Question CPU or GPU upgrade ?

Laurentiu80

Prominent
Jan 11, 2021
4
0
510
I have a RX 560 paired with a Amd ryzen 3 1200, i have been looking for upgrades for my gpu and prices are insanly high in my country but a Ryzen 5 4500 is cheaper, will a cpu upgrade offer better performance in gaming?
 

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
Can you please parse the specs to your current build like so:
CPU:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU, apart from it's make and model + the BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time.
 

Laurentiu80

Prominent
Jan 11, 2021
4
0
510
Can you please parse the specs to your current build like so:
CPU:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU, apart from it's make and model + the BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time.
Gpu: Biostar Amd rx 560
Cpu: Amd ryzen 3 1200af
Motherboard: msi a320m-a pro max
Ssd: Kingston 240GB A400
Chassis: Aquyris Canopous
Os: Windows 10 pro
Monitor: Dell monitor with 1680x 1050 (all i know of it)
Ram: Biostar 16 gb ram 3200mhz
 
My stock approach to this perennial question:

Some games are graphics limited like fast action shooters.
Others are cpu core speed limited like strategy, sims, and mmo.
Multiplayer tends to like many threads.

You need to find out which.
------------------------------------------------------------
To help clarify your CPU/GPU options, run these two tests:

a) Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
This makes the graphics card loaf a bit.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

b) Limit your cpu, either by reducing the OC, or, in windows power management, limit the maximum cpu% to something like 70%.
Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.
Conversely what a 30% improvement in core speed might do.

You should also experiment with removing one or more cores/threads. You can do this in the windows msconfig boot advanced options option.
You will need to reboot for the change to take effect. Set the number of threads to less than you have.
This will tell you how sensitive your games are to the benefits of many threads.
If you see little difference, your game does not need all the threads you have.



It is possible that both tests are positive, indicating that you have a well balanced system,
and both cpu and gpu need to be upgraded to get better gaming FPS.
-------------------------------------------------------------
 

Teknoman2

Reputable
Oct 13, 2020
158
21
4,665
If you can afford them and if you PSU is good enough, get a R5 5600 and a RX6600 and keep the rest as is. You may have to update the bios though. At the resolution you play i think it should be the optimal price to performance upgrade.