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I just replaced my old Apple Cinema monitor (1680x1050) with an AOC curve gaming display (2560x1440).

My current setup does not seem to enjoy pushing that many pixels on the screen, laggy and jerky, I had to reduce the game (fallout 76) resolution to be playable; but I'd like to upgrade to something that would let me play at full resolution.

  • CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K @ 3.30GHz (Sandy Bridge 32nm Technology)
  • RAM: 8.00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-24)
  • Motherboard: Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. P67A-UD4-B3 (Socket 1155)
  • Graphics: 4095MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (PNY)
  • Storage: 447GB KINGSTON SUV500480G ATA Device (SATA-2 (SSD))
  • PSU: Antec 1000w.

I don't remember the wattage on my Power Supply, but If I remember, I got one that was over-powered.

I know my motherboard is old and not really upgradable.

Upgrade motherboard/cpu or upgrade gpu ?

I'm not certain what is the limiting factor here.

I've bitten the bullet and upgraded most of my components:

  • Intel Core i5-9400F (with fan)
  • G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2x8GB)
  • GIGABYTE B365M DS3H LGA 1151 (300 Series)
  • GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER

Thanks.

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If you're going to upgrade something on that system, upgrade the GPU. Even the fastest CPU your mainboard supports (an i7-3770K) is only 50% faster in multi-threaded performance, and less than 5% faster in single-threaded performance; the fastest modern CPU is less than 50% better single-threaded, gaining performance mostly by virtue of having 32 cores. In comparison, there's plenty of headroom for improvement in the GPU, and more GPU is what you need to push more pixels.

Your existing GPU has a TDP of 120 watts. Since you don't know how much extra capacity your PSU has, I'm going to recommend an upgrade with a comparable TDP: the GeForce GTX 1660 Super, for around $230. Benchmarks give it a performance of 2x to 3x that of your current card, and unlike the GTX 960, reviewers considered it worthwhile to benchmark at resolutions above 1920x1080. Since the card's fairly new, there's not yet much variation between manufacturers, so pick whichever card is cheapest (or looks the best, or whatever minor criterion is important to you).

(Another upgrade option, much cheaper, but without much expected benefit, is another 8GB of RAM. The P67 chipset is capable of dual-channel operation, so if you're seeing single-channel, it's because you've only got one stick of memory (likely) or the memory isn't in the correct slots (less likely). Faster memory doesn't give much of a performance boost, though.)

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  • thanks, I'll get some more memory, and I will look at what I can get GPU-wise.
    – Max
    Jan 4, 2020 at 15:57
  • All the current leaks point out to the 5600 XT being a better card for around 50$ more. I'd wait a week or two and read the benchmarks since it should be released during CES which is next week.
    – jaskij
    Jan 4, 2020 at 17:20
  • @JanDorniak, the OP is power-limited, and Nvidia has historically been superior to ATI in performance per watt. The numbers on Wikipedia's list of 5000-series GPUs suggest that the 5600 XT is going to draw around 150-180 watts, to the 1660's (and 960's) 120.
    – Mark
    Jan 4, 2020 at 20:49
  • Fair enough. Though waiting a week won't hurt. Though personally my PC is not that much better then OP's (i5-4460 and 6 GB 1060) and I'm holding out for 2020 Christmas releases.
    – jaskij
    Jan 4, 2020 at 20:53
  • I've update my question with the PSU, it's a 1000w Antec; so ample power (I think)
    – Max
    Jan 6, 2020 at 15:36

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