Should i upgrade?

[theoplegends]

I have been struggling with the latest games such as RDR2 and Battlefield in the form of huge lag spikes i dont know if i should upgrade or suffer and if upgrade how?

specs:
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB

RAM: 16 GB DDR3

Operating System: Windows 10

 

[Oussebon]

Are we talking about 'lag' that is to do with internet connection issues - where the in-game world doesn't update, often seen as people running on the spot, or people you try to shoot not actually being where you see them - or 'ag as in stutter where it's like the whole game freezes up and there is a big drop in framerate (stutter).

If it's actual lag (the first kind) it's not a hardware upgrade you need.

if it's stuttery gameplay, it's worth ruling out non-hardware causes first. For instance by doing a clean install of Windows, deleting the partitions on your drive and installing into the blank space left behind.

If you do a CPU upgrade you'd need to do that anyway, so it's no extra work to try and see if it helps.

RDR2 is a bit of a beast. That said, while your gaming experience on it may not be buttery smooth, an i7 2600 should still make a decent fist of it as a 4C/8T CPU going by GN, Guru3D, and OC3D. GN having actually tested an i7 2600k.

What settings are you trying to play the game on?

Does your system have an SSD?

What does Task Manager and Resource Monitor say is using your PC's resources at the times you get the stutter?

 

[theoplegends]

its fps lag and im running all my games on the "optimized" settings that geforce experience provides

i have ssd and i cant even launch the game with discord open

 

[Oussebon]

That would be the first thing to change then!

Geforce Experience's settings are notoriously overambitious.

if you bought a more powerful PC and used the recommended settings for that new hardware, you'd probably still get sub optimal performance because it would just jack the settings up again to something unrealistic for your new hardware too.

Disable automatic settings optimisation in GFE (GFE > settings > games > uncheck "Automatically optimise newly added games")

And try running the games on low settings. Manage the settings in-game only. See what happens. If performance is fine, try them on medium, and so forth.

Carry on, and experiment with individual settings until you get the balance of quality and performance you like.

If performance is bad even on low, then more troubleshooting is needed and people here can advise.

 

[sootngiz]

I have been struggling with the latest games such as RDR2 and Battlefield in the form of huge lag spikes i dont know if i should upgrade or suffer and if upgrade how?

specs:
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB

RAM: 16 GB DDR3

Operating System: Windows 10

You have a decent pc, I'd try lowering the settings on games and if that doesn't help then I'd probably upgrade.

 

[randyl]

You're sitting at the minimum CPU requirement for RDR2. Steam lists the i5-2500K as the minimum processor and is 5 - more powerful in all but 8 core workloads.

The 1060 is more powerful than either of the two recommended mins for GPU. It should be able to handle the game on modest settings.

For Battlefield, your video card meets the minimum specs, but in my opinion your CPU, while able to run it, does not. So it's going to struggle in my opinion.

To answer your question, in my opinion your base rig (CPU/Mobo/RAM) needs an upgrade. Your core rig is based on Sandy Bridge which is aging. I can relate, I'm on Haswell (the next Tock CPU generation after you). You could reuse your video card and possibly hard drives/SSD and any PCI add-in card. I always recommend replacing the PSU with a new motherboard. If your current rig is still good for daily use, except for the games yo mentioned, and your budget can afford it, then I would recommend keeping it as a backup computer and building a fresh rig.

 

[Oussebon]

I'd have to recommend against using the minimum requirements published by developers for their games versus actual game performance benchmarks.

You don't need an i5 6600k minimum to run BF1(!) for instance.

While there may be benefits to a hardware upgrade, actual tests of the games on that hardware show it should be perfectly playable.

 

[Shadowclash10]

Hmm, I would follow @Oussebon 's advice about Geforce Experience. IMHO, your CPU does need an upgrade. Which would also mean upgrading your mobo and RAM.