Jump to content

CPU upgrades vs. GPU upgrades

genghisquan
 Share
Posted

My current config:

 

Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3P

i7-2600K, 4.4GHz

8 GB DDR3-1600

2x Radeon HD6870 crossfire

256 GB Crucial M4 (and a couple HDD for storage & scratch)

Corsair AX850

 

I only plan on upgrade my GPU(s) in the near future.

My question is at what point should I upgrade the CPU & the entire system?

Would my CPU be a bottleneck if I were to upgrade to the upcoming AMD GPUs (R9 300)?

If GPUs affect the performance in games the most, then how do I know if or when the CPU bottlenecks?

Link to comment
https://linustechtips.com/topic/307172-cpu-upgrades-vs-gpu-upgrades/
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

You should notice bottlenecking when the GPUs are no longer maxed out on a well-optimized game.

 

If people are currently fine with top-end GPUs and original Core i7s, you should be fine for a while.

Sig under construction.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author

You should notice bottlenecking when the GPUs are no longer maxed out on a well-optimized game.

 

If people are currently fine with top-end GPUs and original Core i7s, you should be fine for a while.

What do you mean by well-optimized game? Like, the graphics look good without taxing the GPU too much?

Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Sandybridge isn't obsolete (yet) and it shouldn't bottleneck the system.

If I were you I would wait til Skylake to upgrade.

CASE: Phanteks Enthoo Pro // CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K @4.2GHz // GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 Reference // RAM: 16GB Crucial Ballistix Sport @1333MHz // MOBO: ASUS P8Z77-V LK // SPACE: 240GB Crucial M500 SSD ~ WD Black 1TB // PSU: Corsair CX750M //

CASE: Cooler Master Elite 130 // CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 @4.0GHz // GPU: N/A // RAM: 8GB Crucial Ballistix Sport @1600MHz // MOBO: EVGA Z87 Stinger Mini-ITX // SPACE: OCZ ARC 100 120GB SSD ~ [2X WD Black 2TB in RAID 1] // PSU: EVGA 430W //

 

Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author

Sandybridge isn't obsolete (yet) and it shouldn't bottleneck the system.

If I were you I would wait til Skylake to upgrade.

What about after Skylake? More specifically, would it be better to upgrade during a tick or a tock?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing New Builds and Planning

×