Is upgrading your GPU always the best way to improve gaming performance?
Posted by KRGKart_Support@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 16 comments
When people look to boost gaming performance, the first instinct is usually to upgrade the GPU.
But in a lot of cases, there are other factors involved, CPU limitations, RAM capacity, storage speed, or even thermal issues that can affect overall performance.
For those who have upgraded different parts of their system over time, what actually made the biggest difference for you?
Was it a GPU upgrade, or did something else have a bigger impact than expected?
Also curious if anyone experienced situations where a GPU upgrade didn’t give the results they were expecting due to other bottlenecks.
Would be helpful to hear real-world experiences on what upgrades actually move the needle the most.
hutre@reddit
I went from a 4790k to a 9800x3D and the difference was night and day! Biggest improvement by far
bods_life@reddit
Yes
pumpymcpumpface@reddit
The biggest jump I've ever noticed was going from a 3800x to a 9800x3d. The FPS improvement and performance increase was wild
heeman2019@reddit
What GPU though?
pumpymcpumpface@reddit
3080 initially
Intelligent-City-363@reddit
I can only talk from own experience. I have a 4th gen 4770k for many years until around 2020 In that time I went from a (all nvidia) 770. 970, 1070, 2060 & 2060S before I changed platform (to intel 9th gen)
At every swap I got a 30/40% uplift so it was definitely very cost effective (especially considering how many times I’d have to swap motherboards as well - thank you Intel!)
However I would caveat that with prices then to now. Then the third tier card was fantastic and around £300 Combine that with selling the older card to CEX for £100 you could have a great upgrade for £200.
Today the same equation using an xx80 series card is £600 for a 5-10% uplift (ignoring frame gen witchcraft!)
I would suggest that unless you have specific needs ie going from 1440p to 4k or really want the full RT bells and whistles I wouldn’t upgrade until there is a least a 30-40%increase at the same price point.
Numerous-Loan-8008@reddit
Depends on the game, the settings, the resolution, etc...
but out of the hardware, you're looking to upgrade the weakest link, especially if the performance upgrades aren't expensive
Beneficial_Bad_8356@reddit
Depends on the game. Something as poorly optimized a FiveM GTA server for example is incredibly CPU demanding. While a modern AAA title by an established studio is usually more balanced in its CPU/GPU demands.
Turbidspeedie@reddit
Cries in unreal engine
Poor borderlands should not suffer from that much performance requirements
cowbutt6@reddit
If you're trying to improve average frame rate, or render resolution, or graphical quality, then usually upgrading the GPU is the best way to do that. Only if the upgrade GPU will be horribly bottlenecked by the rest of your system will this not be the case.
But if you're trying to improve smoothness, 1% and 0.1% lows, loading times, etc, then upgrading other parts of your system is now likely to deliver the desired results.
And then there are games which are just inherently CPU heavy: typically strategy- and simulation-type games, and those with strong AI players.
TraditionalMetal1836@reddit
It really depends on what you currently have and what you are trying to play.
I currently have a 7900x3d and a 3080ti with 64gb ddr5 6000. My display runs 5120x1440@240hz. Almost all new titles require DLSS/FSR or they play like crap at this resolution.
I definitely need a new GPU but that isn't happening any time soon.
Important_Sea_1136@reddit
Storage speed doesn't affect your game performance, it can affect loading times especially if you have HDD. I have both sata SSD:s and NVME and I don't notice any difference while gaming on either of them.
If your system has no issues most of the times GPU upgrade brings more value if you play graphically intensive AAA games.
This of course excludes massive bottlenecks like running ryzen 5 1600 with rtx 5000 series gpu.
Zealousideal-Mud795@reddit
Well depends. There are CPU heavy games that will benefit more from a CPU upgrade (League of legends. CS, Valorant etc)
aCuria@reddit
Monitor makes a big difference if you are using some old TN
MasterDroid97@reddit
Depends on tagret resolution and fps I suppose. At 4k, I dare say GPU will be the limiting factor 95% of times. I am throttling my CPU with power targets to reduce heat in my SFF case and it has zero impact on performance. Whereas the upgrade from a 4070ti to a 5080 makes a big difference.
ThaBlackHokage@reddit
Short answer, no. Sometimes your CPU is the bottleneck. Depends on the game youre playing.