[SOLVED] Looking for a cpu upgrade

[Uberrover]

Hey guys,
My battlefield 1 gameplay has always been bottlenecked by my i5 6600k. The cpu usage is always at 100%, while my gpu (gtx 1060 6gb) is usually at around 60-70% usage.
I have tried both overclocking the gpu and cpu. Overclocking the gpu with +150 core clock and +500 memory clock doesn't change fps much. I am running my cpu at 4.5 GHz at 1.32 V, which has caused some occasional crashes.
The fps I'm getting is usually around 80, but it doesn't feel smooth at all even at low graphics. I'm using a 144 hz monitor.

This is why I'm looking for a cpu upgrade. My budget is around 350 euros. My ultimate goal is to have 144 fps in every game I play, graphics settings are less important to me, but as high as possible is of course nice
My system specs are:
cpu: i5 6600k overclocked to 4.5 GHz 1.32 V
cpu cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212X
gpu: MSI GAMING X 1060 6gb
ram: 16gb corsair vengeance 2133mhz
motherboard: ASrock z170 extreme 4

Most of the other games I play are usually not bottlenecked by my cpu, but I sometimes do have to close background applications to achieve perfect smoothness. I do also use my pc for schoolwork and video editing-and-rendering, but mostly for gaming.

The CPUs I'm currently looking at are the i5 9600k, i5 8600k (but that's more expensive for some reason), i7 8700k (but it's slightly out of my budget) and the Ryzen 5 2600x. I can't seem to make a good choice as I haven't really been following tech news recently because of my finals. So which one is most suitable for my setup and needs?

Thanks in advance

 

[boju]

Ahh so there's a solid chance prices will drop in 1.5-2 weeks? I can wait for that!

A good chance, not a solid one. We have to see how good Zen 2 is first and then see how Intel reacts.

 

[boju]

So does the OP's current Intel CPU and any other more modern Intel CPU he may be thinking of upgrading to. RAM bandwidth starvation isn't just an AMD thing, particularly when you're overclocking the CPU.

As I said in my previous reply, I see significant FPS gains in many games running the same CPU at the same overclock in many games when using faster RAM. This still applies even with the CPU at 100% occupancy. It would be a quick temporary partial fix until the major upgrade takes place.

Yeah, nothing wrong with that. Give it a go, start out with ram, ram prices wont change with AMD/Intels tiff. Let us know how it goes.

 

[Uberrover]

Yeah, nothing wrong with that. Give it a go, start out with ram, ram prices wont change with AMD/Intels tiff. Let us know how it goes.

I just bought a Corsair 3200mhz 2x8gb kit, I'll let you know as soon as I've tested it! Thanks for the advice

 

[cryoburner]

I decided that money is not really much of an issue, if I can future proof my pc for like 2-3 years. This is why for now I think I'm going to upgrade the following:
motherboard: Gigabyte Z390 Gaming X
cpu: Intel Core i7-9700K
RAM: G Skill RipJaw V 3200MHz 2x8GB

I'll upgrade the gpu later on, if I find that it's bottlenecking the cpu.
What are your thoughts on this upgrade?

I kind of think that going with a 9700K might be a bit overkill if you are pairing it with a GTX 1060. As was said, while the processor will likely be better suited for many of the games coming out in the coming years, and in a handful of games like Battlefield V that can already utilize more threads, in most existing games you are only likely to see minor performance improvements over your current processor. Especially since your graphics card will be what's limiting performance in many of those games, unless you drop the settings down relatively low. In general, it's typically best to spend as much or more on a graphics card as you do for a processor in a gaming system.

As for whether Intel will cut prices in the next couple weeks, that seems unlikely. Intel isn't really one to cut prices, even on old generations of hardware. A new quad-core i7-7700K is still priced just as high now as it was when it launched, and just as much as newer i7s with more cores, despite only offering comparable performance to the current i5s.

When first-generation Ryzen launched, it might not have been able to clock as high as Intel's unlocked parts, but it did offer competitive per-core performance with Intel for the first time in years, while simultaneously offering significantly more cores and threads at any price point. Did that cause Intel to cut prices? Not really. Rather, they simply waited half a year, then released their next generation of processors with increased core counts and higher clocks at each tier, making their new processors more competitive. We may see something similar with their reaction to the Ryzen 3000-series. Maybe some retailers will offer better sales on the current processors, but I wouldn't expect substantial price drops, especially within a short time frame.

That being said, personally I would wait to see what the Ryzen 3000-series has to offer before making a platform upgrade. There's no verifiable pricing or performance numbers for these processors yet, but based on the information out there so far, it sounds like they might potentially be really competitive with Intel's offerings. If they manage to offer per-core performance that's very similar to Intel's top processors while offering more cores and threads for less, you might even want to consider going the AMD route. While AMD will likely fill in more details and provide a better idea of what these processors have to offer next week, it will likely be over a month before they will be available for purchase, and have detailed reviews available to provide a more impartial view of how their performance compares.

 

[boju]

Op is considering upgrading gpu if feel 1060 still isn't cutting it. Or they could end up being content. Would be up to them to experience it and see but most of us know 1060 will still fall a long short of 100+ fps if that is what they really want.

Yeah, prices probably won't change. Intel really haven't had a reason to, not when their heads are as big as they are. Well next week or next month or two are new days and i hope competition scares Intel enough for a change.

 

[Uberrover]

Alright so my new 3200Mhz ram came in the mail today, and I am legit seeing over 30 fps more while playing Battlefield 1. I am now postponing my cpu upgrade because the game feels really smooth now! Thanks a lot everyone!

 

[boju]

That was good on @RayOfDark to suggest it. Glad you're happy.

If you were to upgrade gpu you'll probably looking into a cpu upgrade as well. Just so you know not to rely only on ram in future even though it saved you this time.

 

[RayOfDark]

Alright so my new 3200Mhz ram came in the mail today, and I am legit seeing over 30 fps more while playing Battlefield 1.

Glad to hear it and glad you're happy.

 

[RayOfDark]

If you were to upgrade gpu you'll probably looking into a cpu upgrade as well. Just so you know not to rely only on ram in future even though it saved you this time.

Agreed. I think the OP has pretty much maxed out his current system now. The GTX 1060 is a good match for the rest of the hardware.

There's only one more upgrade I'd highly recommend though and that's an SSD to run Windows from and store favourite games on. Either that or use a small SATA SSD of, say, 120GB in conjunction with Intel SRT to accelerate the HDD.

I went NVMe PCIe SSD for the OS on my very similar system for the OS, and cached the HDD that held games using a 120GB SATA SSD with Intel SRT fairly soon after building mine and the performance was simply mind-blowing compared to running everything off spinners.

Windows obviously boots much quicker and runs more slickly, and games that had previously suffered from micro-stutter were nearly all fixed. The nice thing is that, like the fast RAM, these are also the kind of upgrades that can be easily carried over to a new build in the future.

Even if the OP would just like to SSD cache an HDD with games on for now, that can be done for relative peanuts (£15/$20) and will give very noticeable benefits.

 

[Uberrover]

I forgot to mention this, but I do have windows and battlefield 1 installed on my sata SSD