PC upgrades in preparation for BF6

cluam

cluam

cluam

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14 Nov 2020
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14
Morning all,

I'd really appreciate some general guidance on whether my current plan is feasible.

For a bit of background, I built my current system back in 2021 and it's served me well. As I've gotten older, the joys of adulthood have caught up with me, so the old girl hasn't had much use (or much strenuous usage at least). I'd call myself a very casual gamer these days. Obviously, with the upcoming release of BF6, my old gaming buddies and I are looking to come out of retirement and squad up again.

I played the beta a few times and, although my current system did run it, the gameplay wasn’t exactly smooth and I noticed some pretty high temps on my GPU (averaging around 91°C during play) - not something I've ever experienced before.

I'm therefore looking for a bit of guidance on what would be best to upgrade in order to run the game more stably and, hopefully, avoid those high temps. I don’t play many other major titles and I’m not overly fussed about ultra settings or 4K gaming. I just want smooth gameplay a couple of evenings a week and to reignite that old spark with gaming.

My current system:

PSU: Corsair Rm650x 80 Plus Gold
Mobo: MSI B550-A-Pro
CPU: Ryzen 7 5700x3d (upgraded last year - got a bargain)
RAM: Kingston FURY DDR4 3200 16GB (2x8GB)
GPU: Gigabyte Aorus 2080 Super
SSD: WD Blue SN550 1TB
Monitor: MSI 2560 x 1440 (WQHD)

Im hoping to cling on to AM4 for as long as possible here, and looking to avoid forking out for a whole new system, as I said I'm a very casual gamer nowadays and just don't have the time I used to.

Would I see some improvements if I was to start with a simple GPU upgrade, perhaps something like the 9060 XT? I could get the 9070 XT, but I'm unsure if this may be a bit too much of a jump?

Is my monitor an issue?

And if a GPU upgrade is my answer, would my current RAM/PSU/CPU be enough to avoid any kind of bottlenecking?

I'd appreciate any kind of insight here. I'm just looking for my best bang for buck options!

Thanks very much.
 
cluam said:
Would I see some improvements if I was to start with a simple GPU upgrade, perhaps something like the 9060 XT?
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TPU's GPU database says it is 34% faster, though you do get double the VRAM and FSR4. Personally, I don't think that's enough to be worthwhile and I'd step up to a 9070.

cluam said:
And if a GPU upgrade is my answer, would my current RAM/PSU/CPU be enough to avoid any kind of bottlenecking?
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At 1440p it won't be too bad, though I can't speak for BF6. Hopefully when there will be some good performance guides and scaling articles for both CPU/GPU soon.

PSU: a 9070 uses around the same or less than what you have, so I wouldn't expect a problem. A 9070 XT can use around ~50-60 watts more, depending on the model and any factory/user OC.
 
Save a little bit longer and get a 9070XT and be set for a good few years at 1440P - you'll only kick yourself in a few months time that you didn't :)
 
BF6 loves the X3D chips, so from the CPU side, you're good to go
You also haven't told us what CPU cooler/CPU temps you are getting, so this is another aspect you could potentially upgrade, if required
If it's my budget, I would get 32GB ram and a 9070 (non-xt) and be done with this build
Your next upgrade after the above, would be a whole new system

The reason I would not get a 9070XT is because the 9070XT is 310w TGP, so a 650w PSU is cutting it close. I'd just stick with a 9070 (non-XT) with its 220w TGP
The 9070 (non-XT) is only about 10-15% slower than the 9070XT anyway
 
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tamzzy said:
The reason I would not get a 9070XT is because the 9070XT is 310w TGP, so a 650w PSU is cutting it close.
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iu


People were running X3D's and 4090's with SF750's not long ago though. But I agree it depends how good X PSU is in question :)
 
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+1 just jump straight to 9070xt and bask in FPS. 9060xt is a pseudo-sideways move.

tamzzy said:
BF6 loves the X3D chips, so from the CPU side, you're good to go
You also haven't told us what CPU cooler/CPU temps you are getting, so this is another aspect you could potentially upgrade, if required
If it's my budget, I would get 32GB ram and a 9070 (non-xt) and be done with this build
Your next upgrade after the above, would be a whole new system

The reason I would not get a 9070XT is because the 9070XT is 310w TGP, so a 650w PSU is cutting it close. I'd just stick with a 9070 (non-XT) with its 220w TGP
The 9070 (non-XT) is only about 10-15% slower than the 9070XT anyway
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:edit: actually no, this is the way ^
 
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deviation said:
People were running X3D's and 4090's with SF750's not long ago though. But I agree it depends how good X PSU is in question :)
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OP has a RM650X, so it's half decent (I know you don't like corsair PSUs)

I used to run an OC 3770K + 7990 on a 650w PSU in my less experienced years...I wouldn't do it again, though that being said, that PSU lasted 7 years before it gave up the ghost :cry:
 
tamzzy said:
The 9070 (non-XT) is only about 10-15% slower than the 9070XT anyway
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I've got the non-XT and my friend's got a 9070XT - can barely tell the difference if I'm honest in terms of performance.

Edit: that being said, the 9070XT Pulse is currently £555 on OcUK until 2pm today... (literally less than an hour to go). Insane deal.
 
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tamzzy said:
BF6 loves the X3D chips, so from the CPU side, you're good to go
You also haven't told us what CPU cooler/CPU temps you are getting, so this is another aspect you could potentially upgrade, if required
If it's my budget, I would get 32GB ram and a 9070 (non-xt) and be done with this build
Your next upgrade after the above, would be a whole new system

The reason I would not get a 9070XT is because the 9070XT is 310w TGP, so a 650w PSU is cutting it close. I'd just stick with a 9070 (non-XT) with its 220w TGP
The 9070 (non-XT) is only about 10-15% slower than the 9070XT anyway
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Thanks for your insight, makes perfect sense to me.

Admittedly, a CPU cooler upgrade is something I’m also considering, although I haven’t noticed any major temperature spikes — it’s sitting between 60–70°C during the beta. I currently have an NZXT Kraken X63, which I’m aware isn’t everyone’s first choice.

I’ve heard there are some fairly low-budget air coolers these days that offer great bang for buck?

32GB of RAM seems sensible for stability too, I presume.

I do appreciate that I’m getting dangerously close to the point where upgrading these parts might not make much sense, and a whole new system could be the smarter move. But as I said, I’m just looking to get a few more years out of the old girl - and ideally when I eventually make the leap to AM5 the GPU would still be able to give me a few years there.
 
cluam said:
Thanks for your insight, makes perfect sense to me.

Admittedly, a CPU cooler upgrade is something I’m also considering, although I haven’t noticed any major temperature spikes — it’s sitting between 60–70°C during the beta. I currently have an NZXT Kraken X63, which I’m aware isn’t everyone’s first choice.

I’ve heard there are some fairly low-budget air coolers these days that offer great bang for buck?

32GB of RAM seems sensible for stability too, I presume.

I do appreciate that I’m getting dangerously close to the point where upgrading these parts might not make much sense, and a whole new system could be the smarter move. But as I said, I’m just looking to get a few more years out of the old girl - and ideally when I eventually make the leap to AM5 the GPU would still be able to give me a few years there.
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CPU HSF wise, you cannot go wrong with anything Thermalright are making, Air wise anyway - there has been some mixed failures with the AIO stuff, but many still rate it.
If you did want an AIO though, I'd say it's worth a go with a Thermalright, if you're on a budget?

If you can stretch a bit more, then the current best is the Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro, available in whatever size you want - just make sure that your case and motherboard can clear the 68MM total height required versus other AIO's - Arctic's website has a handy section on their product page to tell you whether X AIO will clear X motherboard ;) Then it's just a matter of measuring the clearance you currently have with your Kraken for comparison.

Also, any HSF you get for AM4, will work on AM5, if/when you upgrade ;) so it's not money wasted :)
 
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cluam said:
Admittedly, a CPU cooler upgrade is something I’m also considering, although I haven’t noticed any major temperature spikes — it’s sitting between 60–70°C during the beta. I currently have an NZXT Kraken X63, which I’m aware isn’t everyone’s first choice.

I’ve heard there are some fairly low-budget air coolers these days that offer great bang for buck?
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There's little to be gained upgrading from that, unless you're worried it is going to die.
 
cluam said:
I do appreciate that I’m getting dangerously close to the point where upgrading these parts might not make much sense, and a whole new system could be the smarter move. But as I said, I’m just looking to get a few more years out of the old girl - and ideally when I eventually make the leap to AM5 the GPU would still be able to give me a few years there.
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Upgrading to 32GB ram and the 9070 will see you though the lifetime of this PC.

Your next upgrade is not to AM5, but rather AM6 or the Intel equivalent in 2028+
 
Nabinium said:
Do you have a rough budget of how much you'd spend on an upgrade? That may help you decide what to do.
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Not particularly.

Obviously the 9070 / 9070 XT are sitting around the 500-550 mark with the current sales. But as others have flagged I'm a little concerned about my PSU with the XT!

I think DDR4 rams prices are on the rise too.

Ultimately I think max £600 is the goal here. But factoring in the sale of some of my second hand components (like the 2080S and my old R5 3600) I'm hoping to get back at least a few hundred there - at least that's how I'm justifying these purchases to myself and my partner.
 
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