Question Should i get a better CPU or GPU

Jun 26, 2018
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Hello, I’ll be building my first build, and these are the parts i plan on using:
PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/NWgcXP
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/NWgcXP/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel - Core i5-9600K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor ($264.89 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: SilentiumPC - Fera 3 HE1224 v2 46.5 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI - MAG Z390 TOMAHAWK ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($152.96 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston - HyperX Fury Black 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($149.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 250 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($57.27 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.78 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB AORUS XTREME Video Card ($399.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT - H500 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($76.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA - BQ 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1231.65
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-16 12:33 EDT-0400

I got some money in my budget left, so I wanted to get a 2070 instead, but then i got told that i should rather upgrade the 9600K to an i7-9700K. I will be gaming at 1080p@144Hz and i’d like to have my PC futureproof as possible. Thanks in advance for any tips.
 
I think the 9600K should run 1070 no problem.

I think it will also run a 1080 no problem.

....and I think it will even run an RTX 2070.

I'm running an RTX 2080 Ti with an i7-7800X and the 7800X isn't much faster than the 9600K....and it's running it no problem. No bottlenecking. I can max the 2080 Ti and have tons of CPU headroom to spare.
 
Jun 26, 2018
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Agreed 2070 should do fine with the cpu I may even suggest getting higher clocked ram, the price increase isn’t massive and in the the long run it will may hold together under higher loads better
I will actually be getting RAM at 2666MHz, but i haven’t found the particuar model on partpicker. I know that the 2070 shoud work with the 9600K, but i wasn’t afraid of bottleneck. Someone suggested me to rather buy a better CPU instead of the 2070, because some games today are more CPU demanding, and the 2 extra cores would help me more for 1080p gaming than the better GPU. So my question was, in what should i rather put the rest of my budget, the CPU or the GPU?
 
If you want future proof perhaps you should go with AMD, since the motherboard will support the next gen AMD Zen CPUs on 7nm. Where if you go with intel, the Z390 might not support the next gen.

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

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7 GHz 8-Core Processor ($294.89 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: SilentiumPC - Fera 3 HE1224 v2 46.5 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: ASRock - X470 Master SLI/AC ATX AM4 Motherboard ($138.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Kingston - HyperX Fury Black 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($149.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 250 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.78 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB Black Video Card ($499.99 @ B&H)
Case: NZXT - H500 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($76.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA - BQ 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1348.29
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-16 23:07 EDT-0400
 

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
Several things hurting an otherwise decent build.
Psu: 650w is fine, the BQ Bronze on a $1300 pc? Not good at all, the BQ isn't anything more than mediocre at best.
Ram: 16Gb is perfect. 2133MHz on a cpu that comes stock settings for 2666MHz is slow, fps hurting type slow, especially on a K cpu and Z motherboard that'll likely at some point see some OC. Like trying to run a marathon in combat boots.
Storage: the Sammy's are great. 250Gb for that price isn't, when a Crucial MX500 which pretty much goes toe-to-toe with the Samsungs for almost the same price is a much better deal.

I bumped up everything according to possibilities mentioned.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-9700K 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor ($389.99 @ Walmart)
CPU Cooler: SilentiumPC - Fera 3 HE1224 v2 46.5 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI - MAG Z390 TOMAHAWK ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($152.96 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($98.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($62.95 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.78 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB XC BLACK EDITION GAMING Video Card ($499.90 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT - H500 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($76.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Antec - Earthwatts Gold Pro 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($81.69 @ Newegg)
Total: $1423.25
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-16 23:31 EDT-0400


$200 for double the ssd size, a Seasonic based psu, higher grade cpu, better gpu, the right ram for the pc is chump change. It'll extend the usable life of that pc by years.
 
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