CPU or GPU?

[bonechiller1]

I have an quite an old computer by today's monstrous standards (done laughing? Thanks! ). It sports a core 2 duo 2.5 GHz, a Geforce ENGTX295, 4GB Ram on an MSI G41m - p23 motherboard but it still struggles with DX10 titles at 1600x900 (it sometimes lags playing TES: Oblivion!! ). I've read hundreds of forums and I can't decide whether a new GPU or a new CPU would be the best upgrade for gaming performance. I mostly play directx 10 (meaning up to 2011) and earlier games and one day when I'm working full time I promise I will try to plonk down a huge sum of money for a decent, up-to-date computer. For now however, I'm thinking either a new motherboard + i5 (around 3.4 GHZ), or a GTX670 (or a radeon equivalent) seeing as they'll cost about the same. Yet I haven't found a decent forum which has given me proper advice as to which one I should buy. Any advice? I would appreciate any advice from you geniuses very much.

 

[Budge414]

GPU is definitely a more important upgrade in gaming terms, but I think even the basic GPUs of now will probably be bottlenecked by that processor :/ with the higher end ones (A 670) severely suffering.

EDIT: My suggestion would be to make a compromise between both, it does mean you'll need to spend more though.

 

[axehead15]

I agree. Which is why I think you should start with a processor. The GTX295 is still good enough for you right now.

So get an i5 and motherboard. What's the budget?

 

[Unolocogringo]

Your current CPU is most likely holding back the GPU you have now.
Upgrading the motherboard and CPU is your best option.
Your CPU would bottleneck a new GPU so you would not see much if any improvement by upgrading the GPU only.

 

[princejeet]

Hey
1. Let us know ur budget plzz.
2. Gtx 770 is better than gtx 670. Just little more money not much difference of price.
I hope it helps.
Thank you.

 

[Budge414]

Not sure how effective this would be, but I'd definitely say it's a step up. The best thing is you can upgrade to an i5 3470 or 3570 later on when you can afford to no problem, the socket is the same. No overclocking though. The 7870 will destroy pretty much anything at 1600x900.

CPU: Intel Pentium G860 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($82.55 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $347.53

EDIT: Your first order of business though is CPU and mobo. A GTX 295 is still a reasonably powerful card, aside from the fact it can't play DirectX 11 games, and it likely gets hot being a dual GPU card.

 

[bonechiller1]

I agree. Which is why I think you should start with a processor. The GTX295 is still good enough for you right now.

So get an i5 and motherboard. What's the budget?

Whoops sorry completely forgot the budget! Say.... $350?

 

[bonechiller1]

Hey
1. Let us know ur budget plzz.
2. Gtx 770 is better than gtx 670. Just little more money not much difference of price.
I hope it helps.
Thank you.

Whoops sorry completely forgot the budget! Say.... $350?

 

[bonechiller1]

Not sure how effective this would be, but I'd definitely say it's a step up. The best thing is you can upgrade to an i5 3470 or 3570 later on when you can afford to no problem, the socket is the same. No overclocking though. The 7870 will destroy pretty much anything at 1600x900.

CPU: Intel Pentium G860 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($82.55 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $347.53

EDIT: Your first order of business though is CPU and mobo. A GTX 295 is still a reasonably powerful card, aside from the fact it can't play DirectX 11 games, and it likely gets hot being a dual GPU card.

Whoops sorry completely forgot the budget! Say.... $350?

 

[bonechiller1]

Hey!

Gosh you guys are fast I was only going to check tomorrow morning!! Thanks so much for all the replies so far they are insanely helpfull. For those who havent seen yet my budget is around 350. MMMM.... seems everyone is leaning towards mobo+cpu. I suspected that would be the more pertinent upgrade. Let me ask you guys this: If you could only do either the GPU or the CPU (+ mobo), which would you go for first? Also, would anyone suggest I stretch my budget a bit more?

 

[princejeet]

Hey
I will go for cpu + mobo first because my friend has nvidia gt 8400gs 512 mb. He can play all games on lowest and medium settings. So first upgrade ur cpu+ mobo then later your gpu.
one thing more will you oc ur cpu..?
If yes then you have to buy a "K" cpu and a z77mobo for ivy bridge and z87 chipset for haswell bridge cpu.
So check this.
IB
cpu- i5-3570k
mobo- asus p8z77-v lk
you can go mictocenter for lower price. If there is any availeble.
HB
cpu- i5-4670k
mobo- asus z87 plus, a, k
or gigabyte z87 d3h
These models are for overclocking. But if you dont plan to oc then you can check this.
IB
cpu- i5-3470
mobo- asus p8z77-v lx, asus p8h77 or h61 chipset you can choose any mobo.
HB
cpu- i5-4570
mobo- same here you can choose any mobo from gigabyte or asus of h87 chipset mobos.
I think you already have OS, hdd.
I hope it helps.
Thank you.

 

[Budge414]

A Haswell CPU and motherboard will require you to buy another power supply also, as not all PSUs support them. For gaming you will not see huge difference in performance in regards to what CPU you choose, my recommendation is this:

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($82.55 @ Newegg)
Total: $262.54

This will save you $100 that could go towards your GPU. When you hit around $200 you could get a 7870 or for $250 a GTX 760. That would be my path.

 

[princejeet]

A Haswell CPU and motherboard will require you to buy another power supply also, as not all PSUs support them. For gaming you will not see huge difference in performance in regards to what CPU you choose, my recommendation is this:

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($82.55 @ Newegg)
Total: $262.54

This will save you $100 that could go towards your GPU. When you hit around $200 you could get a 7870 or for $250 a GTX 760. That would be my path.

I agree in the case of psu.
But i never recommend a mobo grom asrock. It dont have life as asus or gigabyte. I dont think for long life of pc asrock mobo is good.
I hope it helps.
Thank you.

 

[jammesscot]

Actually I would prefer GPUs over CPUs because GPUs can perform computations much faster than the traditional central processing units (CPUs)

 

[bonechiller1]

Thanks a million for all the great answers and perspectives. Seems we have the verdict: Mobo and CPU it is! I think I'll start there and if I see that games that I'm playing still don't approach the FPS that I'm comfortable with, I'll take a dip in the DX11 pool. That seems to be the financially sensible thing to do considering it makes my pc a bit more... 'up-gradable' for the future than if I start with the GPU. As a matter of interest, I ran the Heaven benchmark (which I've heard relies more on raw GPU power and mostly ignores your CPU). I'm getting 34 FPS at 1600x900 with AA enabled. It's not stellar but it its smooth at least. That PSU thing with the Haswell chipsets makes me nervous though... I've got a Coolermaster GX750W I think... not sure if it supports Haswell...

Actually maybe my PSU does support Haswell. Just saw this now http://techreport.com/review/24897/the-big-haswell-psu-compatibility-list#coolermaster

 

[axehead15]

I think your PSU is fine.

Also, ASRock is fine as well. Many people just don't like it because it is a budget board, but they have some of the coolest features, and I have never had an issue with them.

 

[princejeet]

I think your PSU is fine.

Also, ASRock is fine as well. Many people just don't like it because it is a budget board, but they have some of the coolest features, and I have never had an issue with them.

Thats not issue my friend. Mostly people choose that mobo bcs of its low price and cool features.
But i cant trust these mobs. Sorry. Ot always bulshit with every build i said.
It all OP choice now.
Thank you.

 

[Budge414]

I'll be completely honest, I would almost NEVER pick an Asrock mobo, they have great features but tend to use really cheap components, and are constantly inaccurate on their website with the VRM quality, but in this case, the Asrock mobo is actually decent in the price-range compared to the competition. I'll be the first to turn anybody away from an Asrock board, and I wouldn't ever recommend it if I wouldn't buy it myself. If you are in doubt, my definite suggestion would be the Gigabyte GA-H77M-D3H. Less features, but proven quality.