cpu or memory upgrade choice

[jrip16]

I have a MSI Krait Z170 mobo with i5 6600 and 8gb DDR4 2400mhz memory. I am looking to upgrade either the cpu or memory but I am wondering which will give me the best bump in performance.  I play WOW, I have a Plex media server and I typically have a lot of chrome tabs open at once...and all of these could be utilized at the same time. What would be the best upgrade option?

 

Thanks!

[AnalogCanavity]

3 minutes ago, jrip16 said:

I have a MSI Krait Z170 mobo with i5 6600 and 8gb DDR4 2400mhz memory. I am looking to upgrade either the cpu or memory but I am wondering which will give me the best bump in performance.  I play WOW, I have a Plex media server and I typically have a lot of chrome tabs open at once...and all of these could be utilized at the same time. What would be the best upgrade option?

 

Thanks!

Maybe add 8gb of RAM

[Leonius]

4 minutes ago, jrip16 said:

I have a MSI Krait Z170 mobo with i5 6600 and 8gb DDR4 2400mhz memory. I am looking to upgrade either the cpu or memory but I am wondering which will give me the best bump in performance.  I play WOW, I have a Plex media server and I typically have a lot of chrome tabs open at once...and all of these could be utilized at the same time. What would be the best upgrade option?

 

Thanks!

dont upgrade the cpu untile intels sells chips that are not susceptible to meltdown and spectre any more. Maybe ram is a better coice, but if you dont have any performance problems you should not upgrade anything.

[jrip16]

5 minutes ago, Leonius said:

dont upgrade the cpu untile intels sells chips that are not susceptible to meltdown and spectre any more. Maybe ram is a better coice, but if you dont have any performance problems you should not upgrade anything.

 

7 minutes ago, Zic05 said:

Maybe add 8gb of RAM

Thanks for the quick replies. I don't have huge performance problems at the moment but there are those times. It is really more of I want to add something at the moment than I need to, I will likely just increase the ram.

 

Thanks again!

[lookpuppy]

Probably 8gb of ram. Your processor is still pretty recent + capable. Adding another 8gb will allow you to use more stufffs!

[jtmoseley]

4 minutes ago, Fruitsnacc said:

Probably 8gb of ram. Your processor is still pretty recent + capable. Adding another 8gb will allow you to use more stufffs!

Agreed. The processor isn't fantastic but it also is still capable. Processors don't need to be  upgraded often at all, the i7 of the 2nd gen is still a very capable CPU. You're fine. Get ram if you want to upgrade.

[Spudbilly]

Are you maxing out your existing ram. Waiting till ram prices normalize would be recommended.

[CyberFern0]

39 minutes ago, jrip16 said:

I have a MSI Krait Z170 mobo with i5 6600 and 8gb DDR4 2400mhz memory. I am looking to upgrade either the cpu or memory but I am wondering which will give me the best bump in performance.  I play WOW, I have a Plex media server and I typically have a lot of chrome tabs open at once...and all of these could be utilized at the same time. What would be the best upgrade option?

 

Thanks!

RAM is overpriced. You should upgrade your CPU before it becomes overpriced, as well. I recommend the i5 8600k. Know that if you upgrade your CPU to a higher generation, you will have to upgrade your motherboard to a Z370 motherboard, too.

[jtmoseley]

3 minutes ago, CyberFern0 said:

RAM is overpriced. You should upgrade your CPU before it becomes overpriced, as well. I recommend the i5 8600k. Know that if you upgrade your CPU to a higher generation, you will have to upgrade your motherboard to a Z370 motherboard, too.

No! Don't do that! There is no need to upgrade your CPU to a new generation that is STILL susceptible to meltdown/spectre. Especially when the 6600 is still a good processor and shouldn't bottleneck anything on the system. Why would you want to spend 400 dollars on an upgrade that you do not need? The 2nd generation i7 is still not bottlenecking systems, upgrading your CPU is overhyped and should not be done until necessary if you don't want to waste money. 

 

Also CPU's almost are never 'overpriced'. The only issues come when a new generation releases and it is sold out which causes that generation to be more expensive temporarily. It can't be like RAM, due to the components inside the chip. Ram can be more of a bottleneck than a 6600, so I would definitely spend 100 dollars on 8 GB of ram. You won't really need any more if you get a new MOBO anyways since it is ddr4, RAM doesn't really get superseded like CPU's or GPU's.

 

Do not buy a new CPU, only buy RAM if you really need it. If you aren't actually having issues, then save up for the next generation of GPU's or something. But CPU vs RAM upgrade, I would go ram for sure. 16GB is great.

[Leonius]

16 minutes ago, jtmoseley said:

No! Don't do that! There is no need to upgrade your CPU to a new generation that is STILL susceptible to meltdown/spectre. Especially when the 6600 is still a good processor and shouldn't bottleneck anything on the system. Why would you want to spend 400 dollars on an upgrade that you do not need? The 2nd generation i7 is still not bottlenecking systems, upgrading your CPU is overhyped and should not be done until necessary if you don't want to waste money. 

 

Also CPU's almost are never 'overpriced'. The only issues come when a new generation releases and it is sold out which causes that generation to be more expensive temporarily. It can't be like RAM, due to the components inside the chip. Ram can be more of a bottleneck than a 6600, so I would definitely spend 100 dollars on 8 GB of ram. You won't really need any more if you get a new MOBO anyways since it is ddr4, RAM doesn't really get superseded like CPU's or GPU's.

 

Do not buy a new CPU, only buy RAM if you really need it. If you aren't actually having issues, then save up for the next generation of GPU's or something. But CPU vs RAM upgrade, I would go ram for sure. 16GB is great.

what he said!

[lookpuppy]

Just now, Leonius said:

what he said!

And me...