Upgrade GPU or CPU?

[bdn813]

First time poster so i hope this is the right place to post this. 

 

I am looking to upgrade my computer for playing mostly WoW. I play alot of other games but none as much as WoW. 

My computer specs: 

Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor

MSI H81M-E33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard

Pareema 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory

Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

MSI GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card

EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply

 

I'm looking to buy either a new GPU:

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 WINDFORCE OC 6G

 

ASUS STRIX GeForce GTX 970 Overclocked 4 GB

 

 Or CPU:

Intel i5-6400 (or maybe you can give me a better option)

 

As of now i am hovering around 45-60 in secluded areas and around 30 in raids and highly populated areas. I've heard that WoW only runs on one core so it made me think maybe a new graphics card would raise my fps. But I'm not that great with computers although i did build this one maybe you guys could shed on light on what i should buy. The maximum amount of money i would want to spend is $250, MAYBE a little more if it is worth the extra money. 

[Andrew Storlie]

if i were you id actually get an 850 evo ssd first, as wow uses HUGE maps, your pc need to read the maps off your drives, your pc is plenty for wow but your loading times and world rendering is probably being limited by your hdd

[light-v]

In general I would recommend upgrading the GPU first but if you mostly play WoW I think upgrading the CPU might help more since MMOs are more CPU bound and it depends on how much you want to crank up the graphical settings on other games, the 960 is fine in most cases although it's not the greatest for sure

[bdn813]

But would that increase the actual FPS by having objects in the distance pre-loaded or just the load times in and out of different instances of the game?

[AlisterM]

GTX 970 and 1060 are practically the same performance-wise, and honestly not worth the upgrade from the 960 as the performance difference to price is very minuscule. Get a 1070 tbh in order to future-proof your build and provide amazing performance. Your processor isn't hideous for now, but you should upgrade this afterwards as it's certainly not gonna be adequate if you get into the realms of multi-tasking or streaming/recording.

[roylapoutre]

For playing only Wow, your PC should be fine for quite a while. But if you plan on upgrading for more demanding games, don't get a 970. The upgrade isn't worth it. A 1060 or a RX 480 would be much better right now

[Cereal5]

you could throw something like an i5-4460 in there and that would definitely serve you better than a 4160

Just now, AlisterMultimedia said:

GTX 970 and 1060 are practically the same performance-wise, and honestly not worth the upgrade from the 960 as the performance difference to price is very minuscule. Get a 1070 tbh in order to future-proof your build and provide amazing performance. Your processor isn't hideous for now, but you should upgrade this afterwards as it's certainly not gonna be adequate if you get into the realms of multi-tasking or streaming/recording.

don't get your hopes up, hes asking about an MMO, not becoming the next linus tech tips.

 

1 minute ago, roylapoutre said:

don't get a 970. The upgrade isn't worth it. A 1060 or a RX 480 would be much better right now

the 970 and 1060 are surprisingly close in performance

[rn8686]

3 minutes ago, bdn813 said:

But would that increase the actual FPS by having objects in the distance pre-loaded or just the load times in and out of different instances of the game?

CPU would help with rendering in game, SSD would help with load times, nothing more. Also please quote when replying so we get a notification and can reply easily. 

 

Edit: Just buy a Haswell i5 to save money, and an SSD to go with it. 

[bdn813]

5 minutes ago, light-v said:

In general I would recommend upgrading the GPU first but if you mostly play WoW I think upgrading the CPU might help more since MMOs are more CPU bound and it depends on how much you want to crank up the graphical settings on other games, the 960 is fine in most cases although it's not the greatest for sure

Honestly that would be saving more money but is Haswell better than Skylake? Just wondering as to why you mentioned just Haswell.

[roylapoutre]

Just now, Cereal5 said:

the 970 and 1060 are surprisingly close in performance

The 1060 6GB version is better than a 970, closer to a 980 in a lot of scenarii. Plus, buying a 970 with 3.5GB of VRAM when 1060s and RX 480 are available is not worth it when you already have a 960 2GB. Except if the 970 is A LOT cheaper than any RX 480 or GTX 1060  

[bdn813]

6 minutes ago, AlisterMultimedia said:

GTX 970 and 1060 are practically the same performance-wise, and honestly not worth the upgrade from the 960 as the performance difference to price is very minuscule. Get a 1070 tbh in order to future-proof your build and provide amazing performance. Your processor isn't hideous for now, but you should upgrade this afterwards as it's certainly not gonna be adequate if you get into the realms of multi-tasking or streaming/recording.

The thing is i'll never record or stream so i didn't think a CPU would be what i needed. Since the newest expansion is so much more graphically intense i thought maybe a new card would be the best bet..Just so damn expensive.

[AlisterM]

3 minutes ago, roylapoutre said:

The 1060 6GB version is better than a 970, closer to a 980 in a lot of scenarii. Plus, buying a 970 with 3.5GB of VRAM when 1060s and RX 480 are available is not worth it when you already have a 960 2GB. Except if the 970 is A LOT cheaper than any RX 480 or GTX 1060  

I didn't state they were identical, but its not really all that better than a 980, therefore it's in the same range as the 970. 

[bdn813]

6 minutes ago, roylapoutre said:

The 1060 6GB version is better than a 970, closer to a 980 in a lot of scenarii. Plus, buying a 970 with 3.5GB of VRAM when 1060s and RX 480 are available is not worth it when you already have a 960 2GB. Except if the 970 is A LOT cheaper than any RX 480 or GTX 1060  

What i've seen on amazon is that some 970's and 1060's are about the same price give or take ten bucks. 

https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GeForce-1060-WINDFORCE-GV-N1060WF2OC-6GD/dp/B01JNUO6BG/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1476090425&sr=1-1&keywords=gtx+1060

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NJ9BJ8G/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

 

The 1060 here has 6GB option and is VR ready if VR is what everyone makes it out to be it could be an option later on..

[roylapoutre]

2 minutes ago, AlisterMultimedia said:

I didn't state they were identical, but its not better than a 980, therefore it's in the same range as the 970. 

That's my whole point, it's better than a 970 (in the same range as a 970 if you will), but really similar in price. It's newer, it has more VRAM and he already got a Maxwell based GPU. The only way a 970 is worth it over a 1060 or 480 is if it's 100€ less than the aforementioned solutions imo  

[TrigrH]

2 minutes ago, bdn813 said:

 

if you want better FPS in WoW:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116989

without reinstalling windows or getting a new motherboard.

(might need to update BIOS)

[roylapoutre]

1 minute ago, bdn813 said:

What i've seen on amazon is that some 970's and 1060's are about the same price give or take ten bucks. 

https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GeForce-1060-WINDFORCE-GV-N1060WF2OC-6GD/dp/B01JNUO6BG/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1476090425&sr=1-1&keywords=gtx+1060

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NJ9BJ8G/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Yeah that's exactly why the 970 is a bad choice. You should really look at RX 480s 4GB, they're the sweet spot in terms of price to performance  

[light-v]

4 minutes ago, roylapoutre said:

Yeah that's exactly why the 970 is a bad choice. You should really look at RX 480s 4GB, they're the sweet spot in terms of price to performance  

^This 

However try to find it at MSRP which is 199$ US 

[Cereal5]

23 minutes ago, roylapoutre said:

The 1060 6GB version is better than a 970, closer to a 980 in a lot of scenarii. Plus, buying a 970 with 3.5GB of VRAM when 1060s and RX 480 are available is not worth it when you already have a 960 2GB. Except if the 970 is A LOT cheaper than any RX 480 or GTX 1060  

Oh I know, I'm just saying in games out rn, they basically trade blows. I have no doubt the 1060 will outperform in DX 12 and when more than 3.5GB of vram is needed.

[bdn813]

Hm this is tough. The processor would be cheaper and WoW is more of a cpu dependent game but that 1060 does sound nice...