i5 8400 and RX 460 vs Pentium G4560 and GTX 1060 6GB

[Izaak_1]

Hello everyone.
I currently own a Pentium G4560 and an RX 460 2GB. I play games such as:
- Fortnite
- Overwatch
- CS:GO
- Subnautica
I am wondering, would I benefit more from the CPU upgrade (to an i5 8400) or the GPU upgrade (to a GTX 1060 6GB)?
I have heard that the Pentium will bottleneck a 1060 6GB quite a bit, but would that matter for the games I wish to play?
Thanks,
Izaak

 

[WildCard999]

Could you maybe upgrade your CPU to the i5-7500 or 7400 and your GPU to the GTX 1060 3gb? It would be a better balanced build and will play those games well.

Another good option would be the i3-8100 quad core and then there's always AMD Ryzen as a possible quad core option for a good price.

 

[Barty1884]

Realistically, either rig would be a little unbalanced.

While both have demands of CPU & GPU, typically they'll favor one or the other a little more.

For the titles you suggest, Fortnite and Overwatch would likely benefit more from the GPU upgrade
CS:GO is more CPU intensive than anything else.
Subnautica I don't know much about.

So, you'd benefit from either upgrade regardless....
I'd say the GPU would be of more benefit today... but the CPU/MB upgrade would set you up with a solid foundation for the longer term.


I was thinking something along the same lines as Wildcard. i5-7500 + 3GB 1060.... but price-wise, I assume both upgrades proposed would be in the $250-$300 range? A 7500+3GB 1060 is going to be more than that, in all likelihood.

 

[WildCard999]

Subnautica is a bit more GPU intensive but still doesn't run at 100% as I believe it's still in early access and may require a few more patches. Fun game though, especially in VR.

If you give us a budget we could probably help you figure out a better upgrade.

 

[Bob125484]

Your current mobo for G4560 does not support intel 8th gen CPU. i5 8400 will require new mobo (H310, B360, H370 or Z370).

 

[Izaak_1]

Could you maybe upgrade your CPU to the i5-7500 or 7400 and your GPU to the GTX 1060 3gb? It would be a better balanced build and will play those games well.

Another good option would be the i3-8100 quad core and then there's always AMD Ryzen as a possible quad core option for a good price.

i5 7500 and 8400 are the same price lul
I considered the i3-8100, and I might yet go for it, but I can only buy 1 component right now, and so it will be either 8400 or 1060.

Edit: Realised what you were saying. But that's still a $600 upgrade, money I don't have right now.

 

[Izaak_1]

Your current mobo for G4560 does not support intel 8th gen CPU. i5 8400 will require new mobo (H310, B360, H370 or Z370).

I understand.
8400 and mobo will be ~$350 and 1060 6gb will be ~$450 or 3gb will be ~$350

 

[WildCard999]

Something that may make this choice easier is to check your CPU usage while playing those games, if it stays, lets just say under 60% usage, then I'd go more towards the 1060 6gb upgrade. If it's like around 90% then I'd opt for the 8400.

 

[AParsh135i]

Could you maybe upgrade your CPU to the i5-7500 or 7400 and your GPU to the GTX 1060 3gb? It would be a better balanced build and will play those games well.

Another good option would be the i3-8100 quad core and then there's always AMD Ryzen as a possible quad core option for a good price.

i5 7500 and 8400 are the same price lul
I considered the i3-8100, and I might yet go for it, but I can only buy 1 component right now, and so it will be either 8400 or 1060.

Edit: Realised what you were saying. But that's still a $600 upgrade, money I don't have right now.

This message is for people coming here later wondering the same question as OP.
They key to this conversation to be relevant for others is explaining the costs of everything. I think there is a good chance that OP and possibly others assumed certain prices for certain hardware that could have been wrong.

OP is saying Should he upgrade his CPU from G4560 to i5-8400 ($180 USD) or upgrade his Video Card (GPU) from HD6970 to GTX 1060 6GB (~$300+ at time of his post, but can get deals around $250 now).

The best solution, in my opinion, is neither.
As others suggested, find a cheaper CPU like an i3-6100 ($80) and go with the GTX 1060 3GB ($200-220ish at time of this post, $180-200ish now), not the 6GB. That would put you at the same budget you proposed but with less bottleneck.
If you are gaming at 1080p there is no reason to waste money on the 6GB 1060! Unless you are doing VR, 1440p, or 4k type of gaming, the 3GB is the best bang for the buck.

*If you wanted to go "all out" one CPU or GPU because you were planning to correct the other one say in 2 or 3 months when you save up, i'd go with the GPU first.