paging setsul

If you already have said games, one thing you can try to figure out if the bottleneck is the cpu is run them on lowest settings @640x480 and see if you exceed your requirements. If yes, you might still have to figure out if some graphics options impact CPU

if u want to replace your CPU first it depends on what you play, if you mainly play tf2 and no other games then you should probably get a new CPU with motherboard. But in almost every other instance, its better to upgrade your GPU first. When it comes to buying a GPU I think you should wait a bit because NVIDIA is about to launch their new set of GPUs. Their new flagship, GTX 1180, is launching sometime this month, and I believe all the lower end versions of these new GPUs should come out in the next 3 or so months. I also think its a good idea to look on ebay and to see if people are selling their old GPUs because of this new NVIDIA launch. Hope this helps

EDIT: I was wrong about the new release dates of the GTX 1180, its rumored to come out sometime later this year.

Min fps might be a problem but avg seems doable.

https://static.techspot.com/articles-info/1173/bench/CPU_01.png
https://static.techspot.com/articles-info/1180/bench/CPU_01.png
i3-2100 ~ 70% i3-4360 but these are 1080p max settings.

https://www.overclock3d.net/gfx/articles/2017/11/02100330905l.jpg
Maybe 60-65% of the i7-6850K @4.0 GHz but again 1080p max settings.

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/screenshots/original/2015/12/Rainbow_Six_Siege_Core_Scaling_AMD-GPU-pcgh.png
720p, but with 2 cores + SMT and that i7-6700K only running at 3.0 GHz you should still get 80-85% of that.

#3
And on top of that nVidia wouldn't launch a 1050 Ti replacement right away. From the 1080 to the 1050 Ti it took 5 months.

Split the cost of the 1050ti and buy a decent gpu and cpu if you can add more money do that. Better to have two parts that are some what equal. Then one really good gpu , and one really shitty cpu.

Ah yes, excellent advice. "Just triple your budget so you can afford both".
Or how do you thinking splitting the cost of the 1050 Ti would work? There's the 1050 which is barely cheaper and the 1030 which is slower than iGPUs. And for a new CPU he'd need a new mobo and new RAM. That would cost more than a 1050 Ti, without even buying a CPU.

If he wanted to get used parts then he wouldn't have the problem because he could already afford both.

Ah wasnt thinking he needed a new mobo my bad.

Thats what I needed, thanks.

Also, if I were to replace my CPU but not my mobo, which CPU would you recommend?

If you can afford it the bump to a RX570 is well worth the money. GPU prices have come down so the price gap isn't that much. I would only get a 1050ti with today's prices if you don't have the PSU to run a 570 and want instant gratification.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gigabyte-Radeon-RX-570-4GB-Gaming-Graphics-Card-GV-RX570GAMING-4GD/153063437399?epid=22019807514&hash=item23a34ab457:g:kekAAOSw3uFbJDgn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XERLlAK2T3Y

As for whether or not you should upgrade your CPU or your GPU first? You haven't even told us what GPU you currently have or what games you play.

I currently have a GTS450, I do play (painfully slowly) the games I mentioned except Wolfenstein 2, I also play other games like PD2, TF2, CSGO, etc., but those run decently in my toaster so no problems in there, I was also asking about the CPU because maybe I could grab a second hand CPU to not bottleneck the 1050Ti that much on some CPU-intensive games I may come across in the future.

Go with the graphics card then. Like i said the RX 570 is FAR superior to the 1050ti for p much the same price. What PSU do you have?

#8
This would be mostly about clockrate. Because the i3s top out a bit lower than i5/i7 you should probably get an i5-2500(K), 2550K or 3570(K), even though it being an i5 won't make any difference except in Overwatch.
I'm guessing your mobo doesn't allow overclocking either.
Something like an i3-2130 would only be 10% faster, so it's not really worth the effort.
If you can get an i7-3770(K), 2700K or 2600(K) for the same price as an i5-3570/2550/2500 you can get it for those extra 0.1 GHz but otherwise it's not worth it.

#9

He did tell us which games he was going to play and I trust him enough to figure out his old GPU is the problem (because the CPU really shouldn't be).
The budget would be more important to know.

#11
Well that depends on the budget and which 1050 Ti he was going to buy.
https://pcpartpicker.com/products/video-card/#c=380,392&sort=price&page=1
Because for simlar models the difference is about 50$ or ~25%. That's not exactly the same price. Nothing wrong with paying 25% more for 50% more performance but only if you can afford it.

Models don't need to be similar. The cheapest barebones RX 570 is still faster than the fastest most expensive GTX 1050 ti. If you are willing to go used (with this sort of budget you should be) they are basically the same price.

I know but that's the best way to show the price difference. Also I assumed that he would not be going for a 300$ 1050 Ti.
Used prices are different and when looking for used GPUs you should include older GPUs as well instead of only looking at those that are still being sold.
And a used 570 is a huge gamble.

If you are referring to mining it isn't really that big of a deal. RX 570s have only been out for a year and mining rigs are not OC'd (if anything they are underclocked). The only thing i would worry about is fans but these cards are not that old and fans are easy and cheap to replace. I mean if your going to buy a R9 390x (a card that runs hot stock and has been out for a few years now) i would be more concerned but not a RX 570.

A used GTX 970 is also a great option. Maxwell cards where never really mined on cause they blow at it.

So I went asking for prices before doing my buy and the cheapest 1050Ti I could find is at $250 (computer components prices are pretty high here) and the cheapest used i5 2500 (not K, not that I can overclock it anyways) is $30~, so I'm thinking on getting the 1050Ti and some RAM since I'm not sure if what I have now (4Gb) is enough for gaming and shits.

EDIT: My budget was $300 so I actually can afford the 1050Ti and the i5, but I'm not sure if the i5 is that big of an upgrade for gaming, so I may get RAM instead.

Yeah, 2500 or 2500K doesn't matter, whichever is cheaper. Only the 2550K would be marginally faster.
You could just get the GPU first (could still take a look at used GPUs) and upgrade the CPU only if it turns out to be holding you back (especially min fps).

RAM might be a good idea. How many slots does your mobo have though? Would be great if you don't have to replace anything and can just add more.

As for CPUs so you're not limited to the 2500 here's a rough ranking:
3770(K) > 3570(K) > 2700K > 3550 > 2600(K) = 2550K > 3470 > 2500(K) > 3450
Below that I don't think the upgrade would be worth it.
The 2500(K) should be around 20% faster than 2100, more in OW and DOOM.

I still have 3 free slots for RAM and thanks for the CPU list, I will have it in mind if I upgrade my CPU in the future.