[SOLVED] Upgrade CPU or GPU? (Limited budget)

[M1haiS]

Hello, everyone.
As you can see in the title I have a budget of 250$ and I can only upgrade one component.
My specs are:
CPU: Intel i3-7350k
GPU: GTX 1050 2 GB
RAM: 8GB 2400 MHZ

I was thinking of buying a GTX 1660. Do you think it will bottleneck badly with the CPU? Should I upgrade my CPU instead? I want the best FPS improvement possible within that amount of money.

 

[Nonkii]

Hello, everyone.
As you can see in the title I have a budget of 250$ and I can only upgrade one component.
My specs are:
CPU: Intel i3-7350k
GPU: GTX 1050 2 GB
RAM: 8GB 2400 MHZ

I was thinking of buying a GTX 1660. Do you think it will bottleneck badly with the CPU? Should I upgrade my CPU instead? I want the best FPS improvement possible within that amount of money.

I would get a better cpu. Like the one I am getting (Ryzen 7 2700x) Is at a good bargain since it got discounted.

Then I suggest moving on to ram. Get 16 gb or probably more (32gb)

Then move to gpu

 

[delaro]

An i3-7350K is more capable than the 2GB 1050. Will it hold back the 1660? At some point, yes but also your 8GB of RAM will start to become an issue as well. I would suggest upgrading the GPU first and then the CPU/MB+ RAM later on when you can afford it.

And then there is the used option
i5 7600K $120
RX 580 8GB $120

You can also find combos like this

$160 shipped "Reddit/hardwareswap"
Ryzen 1600x CPU - $70 shipped
Gigabyte ab350 gaming MOBO - $60 shipped
Corsair 16gb 2400CL14 RAM - $45 shipped

A 2GB GPU is a huge problem now, most games take 3+ GB of VRAM so it's not like you don't have plenty of options open. 👍

 

[jojesa]

Hello, everyone.
As you can see in the title I have a budget of 250$ and I can only upgrade one component.
My specs are:
CPU: Intel i3-7350k
GPU: GTX 1050 2 GB
RAM: 8GB 2400 MHZ

I was thinking of buying a GTX 1660. Do you think it will bottleneck badly with the CPU? Should I upgrade my CPU instead? I want the best FPS improvement possible within that amount of money.

Upgrading your CPU and keeping that GTX 1050 won't yield any performance difference.
I would upgrade the GPU and get a bit of performance until you can upgrade the CPU.
You could get a RX 580 for $170 and save the rest to get a faster CPU.

 

[Phaaze88]

Is that 1 or 2 sticks of ram in your current setup?
If just 1, a new gpu won't change much of anything.

 

[delaro]

Is that 1 or 2 sticks of ram in your current setup?
If just 1, a new gpu won't change much of anything.

You can game on 8GB just not all the latest ones that are memory hogs, you just have to close out all unnecessary processes. Single range vs dual rank also doesn't make a huge difference in 1080p gaming, your basically gaining maybe 5fps at the most with two sticks in dual rank.

 

[M1haiS]

Is that 1 or 2 sticks of ram in your current setup?
If just 1, a new gpu won't change much of anything.

It is 2 sticks of ram