What should I upgrade first?

[harismasood1234]

Hey guys i'm new to Pc gaming, and i bought a cheap rig not too long ago, i'm planning to upgrade some components soon, what should i upgrade first, here are my specs.
Evga Gtx 660 2GB
Intel Core I3 3220 @3.30GHz
8GB Ram
120GB SSD
2TB HDD

 

[jojesa]

I would suggest you save your money and build a PC with up to date components.
If you upgrade the GPU, your CPU will hold you back and vice-versa.
If you still want to upgrade then go for the GTX 1060 and Core i5-3570 or Core i7-3770.
Which motherboard do you have?

 

[why_wolf]

Well an upgrade to a current CPU/Chipset is always best. But if you are sticking with the generation you have there and you have to upgrade one part at a time. I'd say do the CPU first and go for an i7 and then do the GPU.

Check your motherboard spec page first to make sure what CPUs it can handle. This is extra important if this is a prebuild from HP or Dell as they sometimes don't bother providing support for all CPUs on their motherboards.

 

[harismasood1234]

I would suggest you save your money and build a PC with up to date components.
If you upgrade the GPU, your CPU will hold you back and vice-versa.
If you still want to upgrade then go for the GTX 1060 and Core i5-3570 or Core i7-3770.
Which motherboard do you have?

the motherboard i have is the asus p8h61-mx r2.0, how big of a difference is there between the i7 and i5, and is it worth getting the k version for overclocking?

 

[spdragoo]

Hey guys i'm new to Pc gaming, and i bought a cheap rig not too long ago, i'm planning to upgrade some components soon, what should i upgrade first, here are my specs.
Evga Gtx 660 2GB
Intel Core I3 3220 @3.30GHz
8GB Ram
120GB SSD
2TB HDD

Well, in many ways, your system is OK. Although the SSD might be a bit on the small side, as long as you limit it to Windows & your most-used applications, I would move everything else (My Documents/Music/Pictures/Downloads, less-used apps, etc.) to your HDD as much as possible to help maintain free space on the SSD. RAM-wise, you're probably OK for now, but if your motherboard can handle it I would consider upgrading to 16GB of DDR3 RAM.

GPU-wise, it depends on the games you're playing & what resolution/refresh rate you want to play at. Based on the hierarchy, moving up to a GTX 1060 or RX 480/580 (a 3-tier improvement) would be perfect for 1080p or lower gaming, & won't be held too much back (again, depending on the game) by your current CPU.

CPU-wise, your i3 isn't too bad on the hierarchy...but you could still make a 2-tier jump & move up to a 1st-tier CPU (note that a lot of Ivy Bridge Core i5 & i7 CPUs are there) -- for example, a Core i5-3570/3570K would be an OK choice, or a Core i7-3770/3770K would be a great upgrade.

The only question is what motherboard you have, as that will a) determine which CPU you can upgrade to, & b) whether it's worth it to get an unlocked "K" CPU for the chance to overclock.

 

[spdragoo]

I would suggest you save your money and build a PC with up to date components.
If you upgrade the GPU, your CPU will hold you back and vice-versa.
If you still want to upgrade then go for the GTX 1060 and Core i5-3570 or Core i7-3770.
Which motherboard do you have?

the motherboard i have is the asus p8h61-mx r2.0, how big of a difference is there between the i7 and i5, and is it worth getting the k version for overclocking?

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P8H61MX_R20/HelpDesk_CPU/

Your current i3-3220 is a 2 core/4 thread CPU (2C/4T). The i5 is a 4C/4T CPU, while the i7 is a 4C/8T CPU: for the same core speed, i5 offers about 30%-50% more performance over the i3, with the i7 usually providing a similar boost (depending on task).

In your case, your BIOS supports the i5-3570 & i7-3770, both of which would noticeably improve your performance.

 

[why_wolf]

I would suggest you save your money and build a PC with up to date components.
If you upgrade the GPU, your CPU will hold you back and vice-versa.
If you still want to upgrade then go for the GTX 1060 and Core i5-3570 or Core i7-3770.
Which motherboard do you have?

the motherboard i have is the asus p8h61-mx r2.0, how big of a difference is there between the i7 and i5, and is it worth getting the k version for overclocking?

It can certainly run the i7-3770k however since this isn't a Z-series board that means you can't overclock it. Which is kind of the point with the K series CPUs. However if you see a K series for the same price as a normal i7-3770 might as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Bridge_(microarchitecture)