Upgrade path for my 100Hz 3440x1440 gaming experience

Vexr

Vexr

Vexr

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I have a Ryzen 7 2700 and a Radeon 5700 XT, with 16 GB CAS15 3000 MHz DDR4 (aka the same as CAS16 3200 MHz RAM).

I have a 100 Hz 3440x1440 Freesync monitor.

For me, 70-100 FPS has all the smoothness I could hope for. At 48-52 FPS my monitor has the hazard of flickering while trying to deliver Freesync'd frames, which basically ruins everything.

I'm wondering about upgrading and finally resolving my dilemma, so I can always have a minimum >60fps at this resolution and try to max out this platform.

From what I can tell, I'm 99% GPU limited, despite the 2700 being a bit of a donkey gaming-wise.

I'm also hearing rumours of the AMDrop (aka nothing but an 5800X3D will do if you want okay to playable 1%-0.1% lows on the AM4 platform, and even then the 5800X3D might not be up to the task)

I have a B450 Motherboard (so PCI-3.0 x16 max) and a case that allows a maximum of a 290mm width GFX card (enough to fit a 3080 or 3080 Ti FE, but no larger)


Any advice on how to get that sweet solid 70> FPS experience in triple AAA games for bottom dollar on this platform, I would be interested in hearing. I would also like to finally see Ray Tracing at this FPS, but understand if that is a bridge too far.

My other thought is to just bin the whole idea of upgrading off as we're still in rip-off territory until 2023, and then see what's around then / how the economy is.
 
New gpu first then move on to cpu if the 1% lows dips below your target framerates. Would look at gpu benchmarks for the AAA titles you want to play at your resoloution.

A 3080 is aprox 90% faster than your 5700xt at 1440p.
 
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Like micky says upgrade the gpu first. With RT in mind keep your eyes open for good deal on second hand 3080 or buy new. In a months time the 7900xtx should offer superior RT performance than a 3080 with vastly superior rasterisation but we will have to wait for independent reviews before we know for sure. With your mobo being pcie 3 there are uncertainties with the newer gpus , we know a 3080 works just fine with the limited bandwidth of pcie 3 but not sure anyone has tested a 4090 or 7900xtx with pcie 3 yet so best to stick to the 3000 series imho.

If, once you have upgraded your gpu , you are still not happy with your performance then update BIOS and instal a 5600 or keep eyes open for second hand 5600x. Is close to black friday so if a decent deal for 5800 X3D pops up then get that.

So to summarize , upgrade gpu to 3080 or if you do not care about RT then there has been great deals on 6800xt and 6900xt, would allow you to keep using freesync. If still not happy pop in 5600 , no need to upgrade the entire pc imho.

P.s. Once you have had a think about which gpu to go for you may want to think about a new PSU. If you wait until 2023 there will be the PCIE 5 ATX 3.0 versions widely available to could pick up one of those , they should still have all the old 8 pin connectors you need.
 
Thanks for the tips. Confirms my suspicion that, despite Ryzen 5000 CPUs being dangled in front of my eyes heavily discounted and looking reeallly tempting, I should hold off until I can sort an appropriate graphics card for my needs and then assess the CPU bottleneck.

A secondary consideration is hooking my PC up to my 4K TV for some games. My TV is a 60 Hz display and can do Freesync / VRR down to 48 Hz. 4K 48-60 FPS is probably similarly demanding to doing 70+ FPS on my UWQHD PC monitor GPU-wise, but significantly easier on the CPU.

Interesting the base RX 7900 XTX dimensions include 287 mm in length, which would just a say fit in my case. Whereas the 4080 FE certainly cannot, and as mentioned above, only the 3080 / Ti FE can, and only a tiny handful of 3rd party 3080 AIBs are sub <290mm.
 
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I had an R9 3900X before but switching to an i7 2700K has made a noticeable difference so a 5800X3D would be as good or better.

You mentioned RT being an aim and Cyberpunk is being updated continually with DLSS & FSR so I selected the default High profile and tested the below at 3440 x 1440 with a 10GB RTX 3080.

RT with all options + RT Lighting at medium running the built in benchmark
  1. Native - 31 fps average - looked sharp
  2. FSR 2.1 - 63 fps average - somewhat soft graphics
  3. DLSS - 65 fps average - between native and FSR for sharpness
So you'll definitely need the next gen GPUs to run RT at any useable frame rate without the DLSS & FSR slightly affecting quality IMHO. I'm waiting for the RX 7900 TXT benchmarks to see if it's got decent RT performance at 3440 x 1440 and likely buy one of those.
 
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I'm leaning toward the enlightened idea of viewing upgrades as relative to my current setup, rather than aiming for xxx fps @ ~ y settings as per reviews and advice.

qHiVvOM.jpeg


^Here's my 2700 (forgot to OC in Ryzen Master) with my 5700 XT at 3440x1440. If I can add 90-100% performance to both of those for a £600 budget combined, perhaps I should call it and stop sweating the X3D and the latest £1K+ GPUs with ray tracing, and focus on having fun in games / getting on with life.

I guess the best bang for the buck options are a 5600 / 5700X with a 6800XT. Or even better is sitting on my backside for a few months and wait for the overpriced PC market to adjust to the wider suffering economy, then reassess.
 
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Vexr said:
I'm leaning toward the enlightened idea of viewing upgrades as relative to my current setup, rather than aiming for xxx fps @ ~ y settings as per reviews and advice.

qHiVvOM.jpeg


^Here's my 2700 (forgot to OC in Ryzen Master) with my 5700 XT at 3440x1440. If I can add 90-100% performance to both of those for a £600 budget combined, perhaps I should call it and stop sweating the X3D and the latest £1K+ GPUs with ray tracing, and focus on having fun in games / getting on with life.

I guess the best bang for the buck options are a 5600 / 5700X with a 6800XT. Or even better is sitting on my backside for a few months and wait for the overpriced PC market to adjust to the wider suffering economy, then reassess.
Click to expand...
Wait and see what the new 7000 series are like.
 
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