[SOLVED] Advice on Graphics Card Upgrade (GTX 660-1060 6gb)

[Robbom]

Looking for some advice on whether upgrading my GPU is a good option. I'm on a major budget and would ideally only want to upgrade the GPU although I'm not sure as to whether the processor, ram or motherboard could present bottlenecks. Currently particularly interested in 1060 6gb cards as used cards seem quite affordable and the performance seems good. Current specs are as follows:

Intel - Core i5-3350P 3.1 GHz Quad-Core Processor

MSI - B75MA-E33 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard

Corsair - XMS3 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR3-1600 Memory

500gb SSD (not sure of brand)

MSI - GeForce GTX 660 2 GB Video Card

NZXT - Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case

XFX - ProSeries 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply

Thanks!

*EDIT* to clarify this system is primarily used for gaming

 

[Satan-IR]

You might experience some bottleneck with a 1060 on that CPU on certain games/titles but if you ask me it wouldn't be too much as to put you off the upgrade.

If that PSU is a good 450W and still capable of providing at rates close to the original nominal wattage you're good.

There are other issue you should consider. Does that motherboard have UEFI bios? As the 10 series graphics cards need that. However, sometimes updating the bios to the latest version provided by the motherboard manufacturer resolves that. You should check that.

Another issue is your display/monitor. Does it have digital ports (DVI, HDMI) because these cards do not have analog outputs and if you don't have those on your display you would need an active adapter/converter to convert the digital signal from the card into analog signal that the monitor supports.

 

[Robbom]

Thanks for you reply, checked out all of those and my power supply seems to be good, I have hdmi input on my monitor and my motherboard does support uefi bios. I managed to snag an MSI gtx 1060 amor OC at a good price as well as an upgrade to 16gb ram for a small cost. I am now wondering, as after selling my old parts I should still have a bit of budget left over, whether an upgrade to a used 3770 or 4790 would be a good move as I do intend to play games such as Star citizen and monster hunter world which I'm told are fairly CPU intensive. Thanks again for your help

 

[Satan-IR]

No problem, glad to help. It's a good move to get a Core i7 especially if you plan to play CPU-intensive games.

You can use an i7 3770 or 3770K which is an Ivy Bridge (3rd Gen Intel CPU) like the one you already have. The i7 4790 is a Haswell and you can not use that on that motherboard/socket. You have a board with B75 chipset and for Haswell CPUs you need a board with B85 chipset or other Haswell-compatible ones.

To make sure whether your motherboard support either 3770 or 3770K (if you even want to overclock the CPU) check the MSI website for you motherboard and go to the Support > Compatibility section.

Another point, it's your choice to get the better CPU and I'd say go for it if you can get a good price. Just keep in mind that the improvement over the quad-core Core i5 would not be really too drastic but it will definitely be better.

However, there are advantages such as the 3770 comes with integrated graphics and you get 4 cores and 8 threads as opposed to the 4 cores 4 threads of the i5 3350P. So I say it's worth it and go for it and, since you plan to get a used processor, test it before you buy or ask for some time to test it from the seller.

 

[Robbom]

Ok great, in light of that information and the fact that the 3770 is compatible with my motherboard I think I'll see how the system runs the games I want to play with the 3350p and make a decision based off of that. I can still look for a deal on a 3770 in the meantime and if the price is good enough I can take advantage of that regardless.
Thanks again for your help, I look forward to getting the new GPU set up and seeing what the system can do!

 

[Satan-IR]

You're welcome. Sounds like a good plan. Enjoy the GPU and the games.