Question Upgrading from i5 4690!

[ryukcro]

Hey everyone!

So I have been thinking of upgrading my old CPU a bit which would also make me upgrade my MoBo and RAM. I am still rocking my GTX 1060 6GB, but I was reading that my i5 4690 is majorly bottlenecking my GPU by a lot.
Would just an upgrade to a i5 10600k be a decent upgrade for gaming or do you recommend another CPU for better performance? Or won't I see any performance boost because of my GTX 1060?

Thanks in advance

 

[lvt]

Not sure about gaming performance but from 4690 to 10600 is a huge upgrade.

 

[ryukcro]

Yes, the 10600k is an amazing CPU.
I am just really curious about how much better my performance would be with the i5 10600k and 1060 6gb vs my i5 4690 and 1060 6gb.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find any good comparisons online, except that my 4690 is 30% bottlenecking my GPU, which is also quite vague and no idea if that is really true.
Maybe someone else has a good estimate!

 

[Corwin65]

While it will be a huge u[date, why upgrade to such old tech?

 

[logainofhades]

I would not upgrade from one dead socket, to another. A 12400 would be a solid upgrade, and on a current platform.

 

[alceryes]

Yes, the 10600k is an amazing CPU.
I am just really curious about how much better my performance would be with the i5 10600k and 1060 6gb vs my i5 4690 and 1060 6gb.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find any good comparisons online, except that my 4690 is 30% bottlenecking my GPU, which is also quite vague and no idea if that is really true.
Maybe someone else has a good estimate!

You will very quickly hit the GPU bottleneck. See here for something around what to expect -

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kff6y2cHJnE


@logainofhades is spot on - don't upgrade to a dead socket. Intel 12th gen or the new Zen 4 (coming out in a month), at a minimum.

 

[Nighthawk117]

Hey everyone!

So I have been thinking of upgrading my old CPU a bit which would also make me upgrade my MoBo and RAM. I am still rocking my GTX 1060 6GB, but I was reading that my i5 4690 is majorly bottlenecking my GPU by a lot.
Would just an upgrade to a i5 10600k be a decent upgrade for gaming or do you recommend another CPU for better performance? Or won't I see any performance boost because of my GTX 1060?

Thanks in advance

Yes 4C/4T will bottleneck a 1060 in some games. Have you noticed any problems in the games you play?
Any reason for a 10600K as there are newer more capable CPU's available? What prices were you looking at?

 

[Nighthawk117]

I've used a 1060 with 4 cores/4 threads. It will bottleneck the 1060 in games like Battlefield 5, Ghost Recon Wildlands, Assasins Creed Odyssey ect..

 

[ryukcro]

Thanks for bringing up the point that it is indeed using a dead socket. I was not even thinking about that, but more at the fact that I have found a good deal on a used 10600 CPU with MOBO. My mindset was actually, trying to maybe find an older, but really strong CPU and save some money like that. Maybe that is a bad approach.
And thanks @logainofhades for suggesting the 12400. Will definitely look up CPUs in that range, maybe there are some good deals on used things as well!

Anyone has a suggestion on maybe some great Ryzen CPUs that I could also look into? Sorry, but I am really behind on my knowledge of CPUs...

 

[Nighthawk117]

Thanks for bringing up the point that it is indeed using a dead socket. I was not even thinking about that, but more at the fact that I have found a good deal on a used 10600 CPU with MOBO. My mindset was actually, trying to maybe find an older, but really strong CPU and save some money like that. Maybe that is a bad approach.
And thanks @logainofhades for suggesting the 12400. Will definitely look up CPUs in that range, maybe there are some good deals on used things as well!

Anyone has a suggestion on maybe some great Ryzen CPUs that I could also look into? Sorry, but I am really behind on my knowledge of CPUs...

May I ask what the price of the 10600 + mobo is? Your not really going to benefit from any more than a 10600K with a 1060, however I would give thought to the future. If you intend to get a new 40 series card at some point then a more powerful CPU wouldn't be a waste of money.

 

[ryukcro]

The price for the combo was 270 €.
Yes, I am aware that this won't be a huge performance update in games. I was thinking on buying the CPU now, and later, when I save some more money, get a new GPU, when the prices will get a bit lower again. Would you even recommend getting an older GPU, like a 1080ti in 2022?
But you got me thinking now about giving the thought to the future!

 

[Nighthawk117]

The price for the combo was 270 €.
Yes, I am aware that this won't be a huge performance update in games. I was thinking on buying the CPU now, and later, when I save some more money, get a new GPU, when the prices will get a bit lower again. Would you even recommend getting an older GPU, like a 1080ti in 2022?
But you got me thinking now about giving the thought to the future!

If it's a decent board with it then that's not bad. I would look for something newer than the 1080ti if you can but it does all depend on what price you can get one for. The 10600K will play all games available today well, but if for example you intended to get one of the latest 40 series GPU's then a more powerful CPU will last longer.

 

[itsmedatguy]

Just to chime in, if you have an exceptional deal on the 10600 vs what you can get a 12th gen or Ryzen platform for, I say go for it. While the dead platform argument is sound, I'd wager since you've been rocking a 4th gen for so long by the time you upgrade your CPU again even the 12th gen socket will be dead too and you'll be looking at a whole new platform anyway. The only thing you will be able to hold onto will be DDR5 memory if you go with a 12th gen motherboard that supports it, but even still DDR5 is quite expensive right now and I wouldn't recommend it since you're on a budget here.

Also keep in mind at 1080p resolution your CPU will play a larger role in how high your frames go. If you go with a 10600 now, next time you want to spend your money on your PC you can upgrade the GPU and get yourself a 1440p or 4K monitor, which will sort of shift the bottleneck further in favor of your GPU, which is what you want.

 

[punkncat]

This thread made me wax a bit nostalgic. I utilized a 4690 for many years and one of the more meaningful items I used with it for gaming was a 960. That system was solid for a long time for 1080/60 at medium settings. IDK how it holds up at this point.
I gifted that system to my son to have a PC for use with school and casual gaming along with a GTX 970 and it still does a pretty decent job considering the x900 resolution screen I had available to give him with it.

4th gen CPU were such good performers for a long time.

 

[ryukcro]

Thanks everyone! I really didn't think that this thread would get so many responses.
I am still rocking the 4th gen I5 with my GTX 1060 and to be honest it is still a pretty solid system, but it is getting weaker by the day. Still playing my Witcher 3 on almost ultra settings with solid 60 FPS and now playing A Plague Tale: Innocence at medium/high with 50-60 fps. Really surprised on how the 4th gen CPU performs after a bit more than 8 years.

@itsmedatguy, your reply is actually the description of my thought process while thinking to upgrade my PC. Buy something, even older (like 10th gen), that is strong and reliable, like the 4690, but still won't break my bank and will be good for years. Same goes for GPUs. Before I bought this 1060 a couple of years ago, I was rocking proudly my R9 270x for 8 years, until it started making artifacts and became an artifact of itself! I guess deep down, I find it even charming to see older tech perform really well at the present date.

 

[itsmedatguy]

@itsmedatguy, your reply is actually the description of my thought process while thinking to upgrade my PC. Buy something, even older (like 10th gen), that is strong and reliable, like the 4690, but still won't break my bank and will be good for years. Same goes for GPUs. Before I bought this 1060 a couple of years ago, I was rocking proudly my R9 270x for 8 years, until it started making artifacts and became an artifact of itself! I guess deep down, I find it even charming to see older tech perform really well at the present date.

I just saw a deal floating around on Reddit at Micro Center, i7-11700k + Z590-A motherboard for $200 total. Absolutely bonkers deal, I've got 3 Micro Centers near me though and unfortunately none of them seem to be offering this deal. If you've got one near you though it's worth looking around for that!

EDIT: Scratch that I called my Micro Center local to me and they are offering this deal! They're just not advertising it. Such a crazy deal that I'm going to go buy it just for the hell of it. I guess my server is getting a big upgrade from a 4790k

 

[ryukcro]

I just saw a deal floating around on Reddit at Micro Center, i7-11700k + Z590-A motherboard for $200 total. Absolutely bonkers deal, I've got 3 Micro Centers near me though and unfortunately none of them seem to be offering this deal. If you've got one near you though it's worth looking around for that!

EDIT: Scratch that I called my Micro Center local to me and they are offering this deal! They're just not advertising it. Such a crazy deal that I'm going to go buy it just for the hell of it. I guess my server is getting a big upgrade from a 4790k

Oh daaamn, that sounds amazing!
Unfortunately, I am in Germany. Will have to look at some adverts and used one I guess!