Need advice for a relative, CPU or GPU upgrade?

[Boze]

I didn't know whether to post this to CPUS and Overclocking or to Video Cards, but here goes...

I have a younger cousin, he's 16, he just got his tax refund from his part-time job, and he wants to upgrade his computer somewhat.

He's running an AMD FX-6300 overclocked to 4.0 gHz with an EVGA GTX 660 card. He's got 8 GB of DDR3 1600 RAM, and he asked me what would be the bigger upgrade, a GTX 970/980, or a Core i7-4790K and a new motherboard. He can obviously switch the RAM over and use it. I told him to let me think on it for awhile, but I felt like the CPU might be holding him back more than his GPU, but I'd need to look at some benchmarks to be certain.

He only has a 1080p gaming monitor, so he won't be using higher resolutions like 1440p / 2160p. On top of all this, I told him I'd buy his CPU & motherboard for $90. I can throw them into an old case with a few sticks of RAM and a spare SSD and find a use for it.

What's your advice for him? He likes playing the latest games, so I told him if it were me, I'd lean towards the GTX 970 / 980 upgrade, especially since a kid he goes to school with has a TITAN X on pre-order, and he's willing to sell an ASUS ROG GTX 980 to him for $400. $400 seems like a pretty hard-to-beat deal on the one of the top-end video cards out there right now, but I figured it anyone would know, it'd be you guys.

 

[96Firebird]

While that is a pretty good deal for the 980, I'd say his CPU will bottleneck it too much. It really depends on the games he plays.

Any chance he can get an i5/mobo and a cheaper video card? What is the total budget?

 

[Boze]

About $400. He likes to play all the latest stuff, Battlefield 4, whatever the kids are playing these days. Whatever's in the top 10 on Steam, basically.

 

[DownTheSky]

Get the GTX 980 for $400. Yeah, the bottleneck would be huge, but that's simply too good of a deal. He can upgrade the rest later.

 

[Termie]

He'll get almost nothing out of that GPU. He'd be infinitely better off with an R9 290 for $280, an H97 board for $90, and a Core i5-4590 for $200.

With the $90 you give him for his old gear, he'll need $480 out of pocket.

The 980 for $400 is a good deal for someone but most definitely not your cousin. Just because he has a rich little friend who can give him a little discount on a card he can't use doesn't mean he should bite on it. His CPU is not up to the task.

Need proof: an Intel core i3 consistently beats a 4.6GHz AMD 8320 when paired with a 980:
http://www.techspot.com/review/943-best-value-desktop-cpu/page6.html

This isn't even a close call. He'd be better off with a $120 Core i3-4160@3.6/$70 board and a $330 970 if he must have Nvidia.

 

[nsafreak]

He'll get almost nothing out of that GPU. He'd be infinitely better off with an R9 290 for $280, an H97 board for $90, and a Core i5-4590 for $200.

With the $90 you give him for his old gear, he'll need $480 out of pocket.

The 980 for $400 is a good deal for someone but most definitely not your cousin. Just because he has a rich little friend who can give him a little discount on a card he can't use doesn't mean he should bite on it. His CPU is not up to the task.

Need proof: an Intel core i3 consistently beats a 4.6GHz AMD 8320 when paired with a 980:
http://www.techspot.com/review/943-best-value-desktop-cpu/page6.html

This isn't even a close call. He'd be better off with a $120 Core i3-4160@3.6/$70 board and a $330 970 if he must have Nvidia.

Very much agree with this, plus CPU upgrades tend to last a lot longer nowadays than GPU upgrades do. an i5 4590 will be a huge improvement for him and will last a good 4 to 5 years.

 

[Greenlepricon]

I would jump on that gpu. Assuming the monitor only supports 60fps, then the cpu will keep him there for 95% of games. That gpu on the other hand won't. A year or two down the line it would be worth buying at least an i3 (or even pentium) and a new mobo, but even now a 6300 holds its own alright for the low end. Not to mention most games are gpu restricted.

If you can also overclock the 6300 a little higher than 4.0, which it is probably capable of, then you really won't need to worry much. A 980 will make sure he never dips below 60fps because of the gpu. The 660 wasn't even that great of a deal when it came out in my opinion, but a 980 is one hell of a card for that price.

 

[Hitman928]

$400 for a 980 is a great deal right now, but I agree with the above, going with AMD for the gpu makes more sense as you upgrade both at the same time for slightly higher cost rather than doing it in parts and paying more over a period of time.

There's the ASUS 290 on newegg right now for $290 plus $30 rebate bringing it down to $260 if he's willing to do the rebate. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121842

Or, if he's willing to buy used, you can pick up good 290's for ~$220 to $250 if you're watching for them. If nothing else, he can probably wait until June when AMD's new lineup comes out. If he really wants to stick with Nvidia, then the 980 will probably be pushed down in price to what he'd pay used for them right now anyway if the performance rumors of AMD's new cards are true.

 

[Leyawiin]

$400 for a 980 is a great deal right now, but I agree with the above, going with AMD for the gpu makes more sense as you upgrade both at the same time for slightly higher cost rather than doing it in parts and paying more over a period of time.

There's the ASUS 290 on newegg right now for $290 plus $30 rebate bringing it down to $260 if he's willing to do the rebate. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121842

Or, if he's willing to buy used, you can pick up good 290's for ~$220 to $250 if you're watching for them. If nothing else, he can probably wait until June when AMD's new lineup comes out. If he really wants to stick with Nvidia, then the 980 will probably be pushed down in price to what he'd pay used for them right now anyway if the performance rumors of AMD's new cards are true.

That ASUS actually has a promo code right now that will bring it down to $270 without any rebate mumbo jumbo (EMCAPKX25). Not the best price I've ever seen for one, but I'd probably do that if pairing it with an FX-6300. Either GPU is going to be bottlenecked to a degree, so you might as well not spend an extra $130 for something you're not going to get the full benefit of.