're talking about current components here, not 6 months down the line. Focus (points to the board) eyes on me here. You need to make yourself clear in your post. You said to upgrade both. He can't upgrade both. So until he can, a GPU it is then.

[SeanBond]

Ok so I must now insult you. Imbecile. He obviously only has the money to buy 1 component. We're talking about current components here, not 6 months down the line. Focus (points to the board) eyes on me here. You need to make yourself clear in your post. You said to upgrade both. He can't upgrade both. So until he can, a GPU it is then.

"gpu first then cpu when broadwell comes out" "what part of wait for broadwell cpu" was unclear of which to choose. Good try though. 

[threadysparrow]

"gpu first then cpu when broadwell comes out" "what part of wait for broadwell cpu" was unclear of which to choose. Good try though. 

He obviously isn't going to be able to afford a new generation CPU so your suggestion is meaningless anyways. He is working on a budget, why even add in the part about a Broadwell CPU?

[SeanBond]

Are you just trying to prove you are an imbecile? Broadwell isn't just going to be an i7. Just like haswell isn't. The pentium g3258 is a 60 dollar chip that when overclocked can keep up with a 4790k at the same 4.6ghz frequency in games. The only game it bottlenecked a 780ti is in battlefield 4. You know... the only game that actually uses 4 cores effectively. Yes intel has budget cpus that are new. Yes the will come out with more new cheap cpu's later. Yes they are miles ahead of amd's cpus. 

[capawesome9870]

i would say try to get a GPU possibly a R9 270 or a R9 280 or wait till mid September to get a R9 285. 

 

also i have a FX 8350 (same processor as the 8320 but clocked 500MHz faster) and most games do not take advantage of the extra cores, so stick with the quad 3.5GHz.  Older titles that are based on DX9 (skyrim or Borderlands 2/Pre-Sequal) will be the only 'problems' you will have but in any DX10-12 game they are GPU bound. 

 

currently i am playing Skyrim with a few mods, mainly follower and dungeon mods, but i got a castle (Sjel Blad Castle to be exact) that in that place is the only place i go below the 75FPS of my monitor and it is only for 3 seconds as about 40NPCs load in to the world.  other than that it runs fine and rarely dips below 75fps, also only uses 30-40% of 4 cores anyways so the extra cores are just idle.  stick with the quad you have.