4770K to 3700X, worthwhile upgrade?

starmanwarz · 7 Oct 2019 at 17:18

So I just got a new 27" 1440p monitor and a 5700 XT to support it and now I got the total upgrade itch. I also wouldn't like my brand new GPU to be severely bottlenecked by my CPU.

I did some reading and it looks like the 3700X is the most popular chip right now, followed by the 9700K.

My question is, would I notice a difference in gaming going from a 4.5Ghz 4770K to a 3700X (or 9700K) or is it not worth upgrading right now? If I were to upgrade, I'd have to buy quite a few parts:

CPU
Cooler (unless I can use my current Noctua D14?)
Motherboard
RAM (Seems like RAM is very important now?)
Case
PSU (unless I can use my current one, a Seasonic G-650 Gold?)

Also, I'd really like to avoid having to overclock again as I don't have the time or the desire to do so, from what I understand these CPU's OC on their own?

Would the gains from such an upgrade be enough to consider spending for a new system?

Wucked · 7 Oct 2019 at 17:41

I went 4770K at 4.5 to 3800X and yes, IMO it’s been very much worthwhile. Using my 1080Ti on both systems I’ve seen performance jumps across the board. You’d definitely see improvements on the 3700X too, there’s little between the 37 and 38.

As an example, Company of Heroes 2 on my 4770K vs 3800X.

3440x1440 all graphical options maxed.

4770K
Min 35.02
Max 75.32
Ave 49.18

3800X
Min 54.67
Max 96.52
Ave 80.65

I went with 3200Mhz DDR4 and I’ve left it all alone so far, no attempt at overclocking. Although I might OC the RAM at some point.

Woodsta888 · 7 Oct 2019 at 18:41

I went from 3770K @4.5Ghz to 3800X on a 1080ti and the difference wasn't just measurable, I 'felt' gaming was much smoother as minimum fps was much better. Before my 3770K would be fluctuating between 85% and 100% whilst gaming, not 98-100% fluctuation in GPU usage.

RAM - decent 3200 kit can do 3600Mhz but if you don't like overclcocking CPU then RAM is an even darker art. I went for 3600Mhz ram kit myself and it took some fettling to get it running at 3600 though I bought Zen2 on release when BIOS's were very immature. Though each BIOS expands RAM compatibility.

I was sceptical due to the haswell upgrade thread, but I'm pleased with my upgrade.

Sin_Chase · 7 Oct 2019 at 19:28

I'm satisfied going from a 4.5GHz 4770k to a 3900x.

Not going to set your world on fire gaming wise but with a 2080 saw an overall uplift and in particular min frames.

Panos · 7 Oct 2019 at 20:43

starmanwarz said:
So I just got a new 27" 1440p monitor and a 5700 XT to support it and now I got the total upgrade itch. I also wouldn't like my brand new GPU to be severely bottlenecked by my CPU.

I did some reading and it looks like the 3700X is the most popular chip right now, followed by the 9700K.

My question is, would I notice a difference in gaming going from a 4.5Ghz 4770K to a 3700X (or 9700K) or is it not worth upgrading right now? If I were to upgrade, I'd have to buy quite a few parts:

CPU
Cooler (unless I can use my current Noctua D14?)
Motherboard
RAM (Seems like RAM is very important now?)
Case
PSU (unless I can use my current one, a Seasonic G-650 Gold?)

Also, I'd really like to avoid having to overclock again as I don't have the time or the desire to do so, from what I understand these CPU's OC on their own?

Would the gains from such an upgrade be enough to consider spending for a new system?

Yes you will see difference. Also good cheap board is the B450 Tomahawk Max (not the normal one). Get 3600C16 ram
As for cooler i use D15 on 3900X so you are fine with D14

DoneADougalOnSofa · 7 Oct 2019 at 21:04

Yes. I went 4770K @4.5GHz to a 2700X, and I think that was worth it...

humbug · 7 Oct 2019 at 21:10

I went from a 4690K to Ryzen 1600 and that was worth it, the 3600 i have now blows the Ryzen 1600 out of the water.

Nothing but good stuff.

beany_bot · 8 Oct 2019 at 08:27

Went from a heavily overclocked 4690K to a 3700x.
First thing I noticed was I thought it had bricked my GPU because the fans were so loud all of a sudden. Turns out it just wasnt bottle necked anymore! lol. Suddenly my GPU was the limiting factor and always pinned 100%. Anyway, yes, really great upgrade. Glad I did it.

Steveocee · 8 Oct 2019 at 08:42

You cna use one of these:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/noctua-nm-am4-mounting-kit-hs-037-nc.html

This will allow you to use your D14.

starmanwarz · 8 Oct 2019 at 17:19

Thanks everyone. It looks like it's worth it.

I just installed my 5700 XT nitro, maxed most settings and played for a few minutes, run the AMD interface thingy and the log afterwards said that the GPU utilization was at 78% (77-83) and CPU at 32% (30-39).

What does this mean exactly? I had quite a lot of stuttering, is the CPU holding me back or perhaps my 8GB of RAM?

Steveocee · 8 Oct 2019 at 17:30

starmanwarz said:
What does this mean exactly? I had quite a lot of stuttering, is the CPU holding me back or perhaps my 8GB of RAM?

Check RAM utilisation. If it's 100% then it's your RAM. If not then it's probably CPU.

humbug · 8 Oct 2019 at 17:31

starmanwarz said:
Thanks everyone. It looks like it's worth it.

I just installed my 5700 XT nitro, maxed most settings and played for a few minutes, run the AMD interface thingy and the log afterwards said that the GPU utilization was at 78% (77-83) and CPU at 32% (30-39).

What does this mean exactly? I had quite a lot of stuttering, is the CPU holding me back or perhaps my 8GB of RAM?

If your GPU is not running at 97%+ the CPU is holding it back.

Overall CPU usage will tell you little, Games operate on individual CPU threads so if just one of those is running at 90%+ its not fast enough to feed the GPU.

starmanwarz · 8 Oct 2019 at 17:34

Steveocee said:
Check RAM utilisation

It says 7 on the Excel. i guess 7 out of 8GB?

I run the Borderlands 3 benchmark and GPU was at 97% for the most part but it did drop to 60-70% quite a few times.

starmanwarz · 10 Oct 2019 at 16:26

I decided to upgrade so I'm in the researching process (it's been a long time since I did that!).

Quite a few parts to decide, so far I think that I'll be going for a 3700X (although that slight 9700K edge on gaming is nice), a Tomahawk MAX (or x570 chipset?) 16GB of DDR4 3600Ghz C16 RAM (sounds good?) and a Fractal R6 case.

I'll be keeping my current Seasonic G-650 Gold PSU (bought in 2013) and Noctua D14 CPU cooler (also bought in 2013, maybe the stock 3700X cooler is better?)

Got plenty of reading to do, any recommendations are welcome

starmanwarz · 13 Oct 2019 at 14:55

So far I have ordered the 3700X, a Fractal Design Meshify S2 case, the AM4 kit for my Noctua D14 and I'm about to order the Tomahawk Max (need to read some more). Any RAM recommendations? I hope my Seasonic G-650 will be ok for my new build?

Alexrose1uk · 13 Oct 2019 at 15:18

Ultimately you want to get something that will hit 3600C16 if possible (or even 3800C16/17 and see if you can push your IF to 1900, it's chip dependent). B-Die and Micron E-die tend to be decent. Hynix is hit and miss.

snips86x · 13 Oct 2019 at 15:21

This is all good reading!! Been considering an upgrade myself. Currently running 4770k @4.5ghz with 16gb ram and a 980ti. Might check out the 3800x/3900x

Infiniteey · 13 Oct 2019 at 15:36

Indeed, I've basically in the same position. Currently running a i5 4590 and deciding whether to upgrade my CPU or GPU (GTX970). It seems that going to an 3700X will be more beneficial in general and gaming.

TNA · 13 Oct 2019 at 22:18

For 4K gaming not worth it one bit (knew this going in, but was hopeful of at least minimums improving). My 4.7GHz 4770K gets the same fps and minimums. I guess you need to be CPU bottlenecked for it to be worth it for gaming which I was not even close to.

TrM · 14 Oct 2019 at 03:47

starmanwarz said:
So far I have ordered the 3700X, a Fractal Design Meshify S2 case, the AM4 kit for my Noctua D14 and I'm about to order the Tomahawk Max (need to read some more). Any RAM recommendations? I hope my Seasonic G-650 will be ok for my new build?

currently the 8-pack 3600 cl16 kits are on overclockers for 119.99 really good price for kits with Samsung b die kit not much more then other Kits
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/team...3600mhz-dual-channel-kit-black-my-08q-tg.html