CPU advice for Z77-D3H & GTX 1660 SUPER 6GB

[philmo]

So I have just updated my GPU to a GTX 1660 SUPER and am very happy vs the performance upgrade from my old GTX 670.

It has been suggested I could overclock my CPU (i5-3570K 3.40GHz) to reducesome of the bottleneck I will now see, but I am open to upgrading my CPU - but just don't want much hassle so ideally would like to avoid changing my mobo (due to technical knowledge / time).

My upgrade was driven by wanting to play the hungry Red Dead Redemption 2, which works ok but could still do with a kick.

My problem is budget, really can't go over £200 at the moment.

Any advice would be greatly received.

 

[RavenXXX2]

Your only real upgrade path is a 2600K or preferably a 3770k used.

 

[Gray2233]

Hardly worth the money spent.

Save some more cash and in a few months time get a 3600 based system, it'll set you back around £300-330.

 

[Armageus]

2600K/2700K/3770K are all ridiculously expensive used for what they are, as said above save up for a Ryzen based build.

In the mean time it is worth overclocking your 3570K, it will likely reduce the bottleneck to some degree - 4.2Ghz or above should be easily attainable with even a fairly cheap air cooler.

 

[Orange Nexus]

RAM Vulcan - T 3000 MHz DDR4
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/team...al-channel-kit-grey-tlgd416g30-my-087-tg.html

Motherboard MSI B450 MAX
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/msi-b450-tomahawk-max-socket-am4-ddr4-atx-motherboard-mb-33t-ms.html

CPU - R7 2700
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/amd-...hz-socket-am4-processor-retail-cp-3ad-am.html

£325

Upgrade when Ryzen 4000 arrives. But, you might not need to. Got that cpu paired with a RX 5700.

 

[bimbleuk]

May be worth waiting for the Black Friday weekend as there may be an influx of CPU/mobo combos on the MM (which you need more posts to access) after people upgrade.

In the meantime if I remember correctly all I ever did with my i5 3570k on that same motherboard was change the clock ratio to 42 in the Advanced Frequency section of the BIOS and it ran for 5 years like that.

 

[Woodsta888]

i7 3770k Oc'd will see you less CPU bound. You want to be GPU bound. One of the tombraider benchmarks (dunno if it's separate or only comes with the game) will test your system and show whether you are GPU/CPU bound. So I'd run that on your i5. Then OC it and see if it alleviates, then wait till after Xmas when people need money and find a 2nd hand 3770k on ebay.

R2D2 is a poor console port with performance issues. A patch or 3 will probably see more gain than any hardware change.

 

[Armageus]

You want to be GPU bound.

Actually you don't - you just want the games you actually play, to run at a framerate you are happy with

People put way too much emphasis on "bottlenecks", and often deliberately gimp themselves by buying lesser parts for fear of "bottlenecks".

Whilst clearly a 1660 Super is bottlenecked to some degree at the moment, when you next upgrade it won't be. As long as it offers a better experience than the GTX670 it replaced, then it was money well spent (bottlenecked or not)

 

[Woodsta888]

Actually you don't - you just want the games you actually play, to run at a framerate you are happy with

People put way too much emphasis on "bottlenecks", and often deliberately gimp themselves by buying lesser parts for fear of "bottlenecks".

Whilst clearly a 1660 Super is bottlenecked to some degree at the moment, when you next upgrade it won't be. As long as it offers a better experience than the GTX670 it replaced, then it was money well spent (bottlenecked or not)

Actually you do, otherwise the GPU you have bought is being wasted if the CPU cant feed it. CPU bound causes stuttering.
Your advice is completely opposite to what the OP requested.

 

[Woodsta888]

@ OP This RDR2 optimization guide by hardware unboxed may help for now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=385eG1IEZMU

 

[philmo]

@ OP This RDR2 optimization guide by hardware unboxed may help for now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=385eG1IEZMU

Yes I watched that, very good and helped get acceptable fps rates on my build

 

[MaXxBoulton]

Buy a xeon e3 1240v2 and a used 1070.