Upgrade GPU or CPU?

[Yeon]

Hi all,

 

Below are my current PC specs. I wanted to upgrade to a 980 ti but after posting in the graphics card forum found out that my CPU will bottleneck my system. I plan on getting a 1440p monitor soon even though I don't run very demanding games. My original plan was to upgrade my GPU now and hold out for skylake later this year. I am pretty torn though between which to upgrade first as from what I've read ddr4 makes a negligible difference when gaming and that seems to be one of the biggest *new* features coming with skylake. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

CPU -Amd Phenon II x4 955 (No OC)

MoBo -Asus m4A89GTD-Pro/USB3

RAM - 16GB corsair ram (not sure on speed)

GPU - MSI Radeon 5830 Twin Frozr

 

As a note lately I have been playing a lot of Heroes of the Storm. Not a graphics intensive game I know but I want to get into more current games like The Witcher 3 and be able to play it at very high settings and still get decent fps.

 

Thanks!

[Cyrus49]

Both, but upgrade gpu first.

[LegacyStijncat]

Please don't buy a 980 Ti with that CPU

I suggest upgrading your CPU, with Skylake or the current generations. Skylakes big feature is DDR3 AND DDR4 compatibility, if I'm not mistaken.

Get an i5 (now or later on) if you use it for gaming and basic tasks. Get an i7 if you need extra rendering performance (Video rendering, 3D rendering...).

[Nena Trinity]

I say buy a 290X or 390!

 

Then CPU+Another GPU for crossfire!

 

Also why not try water cooler and OC?

[Hero7750]

Upgrade cpu, gpu, and motherboard. I would suggest go from amd cpu's to intel.

[Yeon]

Please don't buy a 980 Ti with that CPU

I suggest upgrading your CPU, with Skylake or the current generations. Skylakes big feature is DDR3 AND DDR4 compatibility, if I'm not mistaken.

Get an i5 (now or later on) if you use it for gaming and basic tasks. Get an i7 if you need extra rendering performance (Video rendering, 3D rendering...).

 

I don't do any kind of rendering anymore. My biggest issue is a tend to get caught up wanting the highest end parts when searching for new components rather than what is the best performance for what I will be using it for. Do you think it is worth it to wait for skylake or just go with a new i5 now?

[Advic3]

I don't do any kind of rendering anymore. My biggest issue is a tend to get caught up wanting the highest end parts when searching for new components rather than what is the best performance for what I will be using it for. Do you think it is worth it to wait for skylake or just go with a new i5 now?

What's your budget?

What games would you be playing?

What parts do you already have that you wanna use?

Do you care about color scheme?

[LegacyStijncat]

I don't do any kind of rendering anymore. My biggest issue is a tend to get caught up wanting the highest end parts when searching for new components rather than what is the best performance for what I will be using it for. Do you think it is worth it to wait for skylake or just go with a new i5 now?

Personally, if you can wait, wait. But if you can't, this generation is just fine.

[TheCaptain53]

CPU -Amd Phenon II x4 955 (No OC)

MoBo -Asus m4A89GTD-Pro/USB3

RAM - 16GB corsair ram (not sure on speed)

GPU - MSI Radeon 5830 Twin Frozr

It might not be a bad idea to have a complete system overhaul. You'll be able to keep the RAM, but for any modern graphics card or CPU, you will see big bottlenecks.

Instead of being unrealistic and getting two very expensive components at different times, why not get two slightly cheaper components at the same time? For example, an i5-4460, LGA 1150 motherboard and a GTX 970. You will see MASSIVE performance gains, and may even be able to game at 1440p. I use a GTX 970 at 1440p and it runs excellently. However, for longevity, 1080p might not be a bad shout.

If that sounds like a bad idea, I would say get a GTX 980 Ti. But you will in no way see the immediate benefit from such a powerful graphics card, especially when you consider how much you'll see in-game stuttering.