[SOLVED] Should i upgrade my GPU first?

[dv21]

Hi everyone, im thinking about upgrading my PC. It's 4 years old and specs are:
core i5 6600
16gb ram
gtx 960 turbo oc by asus
asus z170K
lc6550 power supply 550 watts

im planning to buy gtx 1660 super ghost oc and i was wondering if it is compatible with my mainboard or should i upgrade it?
I checked my pc regularly and main "problem" is my graphics card. it runs on high temp and i really never had problems. I'm a student so i cant afford to upgrade it all at once, so i would like your opinion. thanx all peace!

 

[hang-the-9]

LC is low quality power supplies, that "550" watt power supply can only put out at most 450 watts on the 12 volt rail, which is the one that powers the important stuff like your CPU and video card. It's probably under 400 watt real power.

Aside from that, upgrading your video card will give you a good boost in speed, your motherboard will be fine with it. But you may want to get a better quality power supply as well if not first.

 

[dv21]

LC is low quality power supplies, that "550" watt power supply can only put out at most 450 watts on the 12 volt rail, which is the one that powers the important stuff like your CPU and video card. It's probably under 400 watt real power.

Aside from that, upgrading your video card will give you a good boost in speed, your motherboard will be fine with it. But you may want to get a better quality power supply as well if not first.

what about older coolermaster silent pro gold 700w?

 

[AtNvme]

Any 80+ Bronze or above PSUs from reputable brands are usually considered "reliable", but Gold is usually where people go for the best for your buck.

When it comes to PSU's, I recommend sticking to the bigger brands, like EVGA, Corsair, Seasonic, Cooler Master, etc, but even those brand's low end PSU are most likely really bad.

Anything from 650-750W 80+ Gold is usually very cheap and realiable coming from those forementioned brands.

I've had my last PSU surge my 12V rail and kill my whole PC, and it was a good brand 80+ Gold PSU. Having a bad PSU only makes it more likely, and trust me, it's ugly when it happens.

Besides the PSU, it depends what you do with your PC. Upgrading your GPU would be a good option, but if you play games with very high framerates, you will find your CPU will be bottlenecking your system and overall framerate. If you play single player GPU intensive games, a better GPU will be the best bet.

If you want to know, I would recommend looking at your CPU/GPU usage while playing. If your GPU is not reaching 90% usage or more with unlocked framerates, upgrade your CPU. If your GPU is reaching 90%+ and your CPU is sitting at 80% or lower, upgrade the GPU. GPU's are designed to ALWAYS run at a set temperature/voltage when frames are unlocked. Unlike your CPU, the GPU will keep cranking up its power until it hits either it's temperature or voltage limit, explaining why it runs hot. It always will with unlocked FPS.

What's your budget for either of those parts?

EDIT: If you don't know which PSU to go for, make sure it's the right format for your case and system. Most of them follow the same specs, but some are designed for servers or workstations, just stay within the consumer market, like EVGA G5 or Corsair RM650x-750x.

 

[dv21]

Any 80+ Bronze or above PSUs from reputable brands are usually considered "reliable", but Gold is usually where people go for the best for your buck.

When it comes to PSU's, I recommend sticking to the bigger brands, like EVGA, Corsair, Seasonic, Cooler Master, etc, but even those brand's low end PSU are most likely really bad.

Anything from 650-750W 80+ Gold is usually very cheap and realiable coming from those forementioned brands.

I've had my last PSU surge my 12V rail and kill my whole PC, and it was a good brand 80+ Gold PSU. Having a bad PSU only makes it more likely, and trust me, it's ugly when it happens.

Besides the PSU, it depends what you do with your PC. Upgrading your GPU would be a good option, but if you play games with very high framerates, you will find your CPU will be bottlenecking your system and overall framerate. If you play single player GPU intensive games, a better GPU will be the best bet.

If you want to know, I would recommend looking at your CPU/GPU usage while playing. If your GPU is not reaching 90% usage or more with unlocked framerates, upgrade your CPU. If your GPU is reaching 90%+ and your CPU is sitting at 80% or lower, upgrade the GPU. GPU's are designed to ALWAYS run at a set temperature/voltage when frames are unlocked. Unlike your CPU, the GPU will keep cranking up its power until it hits either it's temperature or voltage limit, explaining why it runs hot. It always will with unlocked FPS.

What's your budget for either of those parts?

EDIT: If you don't know which PSU to go for, make sure it's the right format for your case and system. Most of them follow the same specs, but some are designed for servers or workstations, just stay within the consumer market, like EVGA G5 or Corsair RM650x-750x.

hi!
thanx for the reply...i was planning to spend max 400 bucks on GPU and new SSD. I have that silent pro gold 700W sitting unused for a year or two, but its quite old so im not sure should i try to use it or not. because i need that ssd and gpu, but if im going to have problems or if there is a risk that my PSU could fck up the whole thing...maybe i could wait a bit.

 

[AtNvme]

hi!
thanx for the reply...i was planning to spend max 400 bucks on GPU and new SSD. I have that silent pro gold 700W sitting unused for a year or two, but its quite old so im not sure should i try to use it or not. because i need that ssd and gpu, but if im going to have problems or if there is a risk that my PSU could fck up the whole thing...maybe i could wait a bit.

It's really up to you if you want to try the PSU or not. It could work, but if it's had a lot of dust buildups and if you don't know if its stable, testing it with a multimeter might be a good way to make sure the power delivery is still as intended. If you want to do this, I would recommend you look at specific guides, since it will require tools and very specific actions. Be aware that upgrading your GPU may increase your overall system voltage and cause problems to that PSU you're using.

In the case where you decide to leave it and look for a new one, you could look at the ones I mentioned (EVGA G5 and RM750x). They will only set you back around 100$ and you could still get a GPU/SSD combo depending on what you are looking for They also both feature very long term warranty, 10 years I believe, so make sure you keep that proof of purchase to save 100$ in a few years if any complications happen! A 250GB SSD will only cost you around 60$ probably and 240$ can still get you a decent GPU.

My personnal recommendation is to either get an SSD+PSU for now and save up a bit for a new GPU (Ampere GPU's are coming soon, you might be able to grab a 3050Ti-3060 for a decent price then, if they aren't being sold out instantly, which is somewhat likely unfortunately).

As for the SSD I recommend to stick to good brands, since some "no-name brands" may sell cacheless SSD's which are as slow if not slower than conventional HDD's. Samsung 850-860 EVO's are a good option and are pretty cheap. They are my personnal favorite, I own 3 of them. For the GPU, would I recommend waiting for future releases, since GPU's are currently often overpriced and hard to get your hands on for a good price because of limited availability. Ampere cards "should" hit the market late 2020 or early 2021. Otherwise a 1660-Ti would be a great upgrade for you if you want to do it now.

If you end up buying a GPU and are having crashes under load or similar things, your PSU may be running into it's voltage limit. If this does happen, underclocking your GPU could solve the issue until you upgrade, but it's probably better to wait.

EDIT: A 1660S would be cheaper than a Ti with similar performance. You can expect over double the performance, as shown on Userbenchmark. 111% increase in overall performance and 130% average FPS increase. https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-960-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1660S-Super/3165vs4056

EDIT2: I lied, I have 3 Samsung SATA SSD's and a 970 EVO Plus M.2, I guess that makes 4 of them!

 

[dv21]

It's really up to you if you want to try the PSU or not. It could work, but if it's had a lot of dust buildups and if you don't know if its stable, testing it with a multimeter might be a good way to make sure the power delivery is still as intended. If you want to do this, I would recommend you look at specific guides, since it will require tools and very specific actions. Be aware that upgrading your GPU may increase your overall system voltage and cause problems to that PSU you're using.

In the case where you decide to leave it and look for a new one, you could look at the ones I mentioned (EVGA G5 and RM750x). They will only set you back around 100$ and you could still get a GPU/SSD combo depending on what you are looking for They also both feature very long term warranty, 10 years I believe, so make sure you keep that proof of purchase to save 100$ in a few years if any complications happen! A 250GB SSD will only cost you around 60$ probably and 240$ can still get you a decent GPU.

My personnal recommendation is to either get an SSD+PSU for now and save up a bit for a new GPU (Ampere GPU's are coming soon, you might be able to grab a 3050Ti-3060 for a decent price then, if they aren't being sold out instantly, which is somewhat likely unfortunately).

As for the SSD I recommend to stick to good brands, since some "no-name brands" may sell cacheless SSD's which are as slow if not slower than conventional HDD's. Samsung 850-860 EVO's are a good option and are pretty cheap. They are my personnal favorite, I own 3 of them. For the GPU, would I recommend waiting for future releases, since GPU's are currently often overpriced and hard to get your hands on for a good price because of limited availability. Ampere cards "should" hit the market late 2020 or early 2021. Otherwise a 1660-Ti would be a great upgrade for you if you want to do it now.

If you end up buying a GPU and are having crashes under load or similar things, your PSU may be running into it's voltage limit. If this does happen, underclocking your GPU could solve the issue until you upgrade, but it's probably better to wait.

EDIT: A 1660S would be cheaper than a Ti with similar performance. You can expect over double the performance, as shown on Userbenchmark. 111% increase in overall performance and 130% average FPS increase. https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-960-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1660S-Super/3165vs4056

EDIT2: I lied, I have 3 Samsung SATA SSD's and a 970 EVO Plus M.2, I guess that makes 4 of them!

Yes, i will be getting samsung 970 evo plus, it's in my budget range. yes i compared gpu's and it's going to be much much better with 1660S. and here in croatia 1660TI costs about 150 bucks more than 1660S. so it was my logical choice. i will test the PSU and try to make it work.
thank you very much!!

 

[hang-the-9]

what about older coolermaster silent pro gold 700w?

Should be better than your LC model. In general you can tell how good of a PSU is by the warranty it offers. The top models have 5-10 year warranties, take a look at this EVGA chart for their models and warranty evga.com/warranty/power-supplies/ It's not the only way to tell of-course but if you see a long warranty on a PSU there is a very good chance you are looking at a well built and reliable one.