[SOLVED] Hey could really use some help\advice on upgrading my computer.

Jul 20, 2021
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Hello all,

Could really use some advice on the best bang for the buck to improve my computer. I mainly play games like Rust, Apex legends and some newer ones. However, I've noticed that my processor usage is sitting at 100% while I'm playing. I've also noticed that my framerate sits at around 40ish at times. I'm pretty sure it's time for an upgrade. But im lost at where to start and getting the best bang for the buck so to speak. I'm torn between a proper monitor or an upgraded graphics card. Ideally id like to spend about £300 on this round of upgrades.

Currently, I have an i5-6600k 3.5ghz processor and a GTX 1060 6GB graphics card. I also play on a flatscreen 40inch monitor XD don't judge I like having a large screen. Any advice would be greatly appriciated.

Thank you all for taking the time to read the above.
 
Solution
Thank you after reading im pretty much sold on the 11400f.
Those 11 gen cpu's can get a bit power hungry when they kick into turbo boost mode so you want a board with decent VRM's such this one in the link .. also make sure to have an aftermarket cpu cooler.

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi...ta3-2x-m2-crossfire-25gbe-usb-32-gen2x2-m-atx
MSI B560M BAZOOKA £99.98

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MAG-B560M-BAZOOKA


b560temps.jpg

logainofhades

Titan
Moderator
Yea, I would say it is time for a CPU upgrade. Newer games need more cores/threads than what a 6600k can provide. Getting a GPU right now is about impossible, without paying 2x, or more, above MSRP. Bang for the buck, the i5 11400f is a strong contender.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-11400F 2.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($184.01 @ Adorama)
CPU Cooler: Vetroo V5 52 CFM CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B560 Pro4 ATX LGA1200 Motherboard ($138.00 @ Amazon)
Memory: Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($71.98 @ Amazon)
Total: $423.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-07-20 15:57 EDT-0400
 
Jul 20, 2021
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10
Yea, I would say it is time for a CPU upgrade. Newer games need more cores/threads than what a 6600k can provide. Getting a GPU right now is about impossible, without paying 2x, or more, above MSRP. Bang for the buck, the i5 11400f is a strong contender.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-11400F 2.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($184.01 @ Adorama)
CPU Cooler: Vetroo V5 52 CFM CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B560 Pro4 ATX LGA1200 Motherboard ($138.00 @ Amazon)
Memory: Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($71.98 @ Amazon)
Total: $423.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-07-20 15:57 EDT-0400

Thank you for taking the time to reply, it may seem like a silly question but seeing as you took the time to reply. How big a drawback am I at for playing on a flat screen instead of a proper gaming monitor? Will this affect my fps ?
 

PCMDDOCTORS

Distinguished
Aug 31, 2015
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Can I please have a few more details please?

  1. Will you be using the same Case, Power Supply, & Storage? What will you be reusing?
  2. £ 300 is a little too low for a new build, more in the range of 600-800
  3. To keep prices down keep the GTX 1060, You can try the used market for parts to save some money but that would only be up to you.

I can give you a parts list and where to buy them but please send more info first.
 

logainofhades

Titan
Moderator
Thank you for taking the time to reply, it may seem like a silly question but seeing as you took the time to reply. How big a drawback am I at for playing on a flat screen instead of a proper gaming monitor? Will this affect my fps ?

What type of panel doesn't influence FPS, only the resolution. A 24" 1080p monitor isn't going to have any different FPS, than a 50" 1080p TV.
 
Jul 20, 2021
6
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Can I please have a few more details please?

  1. Will you be using the same Case, Power Supply, & Storage? What will you be reusing?
  2. £ 300 is a little too low for a new build, more in the range of 600-800
  3. To keep prices down keep the GTX 1060, You can try the used market for parts to save some money but that would only be up to you.
I can give you a parts list and where to buy them but please send more info first.

Hey, everything will be the same, it's not a new build it's an upgrade I was going for. Apologies if I wasn't clear.
 

logainofhades

Titan
Moderator
Ideally id like to spend about £300 on this round of upgrades.

I missed this part. This is about as close as I could get to your target price. You lose functionality of the top M.2 slot, due to the 10th gen chip, but the motherboard will allow you to run the ram at DDR4 3200.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-10400F 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor (£126.48 @ Ebuyer)
CPU Cooler: Vetroo V5 52 CFM CPU Cooler (£26.85 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock B560M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1200 Motherboard (£100.83 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (£69.98 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £324.14
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-07-20 21:16 BST+0100
 
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Jul 20, 2021
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You should be able to reuse your ram, so just take that off my list. Depending on your current cooler, that could potentially be reused as well. Upgrading to a 7700k, which is as far as you can go, with your current board, would be a waste of money.

Thank you for the advice, ive spent most of the evening comparing the i5-11400k and the 11600k. Think ill end upgrading the cpu as you recommended its a huge difference in performance over my current cpu. Keep going backwards and forwards on which one thou. They both are good. I think im leaning towards 11600k,
 

TommyTwoTone66

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Apr 24, 2021
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CPU usage at 100% seems like a software issue, not a hardware issue. Those games you mention are relatively CPU heavy, but you would only ever see short bursts of 100% usage when a lot was going on at once, most of the time it should be 30-40%.

What about when not playing a game, does it idle down to nothing?

There are a dozen things that could be wrong that would cause high background CPU usage. To rule them all out in one fell swoop the easiest thing to do would be a full clean install of Windows. You'll have to do this if you buy a new motherboard anyway, so why not try it to see if it helps?

If it doesn't (which it should, most people get good performance still on a 6600K), then 11600K is the one I'd go for :)
 
Thank you for the advice, ive spent most of the evening comparing the i5-11400k and the 11600k. Think ill end upgrading the cpu as you recommended its a huge difference in performance over my current cpu. Keep going backwards and forwards on which one thou. They both are good. I think im leaning towards 11600k,

In order to upgrade to a new CPU, you need a new motherboard. Intel motherboards are only compatible with two generations of CPUs. In your situation, your motherboard is compatible with 6th generation and 7th generation CPUs. If you want to step up to an 11th generation Intel CPU, you need a new motherboard.

If your budget is only around 300 Euros, you should probably go with the i5-11400 (there is no 11400k FYI; K specifies that the CPU is overclockable which the 11400 isn't) because you also need to budget for a new motherboard. The i5-11600k is a better CPU, but it requires better cooling to run at its best and should probably be paired with a motherboard that can support the higher power draw requirements that it has (better VRMs for example).

The i5-11600k is enthusiast-grade product and has requirements to match. An i5-11400 has most of the performance for a lower cost of entry.
 

TommyTwoTone66

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Apr 24, 2021
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You would want to get a monitor and a GPU at the same time really, since your 1060 isn't going to be pushing 4K or even 1440p. Wait for the 3080Ti to get cheap, which will be about 18 months from now, and get a 4K monitor with it.

Your CPU is fine, perfectly adequate for any game apart from the latest COD and Battlefield 5 / 6. And frankly who cares about those.

For £300 right now, I would buy:

1TB Samsung 980 NVMe drive: @ £95
Noctua DH-15 CPU Cooler: @ £90
A big case to fit my big cooler: £100

All of which I could take with me to my 11600K build in about 12 months time when that CPU becomes last-gen.

And just sit and wait for GPUs to get cheaper eventually.
 
You would want to get a monitor and a GPU at the same time really, since your 1060 isn't going to be pushing 4K or even 1440p. Wait for the 3080Ti to get cheap, which will be about 18 months from now, and get a 4K monitor with it.

Your CPU is fine, perfectly adequate for any game apart from the latest COD and Battlefield 5 / 6. And frankly who cares about those.

For £300 right now, I would buy:

1TB Samsung 980 NVMe drive: @ £95
Noctua DH-15 CPU Cooler: @ £90
A big case to fit my big cooler: £100

All of which I could take with me to my 11600K build in about 12 months time when that CPU becomes last-gen.

And just sit and wait for GPUs to get cheaper eventually.

Ah yes; the OP wants "some advice on the best bang for the buck to improve my computer," because "processor usage is sitting at 100% while I'm playing" and "my framerate sits at around 40ish at times."

The prognosis? Obviously he needs a PCIe 4.0 nvme drive, an expensive CPU cooler, and a new tower! All things that will do nothing to improve his frame rate or CPU utilization issues!

And FYI, saying that "Your CPU is fine, perfectly adequate for any game apart from the latest COD and Battlefield 5 / 6. And frankly who cares about those" shows how little you seem to know about CPUs: first person shooters are far from the only games that are heavy on the CPU; there are many modern games that don't work well on 4 core 4 thread CPUs.
 

YoIAmDashing

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Jun 9, 2021
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Gpu’s are still over msrp and 1060 is still pretty decent for games. I would recommend getting a new monitor. The monitor I recommend is the GNV29CB it has 120 hertz and 1080p. It’s also 29inches which is pretty big and I thought you would like because you like big screens. You also get a 3 year warranty so if you play a couple matches and it’s not for you just return it. The monitor also has a 0 tolerance dead pixel policy. Also it’s $230 so you can save the rest of the money for a further upgrade:

Here is the link;
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08B...crb_top?ie=UTF8#cm_cr_carousel_images_section
 
Jul 6, 2021
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Gpu’s are still over msrp and 1060 is still pretty decent for games. I would recommend getting a new monitor. The monitor I recommend is the GNV29CB it has 120 hertz and 1080p. It’s also 29inches which is pretty big and I thought you would like because you like big screens. You also get a 3 year warranty so if you play a couple matches and it’s not for you just return it. The monitor also has a 0 tolerance dead pixel policy. Also it’s $230 so you can save the rest of the money for a further upgrade:

Whats the point of him getting a high refresh monitor if his CPU is bottlenecking that gpu and he cant even get over 60fps? High refresh rate is good only when you have high fps to match it. OP here needs a new CPU, which requires a new motherboard and probably DDR4 3200 ram since his 6th gen CPU runs DDR3. That would make the biggest improvement. He needs an 11th gen i5 cheap cpu + compatible mobo + cheap ddr4 3200 ram.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-11400F 2.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($184.01 @ Adorama)
Motherboard: Asus PRIME B560-PLUS ATX LGA1200 Motherboard ($120.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $394.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-07-21 01:04 EDT-0400
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Jul 21, 2021
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Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply. You all asked some further questions so here are some more details. Below is a screenshot of the task manager when i have Rust running. I believe my ram is this one Corsair Memory Vengeance Pro Series Red 16GB DDR3 1600 MHz XMP Dual Channel Desktop its looking like i need to upgrade my processor which means ill likely need a new motherboard and ram. Had to log onto different account as im at work and cant remember my google password XD

From your replys its looking like a new processor\motherboard\ram ive linked screenshot based on your recommendations. I use my local pc specalist shop they are 100% reliable and ive never had an issue when using them, im pretty sure i can get them to fit it all as well for free with the price. Hmm seems they only do the 10400 not the 11400. Will need to speak to them i guess see if they can get in the 11400.


View: https://imgur.com/J3Gejdy


View: https://imgur.com/Tw4BBQc
 
Last edited:
Thank you for the advice, ive spent most of the evening comparing the i5-11400k and the 11600k. Think ill end upgrading the cpu as you recommended its a huge difference in performance over my current cpu. Keep going backwards and forwards on which one thou. They both are good. I think im leaning towards 11600k,
https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/intel-core-i5-11400f-processor-review,1.html

 
Jul 21, 2021
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https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/intel-core-i5-11400f-processor-review,1.html


Thank you after reading im pretty much sold on the 11400f.
 
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