Question What to Upgrade?

[Wedod2]

I bought my PC prebuilt (a local service bought and assembled custom parts) many years ago.
As far as I can tell, my components are:
-CPU: Intel i7-2600K
-Memory: 16GB
-GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 1060 6GB
-Motherboard: unknown
-Power Supply: unknown

I am interested in upgrading, as I have hit a wall with some newer games. I assume the GPU is the most critical component in this.
What GPU is the best choice, balancing cost with quality? What - if any - other parts should I consider upgrading?

 

[lojikal]

I bought my PC prebuilt (a local service bought and assembled custom parts) many years ago.
As far as I can tell, my components are:
-CPU: Intel i7-2600K
-Memory: 16GB
-GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 1060 6GB
-Motherboard: unknown
-Power Supply: unknown

I am interested in upgrading, as I have hit a wall with some newer games. I assume the GPU is the most critical component in this.
What GPU is the best choice, balancing cost with quality? What - if any - other parts should I consider upgrading?

Hi. What exactly is the issue you're having with the newer games?

 

[SkyNetRising]

-Motherboard: unknown
-Power Supply: unknown

I am interested in upgrading, as I have hit a wall with some newer games. I assume the GPU is the most critical component in this.
What GPU is the best choice, balancing cost with quality? What - if any - other parts should I consider upgrading?

Please find motherboard model name. You can get it with CPU-Z - motherboard section.
Please find PSU model name. Read model info on label printed on PSU or show photo of the label
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

Those are important parts.
PSU will limit your upgrade options. It may need to be replaced.

 

[Eximo]

Only upgrade left for that system is potentially swapping in an i7-3770 if the board is decent, but that really isn't worth it.

Frankly, everything needs to be replaced regardless, particularly the power supply if it is as old as the CPU.

GTX1060 isn't terrible, but would be considered an entry level GPU today. It is still capable of running every modern title though not at amazing settings.

Basically comes down to what you have to spend.

In terms of budget parts even an older Intel 10th gen i3 would be faster, or pretty much any Zen 2 or better Ryzen CPU (3600, 5500, etc)

 

[geofelt]

Some games are cpu limited, and some are graphics limited.
Try this simple test:
Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
This makes the graphics card loaf a bit.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.
If you can benefit from a stronger graphics card, you may need a better psu.
If you need more cpu power, there are no really effective cpu upgrades available for your motherboard.

Do you have a budget?
List your current parts, some may be able to be reused.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Only upgrade left for that system is potentially swapping in an i7-3770 if the board is decent, but that really isn't worth it.

i7-2600K to i7-3770 - definitely isn't worth it.
Marginal performance difference.

 

[Wedod2]

Thanks for all the suggestions!
@SkyNetRising @Eximo

Here is my updated part list:
-CPU: Intel i7-2600K
-Memory: 16GB Corsair Vengeance (2x8)
-GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 1060 6GB
-Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68MX-UD2H-B3
-Power Supply: Corsair CX850M 850W
-Storage: 100 GB SSD & 2TB HDD
-Case: BitFenix Phenom M NVIDIA Edition MicroATX Mini Tower Case

The only problems I'm experiencing are fps/graphics issues (likely solved by newer GPU) and occasional crashing (likely solved by upgrading/freeing space on my nearly-full SSD).

My budget is <$500. I am considering a 2060Super (there's one on CL for $170) or 2080Ti/3060.
I'm not sure what would nessesitate a CPU upgrade (per @geofelt it definetly seems a GPU bottleneck).

Thanks again!

 

[Bob.B]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Here is my updated part list:
-CPU: Intel i7-2600K
-Memory: 16GB Corsair Vengeance (2x8)
-GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 1060 6GB
-Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68MX-UD2H-B3
-Power Supply: Corsair CX850M 850W
-Storage: 100 GB SSD & 2TB HDD
-Case: BitFenix Phenom M NVIDIA Edition MicroATX Mini Tower Case

The only problems I'm experiencing are fps/graphics issues (likely solved by newer GPU) and occasional crashing (likely solved by upgrading/freeing space on my nearly-full SSD).

My budget is <$500. I am considering a 2060Super (there's one on CL for $170) or 2080Ti/3060.
I'm not sure what would nessesitate a CPU upgrade (per @geofelt it definetly seems a GPU bottleneck).

Thanks again!

Get a bigger ssd and get that issue out of the mix.

 

[Eximo]

FPS comes from your CPU. GPU performance sets the level of detail you can run that FPS at. More GPU may take you up in FPS, but only to the point your CPU can't deliver the frames.

One way to look at it is if you put the biggest GPU possible in there, you will get the most possible FPS from the system. But a faster system could do more FPS with the same GPU and conditions.

I would probably seek out the 3060 for additional longevity.

Even with a limited budget, since you already have a system to harvest parts from:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i3-12100F 3.3 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B660M-HDV Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($96.63 @ Amazon)
Memory: Silicon Power GAMING 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($48.97 @ Amazon)
Storage: Intel 660p 1.02 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($64.48 @ Amazon)
Total: $295.07
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-08-08 10:53 EDT-0400

 

[Wedod2]

@Eximo Thanks for the list!
I assume that the upgraded motherboard would be to accommodate the upgraded CPU (and DDR4, correct?).
I don't know a lot about CPUs but is there a way to check how "good" of a CPU would work with my motherboard?

 

[Eximo]

@Eximo Thanks for the list!
I assume that the upgraded motherboard would be to accommodate the upgraded CPU (and DDR4, correct?).
I don't know a lot about CPUs but is there a way to check how "good" of a CPU would work with my motherboard?

We already answered that question, best possible would be to go from an i7-2600k to i7-3770k, a single generation. That was the last of the Intel DDR3 boards.

Intel Core i7-2600K @ 3.40GHz vs Intel Core i7-3770K @ 3.50GHz vs Intel Core i3-12100F [cpubenchmark.net] by PassMark Software

 

[SkyNetRising]

best possible would be to go from an i7-2600k to i7-3770k, a single generation.
That was the last of the Intel DDR3 boards.

It wasn't.

Intel Core-i 4th gen uses DDR3 and
6th and 7th gen supports DDR3 together with DDR4.

 

[Wedod2]

GA-Z68MX-UD2H-B3 (rev. 1.0) Support | Motherboard - GIGABYTE Global

Lasting Quality from GIGABYTE.GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ motherboards bring together a unique blend of features and technologies that offer users the absolute ...

www.gigabyte.com

@Eximo
Yes, seems like according to this, my motherboard will only support up to the i7-3770K (assuming I have the F13 BIOS which I will check later).
@SkyNetRising
Am I misreading? I would hate to get a 4th or even 6/7th gen and find it incompatible.

However, this is all moot if my CPU isn't bottlenecking and can withstand a GPU upgrade (not getting anything crazy). I will check into this.
My current thoughts are that if I can get a bigger SSD and a new(er) GPU my issues will be fixed.

 

[SkyNetRising]

@SkyNetRising
Am I misreading? I would hate to get a 4th or even 6/7th gen and find it incompatible.

Misreading what?
Your current board doesn't support 4th nor 6th/7th gen.

My comment was about DDR3 support.

 

[Eximo]

It wasn't.

Intel Core-i 4th gen uses DDR3 and
6th and 7th gen supports DDR3 together with DDR4.

Indeed, I have no idea why I wrote that. I own 4th gen hardware and must have slipped a brain cell somewhere. I think I may have thinking about the LGA1155 socket and there not being any additional CPUs beyond that and got it cross wired with DDR3...