Looking for advice on CPU vs GPU upgrade

[Aretoo]

With all the deals flying around - I've seen some prices on CPUs and GPUs that could benefit my rig and I'm looking to upgrade. The problem is, I'm not sure what the better upgrade for me would be, my CPU is almost 4 years old and my GPU is around 2 years (at least to me). The following is my current setup:

CPU - i5-3570k (OC @ 4.1GHz) - I OC with the Intel Tuning software
Mobo - Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H
RAM - 4x4GB G.Skill Ripjaw X Series 240-Pin DDR3 1600
GPU - Gigabyte GeForce GTC 660 2GB 192-bit
Two Dell Ultra series monitors - 24" primary (1920x1200) and 23" secondary

I mostly play Blizzard games (WoW, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, D3) as well as League of Legends and some random steam games (adventure games, Borderlands, Portal, etc), and for the most part I'm happy with the quality, most games I play on high with 60+ fps, but I would like to turn WoW up a little more and sometimes when I stream my OBS yells that my CPU is having issues. I also enjoy streaming WoW and wish to stream other games in the future. My understanding is that for the majority of my gaming, I'm CPU bound due to how WoW works and the fact that I want to stream.

That leads me to my question - if I was to only get one upgrade, would it be CPU or GPU. A GTX970 would be the target for the GPU upgrade, but for the CPU upgrade I'm somewhat stuck. I've narrowed my CPU upgrade to the following.

Option A:
CPU - i7-4790K
Mobo - MSI Z97 PC Mate
RAM - stick with what I currently have

Option B:
CPU - i5-6600K
Mobo - ASUS Z170-AR
RAM - 2x8GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 2400

Option B will run me around $120 more due to the slightly nicer mobo and the RAM I'd need to purchase. I just don't know what is a better option for me to last a long time.

Thanks!

[chazus]

Don't bother with a CPU upgrade. The 3570K (Which I also have) is still a badass if overclocked. I have no problems with most games (50-70fps). I also have the 660 as well, and the 970 would be my next obvious upgrade. I may get a 960 though.

Right now Jet.com has a 970 on sale for $250.

[Lathais]

I second the GPU. The 6600K is only about a 5% increase over the 4690k which was only about a 5% increase over the 3570k, so you're looking at about a 10.25% increase in performance. Is that really worth the price?

The GPU will be a much bigger upgrade for you and actually allow you to turn settings up, which the CPU would not.

I would also currently recommend the R9 390x or 390x over the GTX 970. Current gen AMD cards perform better at resolutions over 1080p and fully support Hardware ASync Compute which the current nVidia's do not. ASync Compute is needed for DX12, nVidia will support it through software emulation, though that defeats the purpose of DX12 which is to reduce the software layer.

For the naysayers that will come in here and say DX12 won't be an issue for a couple years, yes, I agree with you. However, the OPs GPU is going on 4 years old, so if he is not going to upgrade it for another 4 years, he should be looking at DX12 now, which means either AMD or wait for Pascal.

[Aretoo]

Don't bother with a CPU upgrade. The 3570K (Which I also have) is still a badass if overclocked. I have no problems with most games (50-70fps). I also have the 660 as well, and the 970 would be my next obvious upgrade. I may get a 960 though.

Right now Jet.com has a 970 on sale for $250.

Thanks for the quick reply - I was initially looking at a GPU upgrade, but my eye caught some CPU deals so I started to go back and forth. I do agree that a GPU upgrade (if I can get some solid OC for my CPU) will yield better results, just wanted to check in with people who knew more than me. As for that jet.com, I did see that deal on the /r/buildapcsales however the link changed over to a 960 unfortunately. I was able to find on jet.com using the 20NOW code a MSI GTX 970 4GD5T OC that would run around $280 so that seems pretty decent.

I second the GPU. The 6600K is only about a 5% increase over the 4690k which was only about a 5% increase over the 3570k, so you're looking at about a 10.25% increase in performance. Is that really worth the price?

The GPU will be a much bigger upgrade for you and actually allow you to turn settings up, which the CPU would not.

I would also currently recommend the R9 390x or 390x over the GTX 970. Current gen AMD cards perform better at resolutions over 1080p and fully support Hardware ASync Compute which the current nVidia's do not. ASync Compute is needed for DX12, nVidia will support it through software emulation, though that defeats the purpose of DX12 which is to reduce the software layer.

For the naysayers that will come in here and say DX12 won't be an issue for a couple years, yes, I agree with you. However, the OPs GPU is going on 4 years old, so if he is not going to upgrade it for another 4 years, he should be looking at DX12 now, which means either AMD or wait for Pascal.

The goal would be to buy a card that will last for 3+ years, however I'm not sure how frequently I'll be playing a DX12 game since I mostly play Blizzard titles and League of Legends. All my next gen gaming is typically done on my PS4 at this point. It might just come down to the price of a 390x vs the 970.

[Deleted]

Given the games you play I wouldn't upgrade anything.

[Aretoo]

Given the games you play I wouldn't upgrade anything.

Did my wife get to you first?!?!

[Granyala]

IF you want to stream WoW 20man raids while parsing crap in real time, yes you are CPU bound.

Current CPUs vs the 3570K don't offer enough of an upgrade in order to warrant the pricetag. You'll most likely not even feel a difference at all.

If you do CPU heavy stuff while playing WoW, disable ALL ingame parsing addons (recount etc) and instead use a Warcraftlog livelog. That way you get realtime data between pulls while outsourcing the actual work to the server of Warcraftlogs.

Looking at the games you play a 660 should be more than enough, because no Blizzard title is all that GPU hungry. You can set WoW to ultra btw, you won't see much difference in FPS. Also WoW is not an FPS, there is no need for 60FPS+ in an MMO with a 1s GCD. Oo

Given the games you play I wouldn't upgrade anything.

I concur with this assessment as well. His 660 is most likely already twiddling thumbs while he plays WoW. Unless he tortures the poor thing with oversampling or 4K resolution.

[Deleted]

Did my wife get to you first?!?!

I AM your wife.

Now get off the computer and give me some sugar.

[Brytallica]

Your GPU is the weakest component. If you feel like building a new machine, go with Skylake. If you just want to upgrade the GPU, then do that.

[Granyala]

Your GPU is the weakest component. If you feel like building a new machine, go with Skylake. If you just want to upgrade the GPU, then do that.

Judging by the raw specs: yes.

BUT:
Not for what he is doing with his computer.

He already stated that he turns to consoles for "high end gfx games" and mostly plays Blizzard titles. Upgrading for that usage scenario, as it stands now, is a pure waste of money.

[Aretoo]

IF you want to stream WoW 20man raids while parsing crap in real time, yes you are CPU bound.

Current CPUs vs the 3570K don't offer enough of an upgrade in order to warrant the pricetag. You'll most likely not even feel a difference at all.

If you do CPU heavy stuff while playing WoW, disable ALL ingame parsing addons (recount etc) and instead use a Warcraftlog livelog. That way you get realtime data between pulls while outsourcing the actual work to the server of Warcraftlogs.

Looking at the games you play a 660 should be more than enough, because no Blizzard title is all that GPU hungry. You can set WoW to ultra btw, you won't see much difference in FPS. Also WoW is not an FPS, there is no need for 60FPS+ in an MMO with a 1s GCD. Oo


I concur with this assessment as well. His 660 is most likely already twiddling thumbs while he plays WoW. Unless he tortures the poor thing with oversampling or 4K resolution.

That makes sense - I suppose I could turn recount off and move to live logging. I updated my post with the monitors and resolution I run with - two Dell Ultra Series 24" and 23" with the 24" as my primary at 1920x1200.

But if money wasn't an issue and I was limited to only one upgrade - it seems like a better GPU is the best bet. This would also allow me to eventually play some next gen games on my PC - I'm not opposed to that, just at this point my PS4 is what is used for that - having the option down the line is appealing.

[Granyala]

By all means: go for a GPU then. Just don't expect it to do much good for WoW.

Even with an overclocked Ivy bridge, large raids (esp 40man like Kazzak) are murder on any system if recount (and similar addons) are allowed to run free. :X

[chazus]

Here's the info on the 970 for $250 (After 20 MIR)

http://slickdeals.net/f/8337779-asus...w-20now-20-mir

[Aretoo]

Here's the info on the 970 for $250 (After 20 MIR)

http://slickdeals.net/f/8337779-asus...w-20now-20-mir

Great thanks - was missing the $20 MIR.

[chazus]

I actually just picked up a 960 from jet.com for a system I'm building. I'll post later tonight how the rebate process works (after I grab it from the mailbox). People were mentioning that it was a little tricky as no invoice was included, just packing info.