CPU or GPU upgrade

[W1nterchill]

Hello everyone!
I'm torn between upgrading the platform(CPU+MOBO+RAM) or just my GPU.
Here's the current specs of my computer:

CPU: i5-2500K @ 4.5GHZ
Mobo: Asrock Z68 extreme 3 gen 3
Ram: Kingston Hyper X dual 8GBx2 1866
GPU: Asus Strix GTX 980 4GB
PSU: Seasonic G-550w gold
Monitor: 1080P 144hz
Others: ssd and hdd blah blah running on Win7 (no chipset drivers afaik for running windows 10)

So I'm playing a lot of Player Unknown's BattleGrounds lately (and I mean a lot). Also started streaming and doing some multi tasking while gaming. I noticed that my CPU utilization has been maxed out lately and not just on PUBG game but on others as well. This tends to make my min fps lower than I would like (15-30 fps deeps) while I'm quite ok with my average and max.

I have 2 options to upgrade to make my min fps better.

1) Upgrade platform (My budget is restricted to only the 2 options below)
A: i5 7600k cpu+mobo+ram combo
B: R5 1600x cpu+mobo+ram combo
2) Upgrade GPU
A: GTX 1070
B: None?

Most of the games I stream (at low 720p 30fps 2-4k-ish bitrate) using OBS - mainly I use Nvidia NVENC encoder because my CPU can't handle h.264 encoding while gaming+streaming at the same time. My fps dips to 10-ish when my cpu hits 100% utilization on 4 cores but this doesn't happen when using my GPU as the encoder. Was hoping I could switch it back to CPU encoding when I do upgrade my CPU/platform.
Or I could just continue Utilizing NVENC when I upgrade my GPU instead. Not so concerned about the quality of stream just the raw performance of my games while streaming and maybe a little bit of multi-tasking. Should I go for a better GPU and stick with my old platform or what do you guys think?

 

[ComputerGeek21]

a gtx 1070 would be a dream but for your needs it appears you need a CPU upgrade

 

[TurtleEater0]

I would definitely look into a new processor, The new Ryzens are pretty cool but you could always go with Intel, whatever your choice is you will get a lot of performance out of it. I have a i3 - 6100k with GTX 970 and I get 4 - 5k bitrate while streaming and I play high - max settings 1080p. CPU would be a better upgrade, upgrading to a 1070 would almost be worthless without a 1440p monitor, and 1070s are stupid expensive right now. CPU is the better option.

 

[W1nterchill]

I would definitely look into a new processor, The new Ryzens are pretty cool but you could always go with Intel, whatever your choice is you will get a lot of performance out of it. I have a i3 - 6100k with GTX 970 and I get 4 - 5k bitrate while streaming and I play high - max settings 1080p. CPU would be a better upgrade, upgrading to a 1070 would almost be worthless without a 1440p monitor, and 1070s are stupid expensive right now. CPU is the better option.

Hi and thanks for your input!
Are you streaming with your CPU set as the encoder while gaming? I don't plan on getting 1440p any time soon as I just upgraded to a 1080p 144hz panel.

 

[TurtleEater0]

I would definitely look into a new processor, The new Ryzens are pretty cool but you could always go with Intel, whatever your choice is you will get a lot of performance out of it. I have a i3 - 6100k with GTX 970 and I get 4 - 5k bitrate while streaming and I play high - max settings 1080p. CPU would be a better upgrade, upgrading to a 1070 would almost be worthless without a 1440p monitor, and 1070s are stupid expensive right now. CPU is the better option.

Hi and thanks for your input!
Are you streaming with your CPU set as the encoder while gaming? I don't plan on getting 1440p any time soon as I just upgraded to a 1080p 144hz panel.

Not sure about the whole encoder settings, sorry, but I know the games look good and play good. Don't know to much about streaming settings.

 

[SkyBill40]

Seeing that your 2500k is getting a bit long in the tooth, I would suggest a platform upgrade. Your 980 is still plenty powerful.

 

[W1nterchill]

a gtx 1070 would be a dream but for your needs it appears you need a CPU upgrade

Selectingcomputergeek as he is the first to answer. Thank you all for the same/similar perspective

 

[ComputerGeek21]

"Selectingcomputergeek as he is the first to answer. Thank you all for the same/similar perspective"
thank you 😀

 

[WorldEater]

you couldd upgrade to an i7 2600k instead perhaps. (a lot less money) which would probably set back the need for a full upgrade.

 

[JUICEhunter]

1:B or wait and see how 8th Gen Intel performs. If the 6 core i5 games better than Ryzen 5 for a similar cost I can picture a lot of gamers picking those up (along with the 4c8t i3).