Best GPU upgrade for my older i5 9600K?

[gwsbatov]

Hello,

I have an older system with an i5 9600K and a GTX 1650. I was hoping to upgrade my GPU but I don’t want anything that will bottleneck my system. This is one of the last upgrades I plan to make to this computer, but am not sure what to get. Mainly looking at Nvidia cards like the RTX 2060, 2060 super, etc.

Many thanks

 

[Sunny and 75]

How much are you willing to spend?

 

[wolf]

For that sort of gen I'd aim fairly low, 3060/4060 /6600xt/7600xt, maybe a touch higher if going second hand or on a special, but much more than those will be increasingly held back by the CPU.

 

[Sunny and 75]

Wait for Arrow Lake Q4.

The op should upgrade their CPU, though they did say GPU upgrade. So I'm guessing they'll stick to that 9600K for the time being.

 

[AleXXX666]

Hello,

I have an older system with an i5 9600K and a GTX 1650. I was hoping to upgrade my GPU but I don’t want anything that will bottleneck my system. This is one of the last upgrades I plan to make to this computer, but am not sure what to get. Mainly looking at Nvidia cards like the RTX 2060, 2060 super, etc.

Many thanks

plain 2060 gets you 202% of 1650 power. For "last go" I wouldn't spend more, and wolf's advice "maybe a touch higher if going second hand or on a special" isn't worth, no offense, it's stupid to put 20" wheels to 1.5cc engine car, same here.

 

[Onasi]

I don’t think, as I’ve mentioned in many threads already, that worrying about bottlenecks and deliberately buying low is a good play. Hot take, I know. But the long standing advice of “buy the best GPU you can afford” still very much applies, I feel. It will serve you well and when you inevitably upgrade the platform/CPU it will be viable still. Spending X amount now and then spending AGAIN to buy a new GPU after a CPU upgrade seems… wasteful? I feel like people took the “bottleneck” thing from tech media and have ran with it to a point where it no longer had its original meaning.

Obviously, this all applies if we are talking main PC and potential part re-use. If it’s a side-system or something you plan to pass down in its entirety later - disregard all the above and buy a used 3060 or something.

 

[Sunny and 75]

buy the best GPU you can afford

This^

 

[ty_ger]

These topics seem brutal to me when I am still using a 3770k. I don't think your bottleneck will be too great to avoid most reasonably-priced GPUs available. I assume that your PSU will similarly limit you from buying a ridiculous overkill GPU anyway.

 

[nomdeplume]

Hello,

I have an older system with an i5 9600K and a GTX 1650. I was hoping to upgrade my GPU but I don’t want anything that will bottleneck my system. This is one of the last upgrades I plan to make to this computer, but am not sure what to get. Mainly looking at Nvidia cards like the RTX 2060, 2060 super, etc.

Many thanks

2xxx should've been swatted out of existence in the first comment.
3060ti / 3070 models or AMD equivalent are where the majority of ownership has gravitated for good reason.
I'd get out as cheap as possible with the best preserved card you can get.


xx90 (AMD equivalent) are the only place you avoid completely lopsided segmentation choices. So don't worry VRAM etc to death.
Focus instead on system balance in setting up whatever you purchase.
If you really seriously want to avoid bottlenecking or mixing inter-generational tech - 1080ti is the closest realistic option you have with all things considered
3060ti etc are worth any non-parity even if you avoid RT.

 

[ShrimpBrime]

2xxx should've been swatted out of existence in the first comment.
3060ti / 3070 models or AMD equivalent are where the majority of ownership has gravitated for good reason.
I'd get out as cheap as possible with the best preserved card you can get.


xx90 (AMD equivalent) are the only place you avoid completely lopsided segmentation choices. So don't worry VRAM etc to death.
Focus instead on system balance in setting up whatever you purchase.
If you really seriously want to avoid bottlenecking or mixing inter-generational tech - 1080ti is the closest realistic option you have with all things considered
3060ti etc are worth any non-parity even if you avoid RT.

Was thinking very similar here. 2060 isn't a consideration when a 6600 XT at the same price would be viable.

9600K is an underdog anyways. Anything up from a GTX 980/ti to 1080ti would be a good way to go, but then chancing on buying used junk that's beaten to death already.

Or, save money. Earn extra money. Then build a new system, selling the old parts to help funding.

 

[mb194dc]

It depends on your use case, you can GPU bottleneck that system if you play at high enough resolution, like 4k with max details. If you want more than 60fps at lower res, obviously that's a different story.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Depends on what games you play of course but the general recommendation of a ~$200 60-70 class GPU as others have made will be a good match.

I have a 2060 Super and 6600 XT and they trade blows in most games with DLSS helping the 2060S and raw Raster helping the 6600 XT. My 6600 XT is a great card while my 2060S is a junk card bought for all of $140, which I replaced the fans on for an extra $14 to get it to a reasonable performance profile. Which is to say price will determine value. Current new US prices, your region will differ:

6600 $190
6600 XT $220
3060 12GB $275
4060 $290

I'd go 6600 or 6600 XT but if Nvidia features are real important to you, the 4060 is OK and don't forget to look at used options as 3060 prices could be good.

 

[wheresmycar]

Hello,

I have an older system with an i5 9600K and a GTX 1650. I was hoping to upgrade my GPU but I don’t want anything that will bottleneck my system. This is one of the last upgrades I plan to make to this computer, but am not sure what to get. Mainly looking at Nvidia cards like the RTX 2060, 2060 super, etc.

Many thanks

Some more info would be helpful:

Budget?

Use case? (gaming/streaming/work related GPU rendering/etc)

Display resolution and refresh rate?

Also if gaming it would be useful to know what type of games and preferred quality settings.

As for bottlenecks this will exist either way... We can't eliminate bottlenecks all-together but can shift the goal posts to achieve our desired performance targets. The limiting component can be anything - CPU, GPU, the game itself, the display refresh rate, etc.

 

[gwsbatov]

How much are you willing to spend?

Hoping not to spend too much over $200, I was looking and found used 2060s around that range

For that sort of gen I'd aim fairly low, 3060/4060 /6600xt/7600xt, maybe a touch higher if going second hand or on a special, but much more than those will be increasingly held back by the CPU.

Yeah, I was mainly looking at 2060s as my motherboard only supports PCI 3.0

The op should upgrade their CPU, though they did say GPU upgrade. So I'm guessing they'll stick to that 9600K for the time being.

I would, but that would require a new mobo ram and power supply and at that point I’ll just build a new computer.

 

[ShiBDiB]

4060 and then look into upgrading the CPU/Mobo in the nearish future.

People recommending 2xxx series cards are just setting you up for failure in the future. A 4060 will last awhile, a 2060 is already bordering on outdated.

 

[wNotyarD]

Yeah, I was mainly looking at 2060s as my motherboard only supports PCI 3.0

At the performance range you're looking at, a PCIe 4.0 card won't lose much performance as long as it uses 16 lanes (so stir away from any x8 or lower card). If you can find a nicely priced 3060 12GB I'd say to get it.

 

[gwsbatov]

plain 2060 gets you 202% of 1650 power. For "last go" I wouldn't spend more, and wolf's advice "maybe a touch higher if going second hand or on a special" isn't worth, no offense, it's stupid to put 20" wheels to 1.5cc engine car, same here.

Yeah, that’s what I was thinking too

I don’t think, as I’ve mentioned in many threads already, that worrying about bottlenecks and deliberately buying low is a good play. Hot take, I know. But the long standing advice of “buy the best GPU you can afford” still very much applies, I feel. It will serve you well and when you inevitably upgrade the platform/CPU it will be viable still. Spending X amount now and then spending AGAIN to buy a new GPU after a CPU upgrade seems… wasteful? I feel like people took the “bottleneck” thing from tech media and have ran with it to a point where it no longer had its original meaning.

Obviously, this all applies if we are talking main PC and potential part re-use. If it’s a side-system or something you plan to pass down in its entirety later - disregard all the above and buy a used 3060 or something.

Yeah, going to build a new pc at a later date. If I’m upgrading my psu mobo ram and case all to support a better card… then it’s just buying a new computer at that point for me

These topics seem brutal to me when I am still using a 3770k. I don't think your bottleneck will be too great to avoid most reasonably-priced GPUs available. I assume that your PSU will similarly limit you from buying a ridiculous overkill GPU anyway.

Yeah, I am just trying to buy a used 20 series to cheaply upgrade performance, nothing overkill I’d say

2xxx should've been swatted out of existence in the first comment.
3060ti / 3070 models or AMD equivalent are where the majority of ownership has gravitated for good reason.
I'd get out as cheap as possible with the best preserved card you can get.


xx90 (AMD equivalent) are the only place you avoid completely lopsided segmentation choices. So don't worry VRAM etc to death.
Focus instead on system balance in setting up whatever you purchase.
If you really seriously want to avoid bottlenecking or mixing inter-generational tech - 1080ti is the closest realistic option you have with all things considered
3060ti etc are worth any non-parity even if you avoid RT.

Got it, thank you

Was thinking very similar here. 2060 isn't a consideration when a 6600 XT at the same price would be viable.

9600K is an underdog anyways. Anything up from a GTX 980/ti to 1080ti would be a good way to go, but then chancing on buying used junk that's beaten to death already.

Or, save money. Earn extra money. Then build a new system, selling the old parts to help funding.

Fair point!

True, resolution plays a huge role

Depends on what games you play of course but the general recommendation of a ~$200 60-70 class GPU as others have made will be a good match.

I have a 2060 Super and 6600 XT and they trade blows in most games with DLSS helping the 2060S and raw Raster helping the 6600 XT. My 6600 XT is a great card while my 2060S is a junk card bought for all of $140, which I replaced the fans on for an extra $14 to get it to a reasonable performance profile. Which is to say price will determine value. Current new US prices, your region will differ:

6600 $190
6600 XT $220
3060 12GB $275
4060 $290

I'd go 6600 or 6600 XT but if Nvidia features are real important to you, the 4060 is OK and don't forget to look at used options as 3060 prices could be good.

Okay, thank you

Some more info would be helpful:

Budget?

Use case? (gaming/streaming/work related GPU rendering/etc)

Display resolution and refresh rate?

Also if gaming it would be useful to know what type of games and preferred quality settings.

As for bottlenecks this will exist either way... We can't eliminate bottlenecks all-together but can shift the goal posts to achieve our desired performance targets. The limiting component can be anything - CPU, GPU, the game itself, the display refresh rate, etc.

I use this pc mainly just for work and some light gaming, I am using 1080p 75hz and I was just hoping to cheaply slap in a new gpu to slightly up performance to hold me off until I build a new pc cause this old tech isn’t worth much of anything

For that sort of gen I'd aim fairly low, 3060/4060 /6600xt/7600xt, maybe a touch higher if going second hand or on a special, but much more than those will be increasingly held back by the CPU.

That is true, cpu is fairly weak

 

[dgianstefani]

4060

 

[tussinman]

In that price range you listed (not much over $200) I don't really think you can go overkill. Even more modern cards like the RX 7600, 6600, 6650XT, RTX 3060, 4060 all offer raw performance in the 2070/2080 range.

The 9600k although old was a popular paired CPU with the original 2070/2080 cards so I don't think pairing it with the modern equivalent (cards listed above) is unreasonable.

 

[natr0n]

I got a 9600k its quite a good cpu can pair with anything new and have a good time.

Clocks close to 5Ghz or more as well and most games will work perfectly with 6 higher clocked cores.

 

[Dr. Dro]

RTX 4060 Ti will fit like a glove. Low power requirements, great thermals, adequate performance for your system, and unbeatable feature set. More importantly, great driver support.

 

[ShrimpBrime]

I got a 9600k its quite a good cpu can pair with anything new and have a good time.

Clocks close to 5Ghz or more as well and most games will work perfectly with 6 higher clocked cores.

I don't agree. 9600K was prime for its time. I have a 14100F that would eat a 5ghz 9600K alive and you can't even clock it.

OP should seriously consider a platform upgrade at this point. 2025 is in 6 months. 15th gen around the corner. AMD headed to 9000 series processors.

How long can we hang onto 14nm Intel? Forever?

 

[natr0n]

I don't agree. 9600K was prime for its time. I have a 14100F that would eat a 5ghz 9600K alive and you can't even clock it.

OP should seriously consider a platform upgrade at this point. 2025 is in 6 months. 15th gen around the corner. AMD headed to 9000 series processors.

How long can we hang onto 14nm Intel? Forever?

Not everyone has buckets of money to buy new parts.

cpu nm doesnt mean much to some of us. Also a 9600k is very efficient less than 50 watts idle on my end. Also real cores. no gimmicks

his choice though

 

[tussinman]

I don't agree. 9600K was prime for its time. I have a 14100F that would eat a 5ghz 9600K alive and you can't even clock it.

14100F will eat it alive on synthetic benchmarks or high FPS gaming with a higher end video card but in his situation none of those 3 things come into play.

How long can we hang onto 14nm Intel? Forever?

For his use (light gaming at 75hz and office work) he's got some life. Most of the cards recommended are like 2-3x faster than what he's got now so he can easily extend some life into it if he really wants too.

 

[ShrimpBrime]

Not everyone has buckets of money to buy new parts.

cpu nm doesnt mean much to some of us. Also a 9600k is very efficient less than 50 watts idle on my end. Also real cores. no gimmicks

his choice though

True, saving money isn't easy these days, I don't know their situation. Obviously can obtain money. Then sell 9600K to help fund new builds. Already said this. And it's my opinion only.

Everything idles 50w lol.

9600K would need to clock 6ghz+ to reach IPC of 14th gen at bone stock. 14100F is P-cores only 4 cores and 8 threads still kills a 9600K no matter how you want to look at it. No gimmicks.

If he's running cpu intense gaming like CSGO/2, then the platform upgrade is everything then.