GPU or CPU Upgrade?

[Metaformed]

Hi LTT, I have a question about upgrading my PC this Friday/Monday.    -    not sure if this the correct sub forum, mod/admin please remove this or move it somewhere else if needed.

 

 

I am thinking of upgrading my GPU or CPU, I am starting to run into some frame rate issues on games like Battlefield 1 and other new games. I played a game of Operations on BF1 with NZXT Cam open, and both my CPU and GPU hovered between 80-100%, my fps was staying at 60 (capped) a lot but with lots of dips down into the 50s and 40s, and sometimes worse if there was a lot of action. Also, GPU had loads of coil whine 

 

I was wondering if you guys think I should replace my GPU and get a GTX 1070 (which would be a big step up I think), or move up to Skylake and but a new cpu, motherboard, ram ect.. I'm currently storngly leaning towards the 1070 since both of the components seem to be struggling and the 1070 would be cheaper and be able to help with more things in games (like textures, graphics, post processing ect.. vs the CPU which doesn't - correct me if I'm wrong). But I am willing to buy the new CPU, mobo ect. over time if it means I will get much better results.

 

Current PC Specs:

Intel Core i5 4690k 4.5Ghz OC (Purchased and Installed Last Year)

Asus Z97-A Usb 3.1 (Purchased and Installed Last Year)

Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x8) (8 GB Purchased and Installed 2 years ago, another 8GB Purchased and Installed Last Year)

XFX R9 280x Black Double Dissipation (Purchased And Installed 2 Years Ago)

EVGA Supernova 750G 750W 80+ Gold

Corsair 400c Case

Some Hard Drives (Too many to list, some internal, some external.)

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

Edit: Going with a GPU upgrade, haven't fully decided, depends on the deals. 

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

I'd say GPU first and cpu after.

[Morgan MLGman]

If you're gaming at 1080p, your i5 might bottleneck the 1070 in some games (BF1 is a good example), just get a GTX 1060 instead

[Tylerebowers]

gpu then cpu

 

[Metaformed]

Just now, Morgan MLGman said:

If you're gaming at 1080p, your i5 might bottleneck the 1070 in some games (BF1 is a good example), just get a GTX 1060 instead

I'll take that into some consideration. I do plan on eventually upgrading both within the next couple months, but in general, you would say GPU first?

[Morgan MLGman]

2 minutes ago, Metaformed said:

I'll take that into some consideration. I do plan on eventually upgrading both within the next couple months, but in general, you would say GPU first?

Of course. The 280X is the clear bottleneck in your scenario.

 

Keep an eye for good R9 Fury deals, this card got significant price cuts recently and I get a Firestrike GPU score around a stock GTX 1070 when OC'd. It might cost the same as a GTX 1060 while being faster.

[Megah3rtz]

GPU. get a GTX 1060 6G or a GTX 1070. depends on which games. 

[CardinalHunter]

It's always gpu then cpu. Think about it like this, having a faster, more powerful GPU affects and increases the performance and betters your gaming experience even if it's bottlenecked by the cpu but the cpu however, in most cases does not increase the performance of your pc when it comes to gaming. To me, upgrading the cpu has always seemed like giving your pc the preparations, the extension it needs to upgrade.

[Ctown0812]

22 minutes ago, Morgan MLGman said:

If you're gaming at 1080p, your i5 might bottleneck the 1070 in some games (BF1 is a good example), just get a GTX 1060 instead

an i5-4690k will not bottleneck the 1070, especially at 1080p, But I do agree that a 1060 would be a better option if you are gaming at 1080p.  The 1070 is a bit overkill for that.  

[Morgan MLGman]

Just now, Ctown0812 said:

an i5-4690k will not bottleneck the 1070, especially at 1080p, But I do agree that a 1060 would be a better option if you are gaming at 1080p.  The 1070 is a bit overkill for that.  

Oh it will. Especially at 1080p. Short explanation: lower resolutions are more CPU demanding than higher ones.

[Ctown0812]

5 minutes ago, Morgan MLGman said:

Oh it will. Especially at 1080p. Short explanation: lower resolutions are more CPU demanding than higher ones.

Not really.  Not anything at or below 60fps, anyways.  So, if your pushing 100+ frames you MIGHT see a bottleneck.  I've never seen nor heard of an i5-4690k bottleneck anything.  

[Morgan MLGman]

4 minutes ago, Ctown0812 said:

Not really.  Not anything at or below 60fps, anyways.  So, if your pushing 100+ frames you MIGHT see a bottleneck.  I've never seen nor heard of an i5-4690k bottleneck anything.  

So if theoretically you've never heard nor seen about a man flying to the moon it didn't happen?

 

Here is a 1080p stock i5-4670K + GTX 1060 in BF1:

 

Imagine that a 1070 and 1080 are MUCH more powerful and would make this EVEN worse. The days of 'i5's being enough for gaming and not bottlenecking anything" are over because the progress in performance in GPUs is MUCH bigger than in CPUs.

[Ctown0812]

24 minutes ago, Morgan MLGman said:

So if theoretically you've never heard nor seen about a man flying to the moon it didn't happen?

haha ok good point.  

 

24 minutes ago, Morgan MLGman said:

Here is a 1080p stock i5-4670K + GTX 1060 in BF1:

Not really the same thing, but i appreciate the point your making.  This video doesn't really prove much to me.  There are literally dozens of things that can attribute to this problem, Not to mention this is only one game.  If it only happens in battlefield 1, its not a bottleneck.  Look, we could argue about this for days. Lets agree to disagree.  

[Lord Nicoll]

1 hour ago, Metaformed said:

Hi LTT, I have a question about upgrading my PC this Friday/Monday.    -    not sure if this the correct sub forum, mod/admin please remove this or move it somewhere else if needed.

 

 

I am thinking of upgrading my GPU or CPU, I am starting to run into some frame rate issues on games like Battlefield 1 and other new games. I played a game of Operations on BF1 with NZXT Cam open, and both my CPU and GPU hovered between 80-100%, my fps was staying at 60 (capped) a lot but with lots of dips down into the 50s and 40s, and sometimes worse if there was a lot of action. Also, GPU had loads of coil whine 

 

I was wondering if you guys think I should replace my GPU and get a GTX 1070 (which would be a big step up I think), or move up to Skylake and but a new cpu, motherboard, ram ect.. I'm currently storngly leaning towards the 1070 since both of the components seem to be struggling and the 1070 would be cheaper and be able to help with more things in games (like textures, graphics, post processing ect.. vs the CPU which doesn't - correct me if I'm wrong). But I am willing to buy the new CPU, mobo ect. over time if it means I will get much better results.

 

Current PC Specs:

Intel Core i5 4690k 4.5Ghz OC (Purchased and Installed Last Year)

Asus Z97-A Usb 3.1 (Purchased and Installed Last Year)

Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x8) (8 GB Purchased and Installed 2 years ago, another 8GB Purchased and Installed Last Year)

XFX R9 280x Black Double Dissipation (Purchased And Installed 2 Years Ago)

EVGA Supernova 750G 750W 80+ Gold

Corsair 400c Case

Some Hard Drives (Too many to list, some internal, some external.)

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

Edit: Going with a GPU upgrade, haven't fully decided, depends on the deals. 

I agree, GPU upgrade would be best. 

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

23 minutes ago, Ctown0812 said:

haha ok good point.  

 

Not really the same thing, but i appreciate the point your making.  This video doesn't really prove much to me.  There are literally dozens of things that can attribute to this problem, Not to mention this is only one game.  If it only happens in battlefield 1, its not a bottleneck.  Look, we could argue about this for days. Lets agree to disagree.  

 

Nothing to prove here. The i5(especially if you're not on the latest gen) are known to bottleneck high end cards in CPU heavy games. Its a pretty known occurrence. Ever since GTA 5 came out.