GPU & Mobo Upgrade, Maybe More

[Drerunsit]

Hello, everyone. I am looking at upgrading my video card, which led me to the conclusion that maybe I should also get a new motherboard/CPU. I put together my current rig in 2011, and have only added 8GB of RAM, GTX 960, and an SSD since that time. Here is what I currently have:

Mobo: BIOSTAR TZ68A+RCH LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge Quad-Core 3.3GHz (3.7 GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 4GB SSC Gaming ACX 2.0+ Whisper Silent Cooling 04G-P4-3967-KR
PSU: Corsair Professional Series 650-Watt 80 Plus Certified PSU (CMPSU-650HX)
Case: NZXT Guardian Black SECC Steel Chassis ATX Mid TowerCase 921RB-BL

The GPU I’m currently considering is the EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 SC GAMING, ACX 2.0 (Single Fan), 6GB GDDR5, DX12 OSD Support (PXOC), 06G-P4-6163-KR. I am looking for motherboard/CPU recommendations primarily, but would also appreciate any comments on additional upgrades to accompany those purchases. I currently only play the following games: PUBG, CSGO, and Deceit. While none of those are particularly graphic-intensive, it would be nice to have all the settings on max, instead of low! Also, I have been looking at expanding my games library, so a rig that will still be relevant in the next 3-4 years (minimum) would be great.
Thank you in advance.

 

[feelinfroggy777]

What is your budget and where do you live?

Here is a solid platform upgrade. If you want Intel, then the 8400 would be a good choice. But the 2600 only trails Intel's gaming performance by a few percent and has twice as many threads.

I normally don't say to wait for the next tech, but in this case I don't think you should buy a 1060. Nivida is about to release their next generation of gaming GPUs this month and the 1060 is over 2 years old. At the very least, you should see a nice price drop of current generation cards when the new cards are released. With that being said, now is a great time to get a CPU. Both Intel and AMD have excellent CPUs available.

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/PZVTzY
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/PZVTzY/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor ($165.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock - B450 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard ($91.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($154.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $412.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-06 08:34 EDT-0400

 

[Drerunsit]

Thanks for the response! I'm from the US, but living in the UK for another year. I could definitely hold off on buying a new GPU for a while longer. Budget is probably under $1K if we're talking about full upgrade. As far as the Mobo and CPU, is there any reason you opt for AMD and not Intel? I see you mentioned just a minor performance gap, so curious what swings you to AMD.

 

[Kasper Jorgensen]

Intel build. For gaming the 8400 is a bit faster than the Ryzen 2600 in most games.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor ($195.79 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - B360M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($71.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Aegis 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $417.76
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-06 08:45 EDT-0400

 

[Drerunsit]

Thanks for the response, Kasper. Do you think the 2 extra cores are worth the trade-off of lower clock speed on the i5-8400 you recommended?

 

[feelinfroggy777]

Thanks for the response! I'm from the US, but living in the UK for another year. I could definitely hold off on buying a new GPU for a while longer. Budget is probably under $1K if we're talking about full upgrade. As far as the Mobo and CPU, is there any reason you opt for AMD and not Intel? I see you mentioned just a minor performance gap, so curious what swings you to AMD.

Both AMD and Intel have great CPUs. So it is like comparing a Ferrari and a Lamborghini, you cant go wrong. But you just get more with the AMD CPUs right now coupled with the availability of the b450 chipset, I think it is a better buy.

The 8400 get about 5% better fps in games than the 2600 with a high end GPU. With a mid range (1060), the gap will be even closer. But the 2600 has twice as many threads as the 8400. So it will be much better at multitasking or workstation type task. It also comes with a better stock cooler and supports overclocking. Additionally, the AM4 socket will have support for a couple of more years, so there is a better upgrade path for the AMD CPUs.

With your budget, I would go with the 2600x over the 2600. It is about $50 more but comes with XFR which will give your CPU a nice bump in the turbo clock speed.

The 8400 is a solid CPU for the money and until the 2600 and b4500 motherboards were released, it was my recommended CPU. But now, AMD just makes more sense to me. Either way, you really cant go wrong with a 8th gen Intel CPU or a 2000 series AMD CPU.

 

[Kasper Jorgensen]

Thanks for the response, Kasper. Do you think the 2 extra cores are worth the trade-off of lower clock speed on the i5-8400 you recommended?

The 8400 has a Turbo Boost clock at 4GHz on single thread applications and Turbo Boost clock at 3.8GHz with all cores used. Base clock really doesn't mean anything unless your CPU is running too hot.