Graphics card or whole new PC?

Pablosammy

Pablosammy

Pablosammy

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This thread has been done a million times, but I'm after opinions please. I'm hoping to pick up an RTX 2070 for 1440p casual gaming, but I'm wondering if it's time to splash the cash and upgrade my whole setup. Currently I have...

Intel Core i7 3770 (socket 1155)
Asus P8Z77-V
16gb (2x8GB) Corsair DDR3 1600 10-10-10-27
Geforce GTX 660
500GB Samsung 850 EVO Sata 3 SSD

I have decent PSU that doesn't need upgrading, same story with the case.

How much real-world gaming difference would I see if I upgraded to a 9700k, some DDR4 and an NVMe SSD? Would it be night and day, or would my old system run a 2070 adequately? It would have to be significant, as a full upgrade might end up being four figures on top of the graphics card!
 
You will have a significant bump upgrading both the GPU and CPU - but as time is on your side you could experiment with the 2070 Super (don't get the vanilla card) and see how it fairs.

This will give you time for prices to drop - even on the AMD side i.e. b550 release and CPU price drops - or the release of the MSI B450 MAX at ~£99... You could get a whole lot of system for your money in a ~months time...

Although that non K 3770 will hold the 2070 Super back - but still worth the experiment given:

Pablosammy said:
casual gaming
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Plus, you may not feel the botteneck while you wait for price drops/releases.

**You chose PITA of a time to get suspended @orbitalwalsh with all these INTEL requests. :D
 
If that's a 1440P 60hz monitor, you're fairly OK for a while longer. If it's 1440P 144hz, the 3770 will hold the card back somewhat in some games.

But a GPU upgrade for sure should be your priority. The 3770 is still an "OK" CPU, the GTX660 is totally beyond obsolete.
 
Thanks guys, I think I'll grab a 2070 super when I can and hold out for a while on the rest of the system. My monitor is only 60hz so it sounds like I should be set for now at least. Cheers for the feedback.
 
is your cpu a 3770 or 3770k?
if it's a non-oc 3770, it will bottleneck a 2070S
if you have a 3770k, you can oc the cpu to minimise the bottleneck somewhat.
 
I have a non-k 3770 unfortunately.

I'll be honest, I'm rapidly talking myself into building a tiny low-compromise (expensive!) build that I can easily run between the study and the living room when the Mrs is out! Can anyone see any flaws in this build...?

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £2,018.05 (includes shipping: £11.70)
​
 
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Pablosammy said:
I have a non-k 3770 unfortunately.

I'll be honest, I'm rapidly talking myself into building a tiny low-compromise (expensive!) build that I can easily run between the study and the living room when the Mrs is out! Can anyone see any flaws in this build...?

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £2,018.05 (includes shipping: £11.70)
​
Click to expand...
Why are you putting a non blower card into a mini ITX case? Is the water cooling for both CPU and GPU?
 
The bottleneck isn't going to be bad at 1440P at all. A 3770 is still pretty OK, just whack everything to 1440P ultra with max AA applied. In 90% of games the 3770 isn't going to be a bottleneck on a 60hz monitor.

If you had >60hz then different story entirely.
 
Terrorfirmer said:
If you had >60hz then different story entirely.
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As above, i had/tried a 2500K @ ~4.7GHz coupled with a GTX 1070 using a 60Hz UltraSharp IPS panel (not your typical gaming screen) - I was very impressed with the results with the AAA games i tested - most maxed (~18 months ago, for reference).

Before Zen+ came out we were always recommending the GPU as a solid upgrade for these type threads (ideally a K series with clock). The performance of Zen 2 has muddied the waters somewhat - but as mentioned you have the luxury of trying the GPU out - no loss. Plus, while testing your new GPU time will pass and hopefully you'll benefit from further price reductions/board releases by the time you feel you need to fully upgrade.
 
At this stage the 3770 is even better than a 2500K 4.7Ghz too. Those extra threads really help with those 1% lows in the latest games, which tend to get ignored in a low of conversation in favor of average frames.

EG - 100 v 80 AVG fps tells one story, while 30 v 60 1/0.1% lows tells another entirely
 
Plec said:
As above, i had/tried a 2500K @ ~4.7GHz coupled with a GTX 1070 using a 60Hz UltraSharp IPS panel (not your typical gaming screen) - I was very impressed with the results with the AAA games i tested - most maxed (~18 months ago, for reference).

Before Zen+ came out we were always recommending the GPU as a solid upgrade for these type threads (ideally a K series with clock). The performance of Zen 2 has muddied the waters somewhat - but as mentioned you have the luxury of trying the GPU out - no loss. Plus, while testing your new GPU time will pass and hopefully you'll benefit from further price reductions/board releases by the time you feel you need to fully upgrade.
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I would definitely go along with this. The GPU upgrade will still make the biggest difference.
 
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