What GPU upgrade makes sense for an i5-8400 and 550W power supply?
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MellowCedar27
My current PC has a Gigabyte H310M S2H 2.0 motherboard, an Intel i5-8400, 16GB of DDR4-2400 memory, a Gigabyte GTX 1050 Ti 4GB, three 2TB hard drives, one 1TB M.2 SSD, and a 550W 80 Plus Bronze power supply. I'd like to upgrade the graphics card and want recommendations that will work with my power supply without causing a significant CPU bottleneck. I'm also wondering whether I should upgrade the processor at the same time.
Answers
A used RX 6600 is worth considering because it generally offers excellent performance for the money and has relatively low power consumption. The i5-8400 should pair reasonably well with it. Going much faster than an RX 6600 or RTX 3060 may leave more performance unused because of the six-core CPU, particularly at 1080p.
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The RTX 3060 12GB is a sensible upper-range choice for this system. It should run from a good 550W supply and gives you more VRAM than the 1050 Ti. Just keep in mind that upgrading the graphics card alone won’t eliminate CPU limits in high-frame-rate or processor-heavy games.
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Your 550W Bronze power supply should be enough for an RTX 2060 or RTX 3060, assuming it’s a decent-quality unit and has the required PCIe power connectors. The RTX 3060 would be the stronger option, especially for 1080p or 1440p gaming, although the i5-8400 may limit it in some CPU-heavy games.
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MellowCedar27: Would you recommend upgrading the CPU as well, and if so, what processor would work with my motherboard?