[SOLVED] CPU or GPU upgrade - "older" build

Vabe

Honorable
Nov 24, 2014
8
0
10,510
Hey guys,

I'm having trouble figuring out the most effective upgrade I can invest in. Planning to do the update this month, and have approx. $4-500 for it.

Currently, I have the following:
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 @ 3.50 Ghz
GPU: ASUS Radeon R9 270X

They are on an ASUS B85-PRO GAMER motherboard, and I am running a dual monitor setup (both are 1920x1080).

The system runs decently, but I feel that an upgrade is needed.
For my work, I use Photoshop/Illustrator with rather large files, every day and these could definitely be sped up a bit.
Furthermore, I do watch a lot of videos, quite often whilst a game is in the loading screen, and when I tab back into the game it is jittery for a few seconds - and if I maybe leave open a stream while trying to play, it moves into the seriously disturbing version of jittery... And having more than one stream open is definitely a no-no at this point.

Which upgrade to you think would yield the most result? And to what should it be upgraded?

Thank you!
 
Solution
I would first upgrade your mobo/ram/cpu.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor | $194.00 @ Amazon
Motherboard | MSI B450M GAMING PLUS Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard | $79.99 @ Newegg
Memory | G.Skill Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory | $54.99 @ Newegg
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $338.98
| Mail-in rebates | -$10.00
| Total | $328.98
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-11-09 08:44 EST-0500 |

Then the rest could be spent on gpu.
I would first upgrade your mobo/ram/cpu.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor | $194.00 @ Amazon
Motherboard | MSI B450M GAMING PLUS Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard | $79.99 @ Newegg
Memory | G.Skill Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory | $54.99 @ Newegg
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $338.98
| Mail-in rebates | -$10.00
| Total | $328.98
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-11-09 08:44 EST-0500 |

Then the rest could be spent on gpu.
 
Solution