[SOLVED] What is in my case better to upgrade: my CPU, GPU or monitor?

[Leander00]

CPU: Intel Core i5 4570 @ 3.20GHz
GPU; NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760
Monitor: PHL 243V5 (1920x1080@60Hz)
PC: Medion Akoya P5370 D (https://aldi.medion.com/md8874/nl/?refPage=aldi#grafik_anker)

I was thinking about buying a 144hz monitor because i game alot(fortnite), but idk whether my PC can take it...

Can anyone enlighten me? I am not that great with PC's

 

[the-GURU-man]

With this GPU, buying a better monitor is kinda waste of money.
Upgrade your GPU first.
Something like GTX 1650 is great for eSports games and Fortnite, and will run all modern games nicely in 1080p resolution.

 

[Leander00]

Thnx for the fast response! Which GTX 1650 do you advise?

And btw, i heard the difference between 60 / 144hz is like night and day. Is that true?
I think i am going to buy something for max 500 Euro.

Is it the best to buy a better GPU AND a cheap 144hz monitor? For example this one: https://www.amazon.com/Acer-XFA240-bmjdpr-Compatible-Response/dp/B06ZYHZ6R6?tag=monitorfan-20

 

[Rodrigodrt]

That gpu is weak, so a better one if you want better games FPS, the cpu will improve the FPS AND overall performance, but the impact on FPS are on a much lower scale, so i say gpu is playing is what you want.

60 to 144hz has a clear difference to trained eyes, but its not like, say, 30 to 60, which is insane difference. The faster the gameplay is, the bigger is the noticeability, but 144hz is recommended for other reasons too, like helping with screen tearing, and tiring your eyes less, ofc your gpu has to be able to deliver

also, quality wise on monitors depends on the screen type, sharpness adjustmenets, colors, brightness ratio... you dont need the asus rog strix mega trump 16k mega super duper monitor to enjoy great visuals, but dont go for the xingling tech 144hz monitor also.

ah and that monitor is good, the 1ms response allied with 144hz will do the trick, i'd get it.

 

[the-GURU-man]

Depends on how much you want to spend, but they are mostly charging extra for RGB and stuff. The performance should be mostly the same across the board - but get some OC version.
If you are aiming at 1440p gaming, maybe jump a tier higher - RTX 2060 Super, or one of the new AMD Navi cards.
If you have 500 EUR, you should be able to get a solid card and a solid 1440p monitor. Maybe not with fastest refresh rates, but we are aiming at 60fps here, right?
Just make sure, if you go with AMD card to get Freesync monitor, and with Nvidia card you may want to get G-Sync monitor.

 

[captaincharisma]

its all out of date but i agree that the GPU should be the first upgrade. a modern GPU like the 1650 may have a bottleneck because of your CPU but no much to worry about

a CPU upgrade would be the most costly since to get any improvement you would have to upgrade to an 8th or 9th gen intel CPU or AMD ryzen which requires a new motherboard and ram (possibly PSU too) to go with the CPU

 

[Leander00]

Thnx Rodrigodrt,

Then i'll buy that monitor so that problem is solved.

captaincharisma Yeah one of the few things i realised was that it is pretty outdated ^^

Then the part about the GPU. Which GPU do you guys advise? And how do I know that it fits in my PC / that the PC can handle it?

 

[captaincharisma]

Thnx Rodrigodrt,

Then i'll buy that monitor so that problem is solved.

captaincharisma Yeah one of the few things i realised was that it is pretty outdated ^^

Then the part about the GPU. Which GPU do you guys advise? And how do I know that it fits in my PC / that the PC can handle it?

what is the make and model of your motherboard? if you have a motherboard that only has legacy BIOS then any modern NVIDIA GPU's may not work with it because they require a computer with the newer UEFI BIOS

 

[Leander00]

Depends on how much you want to spend, but they are mostly charging extra for RGB and stuff. The performance should be mostly the same across the board - but get some OC version.
If you are aiming at 1440p gaming, maybe jump a tier higher - RTX 2060 Super, or one of the new AMD Navi cards.
If you have 500 EUR, you should be able to get a solid card and a solid 1440p monitor. Maybe not with fastest refresh rates, but we are aiming at 60fps here, right?
Just make sure, if you go with AMD card to get Freesync monitor, and with Nvidia card you may want to get G-Sync monitor.

Ehhm my aim was to be able to get higher then 60FPS actually... Idk if it is possible to get 144hz. Thnx for the tip about G-sync and F-Sync.

I think i'll just stay with 1080p.

 

[Leander00]

This is what Speccy says:

Operating System:
Windows 10 Home 64-bit

CPU:
Intel Core i5 4570 @ 3.20GHz 54 °C
Haswell 22nm Technology

RAM:
16,0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 798MHz (11-11-11-28)

Motherboard:
MEDION MS-7848 (SOCKET 0) 118 °C

Graphics:
PHL 243V5 (1920x1080@60Hz)
1535MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 (192-bit) (MSI) 72 °C

Storage:
119GB TOSHIBA THNSNH128GCST (SATA (SSD)) 31 °C
931GB Seagate ST1000DM003-1CH162 (SATA ) 32 °C

Optical Drives:
TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-216DB


The only thing that i did undestand was the part about that my BIOS might be outdated?

 

[the-GURU-man]

Thnx Rodrigodrt,

Then i'll buy that monitor so that problem is solved.

captaincharisma Yeah one of the few things i realised was that it is pretty outdated ^^

Then the part about the GPU. Which GPU do you guys advise? And how do I know that it fits in my PC / that the PC can handle it?

GTX 1650 should be able to run on any PC, as it doesn't require additional power - can be fully powered through PCIe slot. Some manufacturers are overclocking the cards and adding RGB and some funky features - and therefore add the requirement of extra power cable. Look at the pictures and if there is no power connector on top of the card, you're solid with just PCIe slot powering the card.

The downside is that this card is amazing for 60fps 1080p gaming, but you'd have to make sacrifices to gain better framerates, especially on higher resolution.

The thing about BIOS. I can see you have an Aldi computer. So the motherboard is not something we can researh easily online. I'd say restart the computer and go into BIOS. How does it look? Like blue-and-white DOS interface? Or do you have a graphic interface, and can you use a mouse to navigate it? You want the latter.

 

[Leander00]

Whoops. Just restarded but it looks like i have the "blue-and-white" one... What are the consequences?

The downside is that this card is amazing for 60fps 1080p gaming, but you'd have to make sacrifices to gain better framerates, especially on higher resolution.

Mmm I thought that maybe with a better driver I would be able to get full 144FPS. In fortnite, i have around 100-150 FPS durings games (ofc it only uses 60 ). What is the sacrifice if you want 144 FPS on 1080 resolution?

 

[the-GURU-man]

Sacrifices in graphics quality.
Of course, Fortnite isn't really that demanding. But other games, you either play on High / Ultra settings, or you get lower and get better framerate.

 

[Leander00]

About the BIOS, so i can not buy a Nvidia? Is a AMD still possible(dont know the difference)?

So when i buy this monitor (Acer XFA240): https://www.amazon.com/Acer-XFA240-bmjdpr-Compatible-Response/dp/B06ZYHZ6R6?tag=monitorfan-20

And this Graphic card (MSI Gaming Radeon RX 570): https://www.amazon.com/MSI-Radeon-RX-570-ARMOR/dp/B076Y93L8F/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

I should be good?

Thnx in advance!

 

[threepeak]

About the BIOS, so i can not buy a Nvidia? Is a AMD still possible(dont know the difference)?

So when i buy this monitor (Acer XFA240): https://www.amazon.com/Acer-XFA240-bmjdpr-Compatible-Response/dp/B06ZYHZ6R6?tag=monitorfan-20

And this Graphic card (MSI Gaming Radeon RX 570): https://www.amazon.com/MSI-Radeon-RX-570-ARMOR/dp/B076Y93L8F/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

I should be good?

Thnx in advance!

I have a suggestion for you since you have a very specific target in terms of performance you want to hit and especially the game. Go to game-debate.com. There, you can enter the specifics like your cpu, gpu, ram etc... and the game you are playing, and it can tell you the estimated performance you will be able to hit based on benchmarks and others with a similar configuration on that specific game. You can then tinker with swapping out different GPU's, CPU's etc... to see what the estimated result would be. Seeing as the framerates and performance you can get from game to game are significantly different based on their design.

On a side note, unless I am misreading, why do you think you can't use NVIDIA because of your BIOS? NVIDIA and AMD are just brands of cards. You can use either one without restrictions usually in your pc. Don't concern yourself about that. What they may have been referencing, was the monitor refresh rate sync technology in some monitors that avoids image ripping when the refresh rate doesn't match what the output from the pc is. You don't even need that feature at all. It's a nice feature, but not necessary .

 

[Leander00]

Thnx for the tip, never heard about it.

According to game-debate, i should have around 73 FPS with this GPU. However, in game i reach 100-130....
So i dont know whether it has that good accuracy.

On a side note, unless I am misreading, why do you think you can't use NVIDIA because of your BIOS? NVIDIA and AMD are just brands of cards. You can use either one without restrictions usually in your pc. Don't concern yourself about that. What they may have been referencing, was the monitor refresh rate sync technology in some monitors that avoids image ripping when the refresh rate doesn't match what the output from the pc is. You don't even need that feature at all. It's a nice feature, but not necessary .

Thats great! The problem is i dont know which GPU to buy...

 

[King_V]

I absolutely, positively would NOT recommend the GTX 1650.

The RX 570 is the same price or often cheaper (in the US, not sure of your location) and outperforms it.


That said, do you really feel the need to play at up to 144fps? Would you be happy with a steady 60 fps average? Even at 1920x1080, if you're trying to hit 144fps, you will need a more powerful (and expensive) graphics card that either the GTX 1650 or the RX 570.

Now, if the monitor, say, has FreeSync, and runs up to 144Hz, but you're not paying much more than you would for a monitor with a lower maximum, then that's fine.

My son's monitor has a 50-144Hz FreeSync range, though with Low Framerate Compensation, the effective minimum for FreeSync goes down to 25.

His video card is an AMD card and cannot run his games up to that high rate, but, we bought it for the size, resolution, and display quality. He sets AMD Chill to run from 30-60 fps. We put the cap because there's no real reason to run the video card at its maximum limit when the games will play smoothly at 60fps.


Ultimately, though, you'll have to figure out what your goal is, in terms of gaming performance. And, the monitor and GPU decisions are going to be related to each other. Change one, and the other one likely has to change as well.

 

[threepeak]

Thnx for the tip, never heard about it.

According to game-debate, i should have around 73 FPS with this GPU. However, in game i reach 100-130....
So i dont know whether it has that good accuracy.



Thats great! The problem is i dont know which GPU to buy...

The Game debate site isn't based on subjective guesses. It takes benchmarks from similar or same builds, and reports the average. It is factoring in 3 main things, cpu, gpu, ram. It can't factor in everything like overclocking, cooling, motherboard, what version of windows your running, how much stuff is runnign in the background, how many resources are they using etc...It's a good way to get a rough idea. The idea being, you are receiving all these recommendations from people for types, and you are asking "what about this gpu?". Take that information and punch it into the site tool and see what effect it has roughly. I do have to agree with the KING_V post below your reply. The issue becomes that of diminishing returns. The price difference in the hardware investment needed goes up steeply for less and less extra performance. So the difference between getting your 120 vs 144 may require a significant upgrade, and you have to ask yourself if you think that little extra bit will be worth it. If cost is no matter, then by all means, fire away. As I said in my post to you, why do you think you can't use NVIDIA because of your BIOS? You can use either one without concern about your bios. Let me tinker with some different GPU's with your config and see what comes back

 

[Leander00]

Sorry for the late reaction.

Thnx for the reaction King_V.

"Would you be happy with a steady 60 fps average? Even at 1920x1080, if you're trying to hit 144fps, you will need a more powerful (and expensive) graphics card that either the GTX 1650 or the RX 570. "

At this moment I run some games smoothly at 60 FPS, so i thought my next step is to go from 60 to 144 FPS. I asked a friend what he thought about it, and he said that if i bought a better GPU for lets say 200 euro i could get 144 FPS as long as i play on 1920 / 1080.

threepeak Yeah i said that wrong. It is indeed based on benchmarks and you cant give all input, so its never sure.

I checked Game Debate again today, and according to Game Debate, the RX570 with 8GB, looks like good enough to me to run 144 FPS smoothly, but i can be mistaken.

"The idea being, you are receiving all these recommendations from people for types, and you are asking "what about this gpu?". Take that information and punch it into the site tool and see what effect it has roughly."

I know, and i do something with all the recommendations. Tomorrow when i have more time i will fill them all in and check which GPU fits best to me

I came by this GPU today: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01KHWOAR4/ref=nav_custrec_signin?th=1

Is that a good option? Not to know anything better, just interested


"As I said in my post to you, why do you think you can't use NVIDIA because of your BIOS? You can use either one without concern about your bios."

I misinterpreted that. I thought that the BIOS would give problems only with NVIDIA, but it's not really a big problem and it is not specific to NVIDIA as i understand.

Thnx for all the input again.

 

[King_V]

For most modern games, the RX 570 will likely do med-high settings at 1920x1080 at around 60fps. 144fps is the realm of something like a GTX 1080, RTX 2070, or thereabouts.

The video card you linked to is the 3GB version of the 1060. The 4GB version of the 570 would perform about the same, or slightly better, as the 3GB VRAM will cause performance issues in some games. It's too expensive for the performance it offers.

Also, the 1060 is too expensive. Here's the price list, Germany, of the RX 570 and RX580, both 4 and 8GB models. Even a lot of 8GB RX 580 models are less expensive than that 3GB 1060, and will handily outperform it.

Whether you go with the 570 or 580, I would strongly recommend the 8GB version of either card.

https://de.pcpartpicker.com/products/video-card/#c=392,391&sort=price


And this is the same list, but filtered for the 8GB cards only:
https://de.pcpartpicker.com/products/video-card/#c=392,391&sort=price&P=8589934592,51539607552

A lot of the RX 570s are in the under € 180 range.

The Sapphire Nitro+ is, from what I know, a particularly good model for either the RX 570 or RX580.

If you want to keep the pricing/budget to a minimum, I've been happy with the PowerColor AXRX (RX580 8GB).