Vram vs CPU vs SSD?

[tristan.barefoot]

I am looking at a computer to buy as my previous computer's gpu died. Hp offered to give me an 800 dollar voucher to purchase the new pc, which is the same as my last, with a slight cpu upgrade (i5 7400 to an i5 8400). I have about 100 dollars extra for any slight upgrades before I buy the pc. Upgrading to an i7 8600 is 150, upgrading from a 1060 3gb to a 1060 6gb is 100 dollars, and a 516 GB nvme ssd is 150 dollars. What should I choose?

 

[profoundnoah]

It really depends. What are you doing with the PC? Are you gaming, streaming, or? Also, did you mean the i7 8700, or the i5 8600? Typos can make quite the difference. Generally, I'd advise the GPU upgrade, as the 1060 6 GB upgrade isn't JUST a matter of VRAM: https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/2604-gtx-1060-3gb-vs-6gb-benchmark-review?showall=1

 

[Greeko85]

Well I'd personally go for the 6gb 1060. It is a great card and when you pair it with an i5 8400 you will have a solid gaming rig.

 

[tristan.barefoot]

I5 8400 vs i7 8700

 

[tristan.barefoot]

I would use it for heavy gaming and medium recording / streaming. I want to start a yr and twitch channel. I have a 75hz 27inch monitor and 2 23inch monitors, if that changes anything

 

[profoundnoah]

If your focus is gaming more than streaming/recording, then I'd recommend the 1060 6GB upgrade. No point in having such a strong CPU when you'd be bottlenecked by your GPU. The 8400 is a fantastic processor for gaming, though I'm uninformed as far as streaming performance is concerned.

 

[cryoburner]

The move from an i5-7400 to an i5-8400 is actually a pretty decent upgrade in itself, since Intel added extra cores this generation. Not only is the 8400 a six-core processor rather than a quad-core like the 7400, but it also has notably higher boost clocks. The 8400 can boost up to 4GHz on a single core, 3.9GHz on 4 cores, and 3.8GHz on all 6 cores. The 7400, on the other hand, only boosts up to 3.5GHz on a single core, 3.4GHz on 2 cores, and 3.3GHz on 4 cores. As a result, overall performance of the i5-8400 tends to be slightly better than even the i7-7700 (non-k).

 

[tristan.barefoot]

So running 3 monitors has no issues with the 6gb card if I'm running, say, csgo or pubg, with obs and the twitch chat/discord open?

 

[tristan.barefoot]

Here is a product page to the pc I'm purchasing with all the config options. I'm buying the 400w psu jsyk. Also, does optane work as a boot drive?

 

[geofelt]

HP did you a favor.
I5-7400 to I5-8400 is a massive upgrade.
I5-8600 past that not so much. I would pass on that option.

The upgrade from a GTX1060-3gb to GTX1060-6gb is more than the vram increase.
The 6gb variant has more cuda cores. A good deal for a gamer.

If the pc comes with a 500gb sata drive, then paying $150 extra for a pcie nvme drive is not that great of a deal.
OTOH, If there is no ssd already, $150 for 500gb is a roaring steal.

If you have the budget, go ahead and do all three.
If you don't , you will forever wonder if you should have.

 

[tristan.barefoot]

Thank you for all your guys' help. I am going to go with a 1060 6gb and the 500 gb nvme drive. Once again, thanks for your help on this thread!

 

[geofelt]

I do not see the product page.
Optane, as it stands today is too small to be a reasonable windows boot drive.
It can be effectively used as a cache to enhance the performance of a hard drive.
But, that cache benefit is not nearly as good as using a ssd for everything.

On the triple monitor, gaming will not be impacted.
The side monitors will have relatively static images which puts little extra load on the graphics card.