GPU or CPU upgrade?

[kempiedempie]

I have some money for some upgrades, but I can't afford to upgrade everything (only have around $500). What should I upgrade first, my GPU or my CPU(with new mobo etc)?
It's used for gaming and general stuff, and I have low fps in most newer games.
The pc is about 3-4 years old now.

Specs:
CPU: Amd Athlon X4 860K
GPU: Asus R9 290
Mobo: MSI A88X-G45 gaming (fm2)
Ram: Dominator ddr3 1600MHz 16GB
CPU cooler: Coolermaster hyper 103
storage: 1TB hdd+250gb ssd

Like I said, if I upgrade my CPU I will have to upgrade mobo + ram too which would is probably around the price of a new gpu.

 

[cryoburner]

Assuming you're gaming at 1080p resolution or below, a CPU/motherboard/RAM upgrade would probably help the most. An R9 290 is still a rather capable GPU for 1080p, and is just about 10% behind current mid-range gaming cards like the GTX 1060 or RX 580. Many graphics cards have had their prices increase in recent months due to a shortage as well.

Your CPU's performance is well behind that of the current-generation i5 and i7 processors from Intel and AMD's Ryzen processors though, and CPU performance is likely holding you back in many games more than anything. Those newer CPUs can be close to twice as fast as your current processor, so they are less likely to cause drops in framerate.

Some games, of course, response better to one or the other, but your graphics card is likely more suitable for gaming today than your CPU.

 

[Karadjgne]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1500X 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.58 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($75.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($88.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $334.55
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-06 22:51 EDT-0400

Or

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($194.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($75.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($168.15 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Total: $439.01
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-06 22:55 EDT-0400

With the 1500x, you are looking at a budget setup equitable to a Haswell i7-4790k in ability at stock values. Good for just plug-n-play builds.

With the 1600 it's not hard with that cpu to get 3.8GHz and that ram to get the full 3200MHz vrs most Ryzen which will top out stable at 2933MHz, end result will be @20%ish performance increase, putting it somewhere slightly below an intel i7-7700k capability for single thread games, and over the top possibly in multiple threaded games.

 

[geofelt]

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

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

a) Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
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.
-------------------------------------------------------------

My guess is that you will find the x4 limiting and your first option for an upgrade.
$200 buys you a G4560, a lga1151 motherboard and 8gb of ddr4 ram.
Not that I am recommending that, but it would be a starting upgrade.
With $500 to spend, I would go current tech.
I5-8400 6 core is $190,
2 x 8gb of ddr4 ram is perhaps $160, and a Z370 motherboard will be $130 or so.
If you are capable of overclocking, buy a I5-8600K instead for $260.
6 cores at 5.0 is hard to beat.