Upgrade Q - CPU or GPU?

emtoucan · 28 Jul 2013 at 08:13

Hi all,

I've been thinking about the next upgrade for my rig (mainly used for gaming) but I'm not sure of the best upgrade to go for;

Current spec;
Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3
Intel i5 760 @ 3.6 (idles at around 45c)
Kuhler H2O 620
Sapphire HD 6970 2GB
XFX 650W XXX
Crucial M4 64GB
Crucial M4 256MB
Corsair 8Gb (2 x 4GB) CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 1600MHz
Corsair 600T White Special Edition

Should I go for an upgrade to the i5 Haswell processor and new board (would also enable the Sata III on my SSDs)

Or go for a new 7950 GPU but is this worth it with the i5-760?

Any other advice would be welcome.

Thanks

RJC · 28 Jul 2013 at 08:49

It depends on your budget, you should be fine with your current cpu, but have you thought about overclocking your cpu?

emtoucan · 28 Jul 2013 at 09:09

Budgets negotiable depending on the return I get. The obvious big return for investment is the GPU upgrade.

The CPU is up from the stock of 2.8. I could push more but my idle temp is already at 45C. My MB is not the best for OC'ing but I could probably squeeze another 0.2 out of it without too much hassle.

CreateNPlay · 28 Jul 2013 at 09:48

GTX 770 Windforce x3
i7 Haswell
Haswell MB

tres_kun · 28 Jul 2013 at 12:21

What is the rig used for?
Gaming what games?
Best benefit is where it matters in what you use it for
If you play mmorpg get a better cpu

CreateNPlay · 28 Jul 2013 at 12:56

Minecraft -> CPU/RAM
BF3 -> CPU/GPU
Civ 5 -> CPU/RAM

would be good to know.

emtoucan · 28 Jul 2013 at 21:41

Mostly games like Civ 5, Crusader Kings, Rome Total War 2 etc.

Plus Football Manager

Potty27 · 28 Jul 2013 at 21:50

Does your current rig have any problems playing those games on high settings?

Seems to me like you'd be better off saving up and waiting, rather than upgrading now to be honest.