In a dilemma, need aid ( component upgrade(s) )

[ushy86]

Hey guys. I had some questions and I need some expertise in terms of answering these. My last pc upgrade hasn't been for awhile, but I don't consider my pc that bad for the games that I play. Currently I run games such as Marvel Heroes 2015, Fallout 4, Grim Dawn in beta, Path of Exile and look forward to playing Overwatch and Battleborn once they are out. You can say I don't play the most demanding games, but if a title comes out that strikes me as interesting I would like to try it out. Games such as Marvel Heroes and Grim Dawn I am told are quite cpu dependant, and therein is where I believe the problem is.

So when combat gets dense in Marvel Heroes/Grim Dawn, my go to games atm, and particle effects and such go all nutty with many players on screen, my fps dips to the 20s, and then afterwards sky rockets back to 50-60 + or whatever it feels like in the particular zone. Sometimes it feels like video settings are barely noticeable, whether max, medium or low in cases(outside of shadows) So I am at the point where I am unsure if my next upgrade should be a CPU+MOBO combo setting up for the future slowly as I have ALWAYS wanted to go intel, or simply picking up perhaps a gtx 970.

Thoughts? Ideas? I have been told that the I5 4690k objectively would be a huge step up in terms of holding its own compared to the 8320 when playing cpu bound games(mmo's/arpg's), but also wonder if a 970 could bode well.. I am simply looking for less frame drops and higher MIN fps values, while having a tad higher max fps in general wouldn't hurt.

Here are my specs:

fx 8320 @ 4.8ghz /w hyper 212 cooler
gigabyte 760
msi 990fxa gd65 mobo
corsair 650w psu
8gb g.skill ripjaws
250gb samsung evo ssd
win 10 64bit
2x 24" monitors. One for gaming, one for browsing/videos on the side.

Thank you to all who reply, I really need some input that can finally put my dilemma to rest. So basically, what would you do given my position?

 

[Yuriman]

If lowering graphical settings isn't increasing your framerates, it does indeed sound like you're CPU limited, and going with a more powerful GPU will not help in those instances.


I would go with Skylake rather than Haswell:

EDIT: Just found ShintaiDK's post containing this:

 

[ushy86]

If lowering graphical settings isn't increasing your framerates, it does indeed sound like you're CPU limited, and going with a more powerful GPU will not help in those instances.


I would go with Skylake rather than Haswell:

I guess I should rephrase what I said earlier about the fps. It is not the the fps doesn't change when toying with the settings, because it does gradually. A better way of saying it I guess is, no matter if I am at MAX settings or MEDIUM ect, the hiccups dip to the 20s regardless. Does that change if it is a gpu or cpu issue?

Also, I was trying to keep under or around $500 CAD. Is there any mobo's and cpu's in particular that could fit this price range per se?

Thanks for chiming in!

 

[sm625]

So when combat gets dense in Marvel Heroes/Grim Dawn, my go to games atm, and particle effects and such go all nutty with many players on screen, my fps dips to the 20s, and then afterwards sky rockets back to 50-60

If you are serious about it you have to ditch that cpu and motherboard. Unfortunately. If you dont want to do that then find a way to make these fps drops repeatable in a controlled casual setting, and then tweak your settings until you find the ones that cause it. It sounds like physics is killing you. In my opinion you dont really need any feature that is so demanding that a 4.8 GHz 8 core processor cannot handle it.

 

[ushy86]

I appreciate you guys helping out, honestly, as this is a really difficult choice for me at the moment. Hmm if I am to go the cpu/mobo route, is something like this suffice?

Intel Core i5-6600K Skylake + MSI Z97 Gaming 5 Motherboard, or would you guys suggest something else? Like I said, I'd like to stay under or around the $500 mark, but if something is to give me much more performance down the line for a few more bucks, I'm all for it.

 

[Yuriman]

6600K is a great CPU. 6700K is no faster in things that will saturate 4 or less cores, but pulls ahead in some things. Unfortunately (or fortunately), Skylake scales very well with fast DDR4, so it's worth dumping some extra money into higher mhz RAM.

Upon consideration, I wouldn't entirely rule Haswell or Broadwell out if your budget is strict. In the case of the 4790K, it's slower per clock by a bit, and Broadwell doesn't overclock nearly as well, but you could reuse your RAM and the motherboards might be a bit cheaper, and I think I'd prefer a Haswell or Broadwell i7 to a Skylake i5, if it comes down to that.