To upgrade or not to Upgrade

[Faizal Azman]

Hi, i've been using the same system for two years now. AMD 5600K + Radeon HD 7870 XT. However, it seems that i'm having problems with running recent games such as GTA V on my pc. I'm gaming on a 1080p and it seems that i'm having stutter and sudden fps drops on most games. I'm thinking of doing some upgrades but my budget is limited.

What do you think i should upgrade, my graphic card or my processor. Please give me some suggestion on what i should upgrade to. As the budget is tight, don't go crazy on the suggestions.

Thank you in advance

 

[IntelTurtleFan]

What is your budget?
If you could spring for a i5-4460 with GA-H97-D3H you will see a huge improvement.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($166.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($86.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $253.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-06 20:11 EDT-0400

 

[envy14tpe]

I second upgrading to a i5 + H97 mobo. Then if you got the budget push for a AMD 290 (on sale as 390 replacing it).

 

[Faizal Azman]

My budget is around $350. I'm thinking of upgrading either the cpu or the graphic card.Which one you think would be better in term of performance.

 

[IntelTurtleFan]

Go to a i5.
This is a good upgrade:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($166.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($86.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $253.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-06 23:36 EDT-0400

Save the 100 dollars and go for a new graphics card when you can afford a gtx 970 or r9 280x.

If you want to spend the 100 now here is another option for overclocking the i5.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($95.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $325.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-06 23:37 EDT-0400

 

[envy14tpe]

Based on stuttering and fps drops I'd assume it is the cpu. That one is on low end and really shines as a very low budget build cpu. Adding a i5 will really get things flying for years to come.

Keep in mind, if you do spend $250 on a cpu/mobo combo then you'd have $100 left. You could then play games as you like as see if the impact is enough that you don't need to upgrade the gpu. If it isn't enough then sell off the 7870XT (which is really good) and go for a higher end gpu, like a 280x or better.