[SOLVED] Should I upgrade my CPU?

Forz

Prominent
Jan 28, 2020
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Hello,
Recently after the release of next gen consoles and the RTX3000 GPU's I feel like my pc is slowly getting older and older, and I only upgraded the GPU a month ago. However it simply makes my computer feel worser after comparing the Ryzen 5 2600 to CPU's such as the 3600 and a 20fps+ increase in a lot of games seems very significant to me. However I don't know if my PC should be upgraded or if I just have a weak mindset in my head but here are my specs:

-RTX2060
-Ryzen 5 2600
-16GB @3200mhz RAM
-Asus Prime B450ma
-250GB SSD
-1TB HDD
-CX450

I don't know if my pc is fine or if there is anything necessary to upgrade but I probably have a weak mindset, but please let me know. Currently I am prioritising getting a new case and customising it to look a little better, and a new 1TB NVME probably. I don't know if buying used is a good idea but I may buy a cheap 3600 if its used. I also haven't had a direct opinion on my PC so please let me know if it is decent, just out of pure curiosity. Thanks!
 
Solution
If your cpu is limiting your gaming, then by all means, upgrade your processor.
What kinds of games do you play?
Games such as fast action shooters will usually depend on fast graphics cards. Particularly at resolutions >1080P
Cpu centric games tend to be limited by the performance of the single master thread.
Most games can not make effective use of more than 6 threads. You have 12 which should be plenty.
Only with multiplayer games and many participants are many threads useful.
Your 450w psu may not be delivering adequate power for a card such as a RTX2080
See if you can test with a stronger psu of better quality.

My stock approach to this perennial question:

Some games are graphics limited like fast action shooters.
Others...

Forz

Prominent
Jan 28, 2020
92
3
535
Check whether your motherboard will get a BIOS update for the 5000-series next year. A Ryzen 5600(X) would be a much bigger upgrade than a 3600.
I was going to get a new board soon so I can have more features and a more cooler VRM so I thought of the 5000 series, however I thought it was too much. Maybe. The 5600 seems a little overpriced at the moment. Thanks
 
If your cpu is limiting your gaming, then by all means, upgrade your processor.
What kinds of games do you play?
Games such as fast action shooters will usually depend on fast graphics cards. Particularly at resolutions >1080P
Cpu centric games tend to be limited by the performance of the single master thread.
Most games can not make effective use of more than 6 threads. You have 12 which should be plenty.
Only with multiplayer games and many participants are many threads useful.
Your 450w psu may not be delivering adequate power for a card such as a RTX2080
See if you can test with a stronger psu of better quality.

My stock approach to this perennial question:

Some games are graphics limited like fast action shooters.
Others are cpu core speed limited like strategy, sims, and mmo.
Multiplayer tends 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.
This makes the graphics card loaf a bit.
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.
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Solution

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Titan
Moderator
I was going to get a new board soon so I can have more features and a more cooler VRM so I thought of the 5000 series, however I thought it was too much. Maybe. The 5600 seems a little overpriced at the moment. Thanks
The 5600X certainly seems grossly overpriced to me too. However, there are rumors of a 5600 (non-X) planned for early 2021 for a much more reasonable $220.
 

wi5pa

Distinguished
May 20, 2012
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Your ryzen 5 2600 is a 6 core/12 thread CPU, its more than enough unless you are doing alot of workstation processes.

The GPU would be the thing you need to change, along with the PSU as 450w is not powerful enough to run a RTX 3000 series card.
The 1tb NVME SSD will be a nice upgrade too.