Need advice on what to upgrade

[Piiote]

Hey, im planning on upgrading either my cpu or my gpu, and I need to know what would give me a more
noticeable increase in performance in gaming.

The gpu I currently have is a gtx 760, and my cpu is an i5 - 4430 3ghz
the cpu I'd upgrade to is an i7 - 4790k 4ghz, and the gpu I'd get is a gtx 970.

So which one should I upgrade?

 

[Route44]

The i5 is considered the so-called sweetspot for gaming and since games are gpu intensive I would upgrade the gpu first.

A few questions for you:
1. How much RAM do you run?
2. Are you getting any lag in gaming? What is your current average FPS?
3. What do you hope to gain that would make your gaming experience noticeably increased?
, Make and wattage output of your power supply?

 

[Piiote]

Hey Route44, thanks for the reply.
I have 8gb of ram, I'm not getting any lag really... I just want to improve my gaming experience,
not fix anything. Latest game I've checked my fps was with The Witcher 3, im averaging 30 fps, get an occasional dip to 28, everything turned to ultra. I guess I want to prepare for future games while also improving my fps (while 30 is very acceptable for me, I'd wanna boost it as high as possible in my price range)
My psu is a thermaltake 500w. cant really tell you any more than that..

Thanks a lot!

 

[Route44]

You are welcome.

Go with the gpu upgrade then. The amount of RAM is good for gaming. My concern was with the power supply. Thermaltake makes some good psu's (have used a few myself) but I was wondering if what it puts out currently is enough wattage for the gtx 970 . After further research Nvidia recommends a 500 watt. So it should be okay.

However, you may want to read up on the recommended psu wattage for a gtx 970 yourself and take it from there. Also, find out your Thermaltake model and do research on it. Hopefully it is no less than a Bronze, with Silver and Gold certified so much the better.

After researching let us know what you found out and get back to us on what you finally decided. We would love to hear how the new card works out.

Good luck. (y)

 

[AnonymousSurfer]

I agree with route. Get the GPU, and possibly upgrade the power supply. 500w sounds a little low for me, I always like to go slightly higher than the recommended. However, if you have a 500w 80 PLUS silver or higher, you're in the green.

 

[Piiote]

Ok I checked my PSU, it says Thermaltake VS550. I checked around on the net but I can't
seem to find any info on it. Im guessing it's 550w?

 

[Route44]

Well I would say that it is a safe bet that its a 550 watt power supply. What I can't figure out is that through research there is no Thermaltake VS550 model to be found as you have noted. However, there is a Corsair VS550 power supply. Weird.

 

[Guest]

Well I would say that it is a safe bet that its a 550 watt power supply. What I can't figure out is that through research there is no Thermaltake VS550 model to be found as you have noted. However, there is a Corsair VS550 power supply. Weird.

Yup, its a corsair alright. Sorry :/

 

[Route44]

Hey, no problem. Please keep us updated and let us know what you purchased and how your performance is.