Upgrade advice for my PC

[spencerlee2742]

I am looking to improve my gaming experience.
Specs:
Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.6 Ghz
16 gb RAM
GTX 1060 6gb
60hz 1080p monitor

I am thinking about upgrading either my processor to a Ryzen 5 1600 (will oc) since the Ryzen 3 is a more budget-oriented chip, or my monitor to a 144hz 1080p monitor, so i can play at higher frames in first person shooters. Can I reach 100 fps even with a lower-end chip like ryzen 3, or should I upgrade my processor and then my monitor?

Thanks.

 

[yeti_yeti]

I would upgrade the processor to a ryzen 5. 1600 seems like a good choice to me, since with a minor overclock it can reach 1600x levels of performance, which is considered to be the best ryzen cpu for gaming. What motherboard do you have? If it is a low end b350, overclocking a 6-core cpu isn't the best idea. Good luck!

 

[Barty1884]

It's really depend on the title(s) in question. Unless your titles will benefit from additional cores/threads, the "upgrade" to a 1600 isn't likely going to result in any gains remotely proportionate to the cost.

I'd initially start overclocking the R3 1200. You should be able to hit 3.9GHz or so

What RAM speed do you have? There's substantial gains to be had with RAM in the 3000-3200MHz range (vs 2133/2400MHz etc).


What titles do you play specifically? While a 1060 can certainly do >100Hz on a lot of titles (provided you tweak settings, of course)..... I wouldn't look to that "upgrade" initially.

 

[spencerlee2742]

I would upgrade the processor to a ryzen 5. 1600 seems like a good choice to me, since with a minor overclock it can reach 1600x levels of performance, which is considered to be the best ryzen cpu for gaming. What motherboard do you have? If it is a low end b350, overclocking a 6-core cpu isn't the best idea. Good luck!

 

[spencerlee2742]

I have the MSI B350M gaming pro. It's alright for overclocking the Ryzen 3 so it's not too bad. Thank you!

 

[yeti_yeti]

I have the MSI B350M gaming pro. It's alright for overclocking the Ryzen 3 so it's not too bad. Thank you!

You said that you wanted to improve your gaming experience, do you have any problems running games with your current rig?

 

[cryoburner]

If you consider upgrading the processor, you should keep in mind that AMD will be launching new processors next month. The Ryzen 2600 should be at least a bit faster than the 1600, though the exact specifics of how it will perform are still unknown, and it's difficult to say exactly how the pricing will compare. Of course, the 1200 should perform reasonably well in most games as well.

And frame rate will largely depend on the game, and your settings. Some games put more load on the processor, while others will be limited more by the graphics card. A game like CSGO might get a couple hundred fps even on a modest CPU, while certain demanding games might not be able to get much over 100fps even on the highest-end CPUs available.