Bottle Necking - CPU/Mobo upgrade with same graphics card

[McKamzee]

My PC specs are
CPU : Intel Core i7 870 2.93 GHz First Gen
Motherboard: Intel DH55TC
Ram: 12GB DDR3
Graphics : AMD R7 260x 2GB GDDR5

I want to upgrade my CPU to 8th Gen Core i5 with Z370 Chipset. Will my graphics card create a bottleneck?

Or it is advisable to go for a new graphics card instead? Also, as my motherboard is PCIe 2.0, plugging a PCIe 3.0 to it causes huge performance differences?


Please advise.

 

[robax91]

Depends on your budget.

If you want the best cheap option for what you mentioned, this should do.

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor ($178.90 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - Z370-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($82.88 @ Amazon)
Total: $351.77

As for your GPU being a bottleneck, yes. Any GPU will almost always be the bottleneck for gaming unless you are playing at super low resolutions like 800x600 where your GPU could output more frames than the CPU could keep up with. Your current card should be good for 1080p gaming at low/medium mixed settings at 60fps. However, if your just wanting to slowly upgrade your PC, you should wait. With RYZEN 2 coming, prices will drop further and in the next few months you might be able to also grab a used GPU.

Basically answer this: what's your budget, what power supply do you have, what form factor does your case support, are you willing to stick with some older hardware for much better performance, what games do you play?

Personally if I were you, I would get a used i5 ivy bridge or newer (like a 3570k or 4670k) and a z series board, keep using your ddr3 memory to save money and spend the rest on the GPU. Updating your CPU does matter since you have a very old one, but getting the absolute newest CPU won't give you a bunch of performance, that's more on the GPU for gaming. I went from an i5-3570k to an i7 6700k and didn't see much performance difference because my GPU stayed the same. I maybe got a few FPS in some titles, but money is better spent on a GPU after you hit a certain performance point on the CPU (which is basically any i5 ivy bridge or newer or any ryzen 5 chip).

DDR4 prices and GPU prices right now make it very hard to build a PC like you could 2 years ago. The used market for systems with ddr3 is doing fine and should be more than enough for modern gaming. Finding a GPU like a 980ti used would be great too because it would have decent performance and not be marked up so high on the used market because it is a bit older.

 

[maxalge]

My PC specs are
CPU : Intel Core i7 870 2.93 GHz First Gen
Motherboard: Intel DH55TC
Ram: 12GB DDR3
Graphics : AMD R7 260x 2GB GDDR5

I want to upgrade my CPU to 8th Gen Core i5 with Z370 Chipset. Will my graphics card create a bottleneck?

Or it is advisable to go for a new graphics card instead? Also, as my motherboard is PCIe 2.0, plugging a PCIe 3.0 to it causes huge performance differences?


Please advise.

1 yes, the i5 8400 can easily handle a gtx 1080 ti, you would be gpu bound

2. no, your card is no where near powerful enough to benefit from the increased bandwidth of 3.0

 

[Danra]

When you upgrade your computer the new hardware will be able to utilize a much faster video card. However, with the new components, the old video card will perform better.

Do not purchase one stick of RAM as mentioned by robax91 it will slow down the new CPU. Two sticks of RAM are required because the CPU will transfer data to both sticks of RAM at the same time. Using one stick will force the CPU to wait many more cycles for data movement. That wasted time is the same as using a much slower CPU with two sticks of the same type, speed and amount of RAM.

Currently RAM prices are high, however if you upgrade you will have to pay.

Download and install 3DMark [google for the free version]. Run it on your current set up and record the numbers.

Purchase the upgrade components and run the benchmark again, you will see the improvement.

If your power supply is old, you will need a new one and suggest a 600 to 700 watt for future proofing. A good 500 to 600 watt will cost the same, so, you might as well go a little higher.

A good power supply will cost about $75 unless you can find the same one on sale. Get a power supply recommended by jonnyGURU.com they provide the best reviews.

Here are a few you can look at. You do not have to buy one from there if you can find the same thing for less elsewhere:

Do not purchase a Corsair CX series, they do not have higher quality components that will permit the power supply to last longer. And if you want a modular PSU make sure it says modular. They use only the connections you need and will reduce clutter and increase air flow in your computer case, if that is important to you, and should be if you want long life from your components [motherboard, CPU, GPU, RAM among others].

I hope I did not provide too much data to be confusing. I try to give as much information as necessary to help people with as many considerations as possible, within reason, in reference to the question or questions people may be asking.