Should I upgrade my Graphics card or CPU first?

[Spacekees]

I'm now running the AMD FX-6350 with an R9 390 and I want to upgrade one of them next year, but don't know which one. If I would upgrade the CPU I would go for the Intel Core I5-6600K and if I would upgrade my GPU I would go for the MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Gaming X 8GB.
Which one should I upgrade first?

 

[burgessanthony]

Well, the FX6350 is going to be holding back the 390 in more cpu intensive games. So itll be worse with the 1070.

Depends on the games you play. However, I just did a platform change from ivy to skylake, and in the games I PLAY I have noticed some big difference. Fallout 4, witcher 3, just cause 3 all seen big min fps improvements with the 6600k and the fast DDR4 RAM (yes, it does make a difference)

My advice - upgrade base platform, enjoy the full power of the 390 (seriously, there isn't a game I cant play on 1080p60 high/ultra and next year maybe look to upgrade the gpu.

just my view on that.

 

[geofelt]

It depends on the types of games you play.
strategy games, sims and mmo are typically single threaded and cpu limited.
Fast action games are typically graphics limited.

Here is my stock approach to figuring it out:

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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.
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 core. 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 processors to less than you have.
This will tell you how sensitive your games are to the benefits of many cores.

If your FPS drops significantly, it is an indicator that your cpu is the limiting factor, and a cpu upgrade is in order.

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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[Fleming_1]

I stood in the same place as you at some point and I will have to say you should take the cpu because it will not bottleneck and if you take the cpu you will also find your games run better it may double the fps you have now (it did for me)