Question Which part should I upgrade first? Having trouble finding my bottleneck.

[JamesWG]

Hi all, I had a friend help me build a computer some time ago and I'm finally starting to think about upgrading.

I'm not super familiar with my parts and am searching for advice on what I need to prioritize to get better frame rates in video game play.
Looking for the biggest improvements for the lowest amount of money spent if possible- not looking to get a new GPU if my CPU is my bottleneck for example.

I noticed that my ram is at a lower MHZ value than most of my friends and was wondering if that makes a big enough difference for it to be my starting point.

Included is my approximate specifications according to app Speccy.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Ralston18]

Quantify: What frames rates are you getting and what frame rates are expected/required?

The starting point is to get a sense of the system's current levels of performance.

You can use Task Manager, Resource Monitor, Process Explorer, to learn more about your system and how it is performing. And there are other tools available.

What is the current physical RAM configuration (1 x 16 or 2 x 8)? If 2 sticks were they a matched set for dual channel use?

PSU: make, model, wattage, age, condition (original to build, new, refurbished, used)?

Disk drive(s): make, model, capacity, how full? [Appears to be a single 1TB Crucial SSD - verify. Is the drive partioned?]

3 GPU's - one iGPU and two GPU's in slots?

Lots of questions and there will likely be more questions. Key is to know and understand the details of the current build and present level of performance.

Then determine what is or may be necessary to reach some required level of performance.

What video games do you play?

 

[logainofhades]

I would say GPU is the bottleneck, but your CPU is going to hold back faster GPU's, so you kinda need both.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlfwXqODqp4