Upgrade CPU or GPU? Recommendations?

[Reverze]

Hi all,

 

I'm currently running an AMD FX-8350 (@4.2 ghz) with a Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 (non X variant) GPU.

 

I'm looking to upgrade but I'm facing tough choices here. My performance is acceptable in DCS but not as great as I'd like. I've been looking at an upgrade to skylake with the Asus Maximus VIII Hero mobo paired with an i7 6700K and 16 gb DDR4 ram. I'll keep my R9 290 GPU and upgrade that in about 6 months time, possibly to a GTX 1080 Ti once that releases.

 

On the other hand, I could also go for a GTX 1070 right now, or maybe a 980 Ti, and keep my CPU/mobo and push back my upgrade another year or so in the future.

 

I'm slightly worried that a part of my poor performance comes from running the FX-8350 cpu, which isn't great in singlethread performance, so getting a new GPU like the 980 Ti would just run into a bottleneck situation.

 

What do you guys recommend?

[Hadwell]

a new cpu would be better for sure.

[predattak]

CPU

[dburne]

Hi all,

 

I'm currently running an AMD FX-8350 (@4.2 ghz) with a Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 (non X variant) GPU.

 

I'm looking to upgrade but I'm facing tough choices here. My performance is acceptable in DCS but not as great as I'd like. I've been looking at an upgrade to skylake with the Asus Maximus VIII Hero mobo paired with an i7 6700K and 16 gb DDR4 ram. I'll keep my R9 290 GPU and upgrade that in about 6 months time, possibly to a GTX 1080 Ti once that releases.

 

Agreed, this would be best to start imho.

And add that video card when you can...

[Reverze]

Thanks for the replies everybody!! Seems like it's an open and shut case.

[Cedaway]

Hi all,

 

I'm currently running an AMD FX-8350 (@4.2 ghz) with a Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 (non X variant) GPU.

 

I'm looking to upgrade but I'm facing tough choices here. My performance is acceptable in DCS but not as great as I'd like. I've been looking at an upgrade to skylake with the Asus Maximus VIII Hero mobo paired with an i7 6700K and 16 gb DDR4 ram. I'll keep my R9 290 GPU and upgrade that in about 6 months time, possibly to a GTX 1080 Ti once that releases.

 

On the other hand, I could also go for a GTX 1070 right now, or maybe a 980 Ti, and keep my CPU/mobo and push back my upgrade another year or so in the future.

 

I'm slightly worried that a part of my poor performance comes from running the FX-8350 cpu, which isn't great in singlethread performance, so getting a new GPU like the 980 Ti would just run into a bottleneck situation.

 

What do you guys recommend?

 

My grain of salt: I would prefer a core i5-6600K instead of an i7-6700k. The only difference is in the hyperthreading ability of the latter, which is not used (correct me if I'm wrong) in DCS-World and it draws more current. You'll gain a hundred+ bucks for your GPU for the same OC capability and performances ;)

[Jumbik]

CPU... simply put, check performance charts and choose the one with the best single thread performance within your budget.

[Reverze]

My grain of salt: I would prefer a core i5-6600K instead of an i7-6700k. The only difference is in the hyperthreading ability of the latter, which is not used (correct me if I'm wrong) in DCS-World and it draws more current. You'll gain a hundred+ bucks for your GPU for the same OC capability and performances ;)

 

I've been flip-flopping between the i5-6600k and i7-6700k a LOT. However 3.5 ghz of the i5 vs 4.0 ghz on the i7 base clock seems like quite a gap. Knowing my luck I'll get a worthless chip for OC'ing :lol: but maybe the i5 is still the better deal even if I do get unlucky.

[dburne]

I've been flip-flopping between the i5-6600k and i7-6700k a LOT. However 3.5 ghz of the i5 vs 4.0 ghz on the i7 base clock seems like quite a gap. Knowing my luck I'll get a worthless chip for OC'ing :lol: but maybe the i5 is still the better deal even if I do get unlucky.

 

Naw either way I think you will be fine overclocking your chip. Those I5 and I7 cpu's are great for overclocking. Granted your final overclock speed would likely be higher with the I7 than the I5 based on their base clocks.

 

I would suggest, if you are not on a tight budget go ahead with the i7 , if you are you will still be pretty happy with that i5.

Just don't wait too long to add a Nvidia GFX card.

[Reverze]

Naw either way I think you will be fine overclocking your chip. Those I5 and I7 cpu's are great for overclocking. Granted your final overclock speed would likely be higher with the I7 than the I5 based on their base clocks.

 

I would suggest, if you are not on a tight budget go ahead with the i7 , if you are you will still be pretty happy with that i5.

Just don't wait too long to add a Nvidia GFX card.

 

Thanks for the advice! I think I'm going to let go of my insistance on getting the mostest highests end hardware for triple the budget I have, and just go for an i5-6600K and a GTX 1070. After reading about that card I don't think I need anything more powerful, and waiting on the 1080 Ti will probably be overkill on budget and performance anyway!

[outlawal2]

Thanks for the advice! I think I'm going to let go of my insistance on getting the mostest highests end hardware for triple the budget I have, and just go for an i5-6600K and a GTX 1070. After reading about that card I don't think I need anything more powerful, and waiting on the 1080 Ti will probably be overkill on budget and performance anyway!

 

FWIW that is exactly what I would do in your situation as long as you don't do a lot of video rendering or other such work that would benefit greatly from the I7..

 

:thumbup:

[tamer]

if you are buying new CPU, look at this article http://pc4u.org/best-cpu-buying-guide/

[Mking]

For info intel release a new cpu with new socket. Next year.

[BitMaster]

If you want to go through each and every Bios update the first few month you go for a brand new Z270 soon.

 

I, would NOT pick such a new board with the history Intel has on the X99 and Z170 boards but either wait till the Bios's have matured or stick with a board that has at least it's tenth Bios upgrade etc... anything else you ask for trouble and hair pulling ;)

[Pilotasso]

Cpu is what you need, until Zen arrives AMD chips are a no-go. If you want a cheap upgrade from this manufacturer then you might want to get the middle tier Zen as they will cost under 200 bucks.