11600k in 2025? :D

[Mustey]

My current system is:
- 10600k
- 2070s
- 16GB 3600

I like to buy AAA games 2 years after release and play them at 1440 (my monitor's max).
Recently, I am no longer able to sustain +50 fps and feeling the need to upgrade.

I have the option to upgrade to a 11600k by giving my 10600k and adding £30. This should yield about 10% CPU performance and unlock PCI-E 4.0.
I know it's a very small gain but it's a cheap in-socket upgrade.
Money and time are very tight for me right now. So, I am considering it...

For the GPU, I am thinking a used 6900xt or 7800xt.

Do you reckon it's still all just a waste of time and money and I should just OC the 10600k (because, perhaps, the 6900xt won't saturate a PCI-E 3.0 anyway)

What's confusing me is that I am looking at some tests where the kinda games I would play right now (circa 2023) are performing at 80-120 fps on the 11600k (with a 4090 in the test system LOL) at 1080p.
I am thinking: If it's 1080, then the bottleneck is the CPU and therefore playing at 1440p should be more or less the same load on the CPU and I will be well bottlenecked by the GPU for a couple more years before the platform finally needs to be retired.

Maybe even the 11600k would be fine with a PCI-E 5.0 9070xt? It's only a single PCI-E generation behind and, on high-ish settings, the bottleneck is at the GPU? Or am I totally dillusional?

 

[Tetras]

It is really hard to give decent advice without knowing exactly which games you're struggling to hit 60 fps, but you can at least monitor those games and see what is happening with your CPU/GPU usage.

On release, the 11600K was barely any faster, but it does seem to have pulled ahead a bit over time, maybe the higher IPC having an impact beyond just apps.

What is the motherboard, by the way? Not all motherboards supported the upgrade.

 

[Mustey]

Let's say: Warhammer Space Marine 2, Remnant 2 (Not Flight Sim or Cities Skylines). I am not a competitive player either, just enjoying some vivid co-op games with the Mrs. (Who has a much better PC)

Mobo is: Gigabyte Z490 AORUS PRO AX

 

[Tetras]

Let's say: Warhammer Space Marine 2, Remnant 2 (Not Flight Sim or Cities Skylines). I am not a competitive player either, just enjoying some vivid co-op games with the Mrs. (Who has a much better PC)

Mobo is: Gigabyte Z490 AORUS PRO AX

I see. What other benchmarks did you find for those games?

Having a look at these (they're just GPU, unfortunately), I wonder if you're actually hitting a GPU bottleneck?

What does your percentage of CPU/GPU usage say when you're playing the game?

Remnant II Benchmark Test & Performance Analysis

Remnant II is one of the first titles to use Unreal Engine 5. UE5 introduces many improvements, like Nanite virtual geometry, Lumen lighting and improvements to the shader compilation process. In our performance review, we're taking a closer look at image quality, VRAM usage, and performance on...

www.techpowerup.com

Warhammer: Space Marine 2 Performance Benchmark Review - 35 GPUs Tested

Space Marine 2 is the latest entry in the Warhammer 40K universe, where you step into the role of an Ultramarine and battle against the alien Tyranids. In our performance review, we'll look at the game's graphics quality, VRAM consumption, and how it runs across a range of contemporary graphics...

www.techpowerup.com

 

[Mustey]

The computer is in parts now as it hasn't been dusted since inception back in 2019
I am pretty sure it is indeed a GPU bottleneck.

I wasn't very good at outlining the premise of my question (maybe even my whole thinking about it)
I guess what I am really asking is: "If I tend to play visuals-first games at 1440-high, only using affordable GPU's, then does the 11600k have legs to carry me into the 9070xt era?"

 

[Mustey]

This review seems to indicate that it's not such a bad idea:

Assuming the 14600k is a CPU kind of in the premium range as of today, the FPS is certainly fine at 1080p and then the 11600k should be even closer to the better CPUs at 1440p, right?

 

[Tetras]

This review seems to indicate that it's not such a bad idea:

Hmm, I'm not a big fan of videos without gameplay footage.

I wasn't very good at outlining the premise of my question (maybe even my whole thinking about it)
I guess what I am really asking is: "If I tend to play visuals-first games at 1440-high, only using affordable GPU's, then does the 11600k have legs to carry me into the 9070xt era?"

I think the answer is always going to be "it depends". For some games: absolutely yes, but for other games: you'll face a big bottleneck.

My main concern isn't really the question: "can I upgrade my GPU?", because yes, I'm sure you will benefit from that in graphically demanding games at 1440p, the question I'm struggling with: is it worth upgrading a 10600K to a 11600K?

The difference is generally pretty small and it is likely to use a chunk more power, but for £30 I'd just go for it because you at least won't lose any performance.

 

[Mustey]

I guess one interesting thing would be to buy a 9070xt (assuming they aren't hens teeth) and see how mine does, on the 11600k, compared to a decent AM5.
Would kinda answer that question (on the games tested).
Next tax year might be better for me and then I might even consider a platform swap - but give that idea a test, for ***** and giggles

 

[Tetras]

I guess one interesting thing would be to buy a 9070xt (assuming they aren't hens teeth) and see how mine does, on the 11600k, compared to a decent AM5.
Would kinda answer that question (on the games tested).
Next tax year might be better for me and then I might even consider a platform swap - but give that idea a test, for ***** and giggles

Yeah, that would be cool to see.

From what I'm aware, the 11600K generally falls behind an i5-12400F or Ryzen 5600, but above a Ryzen 3600 and that level of performance tops out around a 4070/4070 Super or 7800 XT (depending on the game). If your card performs a lot better than those, it'll be holding it back some, even at 1440p.

Anything on the level of a 4080 / 7900 XTX or better, really needs a high-end CPU like a 7800X3D to get the best out of it, but as always some games are more or less GPU dependent.