Hi everyone so im in abit of a situtation here, my current rig consists of a i7 4790 (non k) 16gb ddr3 2133mhz and z97 motherboard and rx480 nitro 4gb, now im looking to upgrade my rig for 1080p gaming, i planned on buying a RX5700. now some will say this card is way overkill for 1080p but its realistically the only "upgrade" amd wise. im aiming for a smooth 60fps which the rx480 just isnt giving me anymore, mainly due to the 4gb vram. now heres the problem ive heard people saying that id be suffering with bottleneck isues due to the 4790? how true is this? and has anyone else paired this cpu with the rx5700? id love to upgrade to a ryzen 3600x but really cant justify spending that much money on pretty much a new system. but if it came to it, which would be worth upgrading first the cpu or gpu? many thanks
I7 4790 (non k) & RX480 4gb upgrade ideas?
- Thread starter Matty956
- Start date
the best you can do with a non-k haswell is bclk overclocking and then enable MCE so the all-core boost speed = single-core boost speed
but do beware that bclk overclocking can affect all parts of the system and cause instability/data loss
bclk normally = 100mhz, but can go up to 106mhz-ish...so max clockspeed = 40x106 = 4.24ghz on a 4790 non-k (but at this bclk speed most of the times will be unstable. 102.x is probably doable = ~4.1ghz)
it defintiely would be a bottleneck depending on which game you play...but shouldn't be too much of a bottleneck for a 5700 non-xt
i wouldn't change it out just yet
nearly always gpu first
If your GPU is pegged @ 100% usage and/or you are running out of VRAM all the time then I would say it's better to upgrade the GPU first. Yes it will be bottlenecked by the CPU but as it's presumably the main culprit you have to stat somewhere.
I would say put all you can towards the GPU first, the non-k CPU is a pain but you have to start somewhere.
I would say put all you can towards the GPU first, the non-k CPU is a pain but you have to start somewhere.
As everyone' alluded to, invest in whats bottlenecking you.
If its your GPU, upgrade GPU.
I wouldn't plug anymore money into the chipset you're invested in. Sadly if it is your processor showing its age, then you'll likely need to pony up for a new build. The 3600 seems like a safe bet which will 60fps+ any game. in for the forsee-able future and is phenomenal value with some very nice upgrade options.
If its your GPU, just get whatever is cheapest at the moment and best bang for buck as Nvidia will likely improve on their offerings and prove HDMI 2.1 which will be a 'killer' feature for us gamers, if HDMI 2.1 Gsync VRR displays become a thing (spoiler it's already a thing on LG oled displays).
The ability for yourself to buy an LG OLED C9 in a year or twos time for a bargain basement price second hand would give you a bigger boost in visual fidelity than most other upgrades could whilst providing you with that buttery smooth gsync.
If its your GPU, upgrade GPU.
I wouldn't plug anymore money into the chipset you're invested in. Sadly if it is your processor showing its age, then you'll likely need to pony up for a new build. The 3600 seems like a safe bet which will 60fps+ any game. in for the forsee-able future and is phenomenal value with some very nice upgrade options.
If its your GPU, just get whatever is cheapest at the moment and best bang for buck as Nvidia will likely improve on their offerings and prove HDMI 2.1 which will be a 'killer' feature for us gamers, if HDMI 2.1 Gsync VRR displays become a thing (spoiler it's already a thing on LG oled displays).
The ability for yourself to buy an LG OLED C9 in a year or twos time for a bargain basement price second hand would give you a bigger boost in visual fidelity than most other upgrades could whilst providing you with that buttery smooth gsync.
Here's a very simple test: run Task Manager on a second monitor and look at the CPU usage while you game. Also run GPU-Z to look at the GPU Is the CPU at 100%? Is one core at 100%? If so you are limited by your CPU. Now look at the GPU usage. Is that 100%? VRAM near 100%? Then you are limited by your GPU. Act accordingly.
Thanks for the advice guys, yes in task manager the 4790 handles the rx480 just fine with gpu usage at 100% load and cpu about 40-60% load, I'm pretty certain I'm going to choosing the rx5700 now after the advice, was just concerned on how considerable the bottleneck would be
Then GPU upgrade is the way to go. Do note though that a better GPU could mean your CPU becomes the bottleneck...
Could get one of the cheaper Vega 56s. little bit power hungry, but splits the difference between a 5700xt and RX 480. Though I don't think you'd be noticeably hampered by the 4790 even with the 5700xt at 1080p. You wouldn't be getting the absolute max performance out of the GPU, but you'd definitely be getting most of it and you can always just turn up the pretty with super sampling