Upgrade CPU or GPU?

[triniP]

Hi,

I am having a bit of a dilemma. I do not know what I should upgrade. I only have the money to either get me a new GPU or CPU.

My budget is $400

Here is my current rig.

CPU: AMD FX-8350

MOBO: MSI 970
GPU: R9 290
RAM: 8GB
PSU: 750 Watt Supernova EVGA
SSD: 240gb
HDD: 1 TB WD Black 7200RPM


I play games like Batman Arkham City , The Witcher 3, Fallout 4, BF1, and other fairly AAA titles (I list these because I think they are the most demanding from the ones I play).

My resolution is 21:9 2560x1080. I like to play all my games at maximum, but with these specs I cannot.

So which should I upgrade to get a solid 60+ FPS in my games?

I also do some light content creation with video in premiere pro/ 3D in 3DS max

If I were to upgrade I would either get a 1070 (but be bottle necked by my CPU) or upgrade to an i5-6500/6400 or wait for the zen cpu's probably one of their mid tier skews as I would also have to buy a motherboard.
Note:  Which ever one I get it is likely I will upgrade the next within 3-4 months as well, so currently just curious which will improve performance in games more.
So I am wondering which you think would be the best upgrade?

 

Edit: Thanks for all the insanely quick replies from everyone!

[Skiiwee29]

so those games are more CPU bound then GPU. I would suggest getting a i5 6600k with a good Z170 board over a new GPU. 

[Droidbot]

Upgrade your CPU now, or wait for Zen when it comes out in Q1.

The 290 is still a very good card, and it sells well on the used market too. 

[Megah3rtz]

cpu

[aisle9]

Your GPU is solid. Changing out your CPU will require a total platform change to a new motherboard and DDR4 RAM no matter what (unless you go used Haswell), so I'd say stay with what you've got for now. Wait and see what RyZen brings to the table, then decide between Skylake, Kaby Lake and RyZen. Or used Haswell, whichever.

[Streetguru]

9 minutes ago, triniP said:

 

i'd wait for Vega and Ryzen, just turn down settings that murder your CPU and you should be fine, I'm running an FX 8 core at 4ghz + RX 480 for 1440p without much issue

if you aren't going to upgrade for 3-4 months that stuff should be out by then

[Droidbot]

2 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

Your GPU is solid. Changing out your CPU will require a total platform change to a new motherboard and DDR4 RAM no matter what (unless you go used Haswell), so I'd say stay with what you've got for now. Wait and see what RyZen brings to the table, then decide between Skylake, Kaby Lake and RyZen. Or used Haswell, whichever.

Haswell still kicks ass considering the age of the architecture - the performance gains between a 4670k and a 6600k are minimal (300 passmarks ffs)

[aisle9]

4 minutes ago, Droidbot said:

Haswell still kicks ass considering the age of the architecture - the performance gains between a 4670k and a 6600k are minimal (300 passmarks ffs)

Trust me, I know. I'm typing this on a 4790K that's chugging along at 4.7GHz as its daily driver speed.

[Droidbot]

Just now, aisle9 said:

Trust me, I know. I'm typing this on a 4790K that's chugging along at 4.7GHz as its daily driver speed.

4670k at 4.6 here, under 1.4v so it's daily driver I guess. I even get <70c 100% loadtemps

[triniP]

18 minutes ago, Droidbot said:

Upgrade your CPU now, or wait for Zen when it comes out in Q1.

The 290 is still a very good card, and it sells well on the used market too. 

What CPU/MOBO/RAM combo would you recommend? Currently im thinking these:https://pcpartpicker.com/list/6FsfVY  parts but I will also wait for zen and its benchmarks.

[Brooksie359]

3 minutes ago, triniP said:

What CPU/MOBO/RAM combo would you recommend? Currently im thinking these:https://pcpartpicker.com/list/6FsfVY  parts but I will also wait for zen and its benchmarks.

dont get a z170 motherboard unless you are getting a k variant cpu or plan to latter on 

[Skiiwee29]

4 minutes ago, triniP said:

What CPU/MOBO/RAM combo would you recommend? Currently im thinking these:https://pcpartpicker.com/list/6FsfVY  parts but I will also wait for zen and its benchmarks.

This is what I would get. No need to get a Z170 board with a locked chip unless you are planning on getting a K series CPU in the future. 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($189.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Asus H170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($112.88 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($84.97 @ Jet) 
Total: $387.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-01 04:18 EST-0500

[triniP]

1 minute ago, Brooksie359 said:

dont get a z170 motherboard unless you are getting a k variant cpu or plan to latter on 

It just looked like a good "future proof" mobo with good features at a good price

[triniP]

2 minutes ago, legacy99 said:

This is what I would get. No need to get a Z170 board with a locked chip unless you are planning on getting a K series CPU in the future. 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($189.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Asus H170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($112.88 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($84.97 @ Jet) 
Total: $387.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-01 04:18 EST-0500

Reason I decided z170 mobo was because its same price at the moment as the one you listed and has good features

[Skiiwee29]

3 minutes ago, triniP said:

It just looked like a good "future proof" mobo with good features at a good price

Future proof is really a relative term. Unless you were planning to upgrade from this to a K series processor from the Skylake or Kabylake lineup, its not worth getting a Z board as the only difference between the Z170 and H170 primarily is the overclocking ability. 

[Brooksie359]

2 minutes ago, triniP said:

Reason I decided z170 mobo was because its same price at the moment as the one you listed and has good features

tbh i would get a cheaper h110 motherboard if i wasnt go the overclocking route. but thats because thats all i really need. 

[triniP]

6 minutes ago, Brooksie359 said:

tbh i would get a cheaper h110 motherboard if i wasnt go the overclocking route. but thats because thats all i really need. 

On newegg (which is where I will most likely order from) Asus z170 mobo at $110 on sale with $25 rebate, making ti an $85 mobo. 10 More expensive than their cheapest 1151 atx board. I see no reason not to get it, as I might eventually upgrade. Thanks for the reply though.

 

Link to mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132691

Edited January 1, 2017 by triniP
Added link to Motherboard