What should I uprgade first CPU or GPU

[VikingSOS]

Hi, I am currently using AMD A6 5400K, Radeon HD 5450 and 4GB of DDR3 RAM.

I am planning on upgrading to Radeon 6970 and Athlon X4 860K

 

[Peasant]

I'd upgrade my CPU first, considering the choices you gave me. But the number one to me is the 4 GB RAM you got. Get some 8 GB RAM.

 

[RazerZ]

Just know the 860k has no integrated graphics and requires a FM2+ motherboard.

 

[VikingSOS]

Just know the 860k has no integrated graphics and requires a FM2+ motherboard.

I have a fm2 motherboard.

 

[RazerZ]

It won't work then. Your best bet would be an Athlon X4 750k or 760k and you would need a dedicated graphics card.

 

[VikingSOS]

It won't work then. Your best bet would be an Athlon X4 750k or 760k and you would need a dedicated graphics card.

So in your opinion what should I upgrade first?

 

[RazerZ]

What is your reason for upgrading?

 

[VikingSOS]

What is your reason for upgrading?

Many games have low fps like DayZ (very low settings) , Minecraft with about 30 mods (very low settings) , Skyrim with a few mods, Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, video editing and recording gameplay.

 

[RazerZ]

Then your best bet would be upgrading to a Athlon X4 750k/760k along with a decent graphics card. It would cost around $70 for the CPU and $100 for a used 7870.

 

[VikingSOS]

Then your best bet would be upgrading to a Athlon X4 750k/760k along with a decent graphics card. It would cost around $70 for the CPU and $100 for a used 7870.

I cannot afford buying it both at the same time.

 

[RazerZ]

I suggest to save until you can afford both items for the upgrade. You won't be happy with either a CPU or GPU upgrade alone. Trust me, I had the A6 5400k before.

If you don't want to wait you could upgrade to a A8 6600k and use the integrated graphics for the time being. It costs around $80.

Also the A6's integrated graphics should be more powerful than the 5450, so I would go ahead and remove the 5450 and see if your games become more playable. Also make sure to use DDU to cleanly uninstall any left over drivers before installing the drivers for the A6.

 

[VikingSOS]

I suggest to save until you can afford both items for the upgrade. You won't be happy with either a CPU or GPU upgrade alone. Trust me, I had the A6 5400k before.

If you don't want to wait you could upgrade to a A8 6600k and use the integrated graphics for the time being. It costs around $80.

Also the A6's integrated graphics should be more powerful than the 5450, so I would go ahead and remove the 5450 and see if your games become more playable. Also make sure to use DDU to cleanly uninstall any left over drivers before installing the drivers for the A6.

Thanks for the suggestion, but why wouldn't I be happy to buy the graphics card first or the cpu

 

[RazerZ]

If you buy the CPU you'll have to use the 5450 which is worse than the A6's integrated graphics and is not meant for gaming at all. Your gaming experience would still be miserable.

If you went with the GPU upgrade you would be able to run games at higher settings, however in CPU demanding games such as the ones you listed you will run into low frame rates and stuttering issues because the A6 won't be able to keep up with the graphics card and it will be a bottleneck.

 

[VikingSOS]

If you buy the CPU you'll have to use the 5450 which is worse than the A6's integrated graphics and is not meant for gaming at all. Your gaming experience would still be miserable.

If you went with the GPU upgrade you would be able to run games at higher settings, however in CPU demanding games such as the ones you listed you will run into low frame rates and stuttering issues because the A6 won't be able to keep up with the graphics card and it will be a bottleneck.

What if I upgrade my RAM to 8GB first?

 

[RazerZ]

It will barely have an effect on gaming as long as you don't multi task.

 

[Woody1999]

You should ditch the 5450 (I just sold my old one, horrible card) and just upgrade to an A10-6800K. It has better onboard graphics than what you have as dedicated right now, plus it is definitely capable of using higher end graphics cards in the future. It goes for about £90 nowadays.

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-ad680kwohlbox

Woody

 

[RazerZ]

In the US there's a $35 difference between the A10 6800k over the A8 6600k and the performance gain in this case won't be worth the extra price.

 

[VikingSOS]

It will barely have an effect on gaming as long as you don't multi task.

In the US there's a $35 difference between the A10 6800k over the A8 6600k and the performance gain in this case won't be worth the extra price.

So if I ditch the 5450 and buy an A10 6800k (I have enough money for that) would be that a wise choice?

 

[RazerZ]

No, ditch it for an A8 6600k, money much better spent.

 

[VikingSOS]

No, ditch it for an A8 6600k, money much better spent.

Does it come with a fan?

 

[Woody1999]

No, ditch it for an A8 6600k, money much better spent.

Does it come with a fan?

All normal consumer processors come packed with a cooler, normally of poor quality. They do the job just fine, but are loud and won't support any decent overclocking. A super cheap, quiet cooler that allows a bit of overclocking would be the Arctic Cooling Alpine 11 Pro Rev. 2, only $10 and is deadly silent.

Woody

 

[VikingSOS]

No, ditch it for an A8 6600k, money much better spent.

Does it come with a fan?

All normal consumer processors come packed with a cooler, normally of poor quality. They do the job just fine, but are loud and won't support any decent overclocking. A super cheap, quiet cooler that allows a bit of overclocking would be the Arctic Cooling Alpine 11 Pro Rev. 2, only $10 and is deadly silent.

Woody

How do I overclock? Is there a program that I should use when I get it?
Also it says it only supports intel cpu's

 

[Woody1999]

Also, Razer is right. I didn't notice the A8-6600K having the same good integrated graphics as the A10-6800K, and it's considerably cheaper, allowing you to get a good graphics card sooner. Or, you could get some more RAM in the future because the integrated graphics uses system RAM rather than dedicated VRAM. This Kingston Fury 4GB stick is only £27 right now. https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-hx316c10f4

Woody

 

[VikingSOS]

Also, Razer is right. I didn't notice the A8-6600K having the same good integrated graphics as the A10-6800K, and it's considerably cheaper, allowing you to get a good graphics card sooner. Or, you could get some more RAM in the future because the integrated graphics uses system RAM rather than dedicated VRAM. This Kingston Fury 4GB stick is only £27 right now. https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-hx316c10f4

Woody

The fan supports intel only cpus

 

[RazerZ]

If you need a cooler on the cheap:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $19.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-14 12:59 EST-0500