[SOLVED] Upgrade cpu or gpu?

Jul 5, 2019
6
1
15
So I THINK I fell into a trap. In a pc magazine, i think it was maximum pc oct. 2018 issue, they had a $500 budget pc building guide and I followed it to a tee and bought all the parts knowing all I wanted to do was mainly play RTS's and MMO's. But within that pc build was a non-overclockable compatible motherboard(B360M D3H). It supports coffee lake cpu's as far as I know.

The thing is, i'm now thinking about upgrading a part in the rig and I don't know which one would benefit me more. Here are my current specs:

intel pentium gold G5600 3.9GHz 2 cores(4 threads)
Nvidia GTX1050(non-ti version)
8GB DDR4 ram
Windows 10 64-bit
B360M D3H motherboard


Any help with deciding what to do would help alot. Also, if upgrading my cpu is the best option, do I upgrade it to a non-k intel cpu that goes with the current mobo or do I buy a K series cpu for the sake of higher base clock frequencies and futureproofing for possible future overclocking?
 
Last edited:
Solution
start the games and check cpu/gpu load in task manager.
1050 TI can do a lot so I suppose cpu will be 100%.
if so, grab anything i5 8400/i7 8600 or k versions.
they will work you just would not be able to OVERCLOCK above predefined 4.70 GHz (people can usually get 5.0 which end up in ~5% boost)
go for whatever have best deal right now.
for GPU I suggest going 2up at minimum so 1080 OR 2060, best to wait for amd to realase their thing, more "deals" should appear then.
Wont be overclocking cpus on your motherboard, will need a z series for that.

Look toward an i5 8500/8600. Turbo speeds between non k and k of the same model is around 6% in performance. If want bit more longevity then probably an i7 8700 but either 8500 or 8600 will spank your current cpu.

Graphics card id go at least a 1060 (good deal difference vs 1050) or 1660Ti or 2060.

8GB should still be enough in those types of games but id consider another 8GB to be comfortable.
 
  • Like
Reactions: th0r
So that 8700 cpu is the i7-8700 correct? I think i'll upgrade to that then. As for the gpu, should I hold out for the 2060 super when it releases on July 9th?

Yeah i7 8700. And good idea to wait for 2060 super. Even though 1050 is entry level, the i7 should give a decent notable boost in performance. See what you reckon.

Just a slight caution, upgrading to a higher core cpu may cause Windows to only show half the cores as it sometimes does when people upgrade on existing OS installs. If this happens to you check msconfig > boot and if Windows has checked the number of processors box, just uncheck it and restart. Im not sure why Windows does that, i can only imagine its to make sure Windows boots successfully after a cpu upgrade.
 
  • Like
Reactions: th0r
$300-400 for cpu and $300-400 for gpu. Will probably get the cpu first as boju was suggesting. Then I will probably wait a month or two and then get the gpu.
 
start the games and check cpu/gpu load in task manager.
1050 TI can do a lot so I suppose cpu will be 100%.
if so, grab anything i5 8400/i7 8600 or k versions.
they will work you just would not be able to OVERCLOCK above predefined 4.70 GHz (people can usually get 5.0 which end up in ~5% boost)
go for whatever have best deal right now.
for GPU I suggest going 2up at minimum so 1080 OR 2060, best to wait for amd to realase their thing, more "deals" should appear then.
 
Solution