Best upgrade path for my gaming PC (£1500 budget)

[ZippZipp]

Hi everyone!

New to the forum and looking for some advice on my gaming PC build. I got a few parts from a friend at a good price and now I’m trying to complete the build within a budget of around £1300-1500.

Already Have:

• Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2
• Motherboard: MSI Z490-A Pro
• Power Supply: Corsair RM750 (750W)
• RAM: 2x32GB Thermaltake ToughRAM DDR4-3600MHz

Originally, I planned to use an MSI Z490-A Pro motherboard, but I realized I’d probably need an upgrade to support a 14th Gen CPU. Now I’m trying to figure out the best upgrade path.

Considering:​

• CPU: Intel Core i9-14900K
• Cooler: Corsair iCUE LINK TITAN 360 RX RGB AIO
• Motherboard: MSI Z790 GAMING PLUS
• GPU: NVIDIA RTX 4070 Super 12GB
• Storage: Samsung 990 Pro 2TB NVMe SSD

Would this be a good setup within my budget, or are there better options to consider? Open to suggestions!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Tetras]

Originally, I planned to use an MSI Z490-A Pro motherboard, but I realized I’d probably need an upgrade to support a 14th Gen CPU. Now I’m trying to figure out the best upgrade path.

If you're only getting a card on the level of a 4070 Super, using the 'free' Z490-A is fine.

Something like a 10600K/11700K won't perform on the level of a newer CPU, true, but it is sufficient if you get a nice deal.

The next time around, you would need a CPU upgrade.

but I realized I’d probably need an upgrade to support a 14th Gen CPU

I wouldn't, they're power hungry, not easy to cool, costly and there's really no reason to buy a potentially broken CPU at this point. If you're determined to go Intel, I'd get a 265K instead.

 

[hornetstinger]

Hi everyone!

New to the forum and looking for some advice on my gaming PC build. I got a few parts from a friend at a good price and now I’m trying to complete the build within a budget of around £1300-1500.

Already Have:

• Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2
• Motherboard: MSI Z490-A Pro
• Power Supply: Corsair RM750 (750W)
• RAM: 2x32GB Thermaltake ToughRAM DDR4-3600MHz

Originally, I planned to use an MSI Z490-A Pro motherboard, but I realized I’d probably need an upgrade to support a 14th Gen CPU. Now I’m trying to figure out the best upgrade path.

Considering:​

• CPU: Intel Core i9-14900K
• Cooler: Corsair iCUE LINK TITAN 360 RX RGB AIO
• Motherboard: MSI Z790 GAMING PLUS
• GPU: NVIDIA RTX 4070 Super 12GB
• Storage: Samsung 990 Pro 2TB NVMe SSD

Would this be a good setup within my budget, or are there better options to consider? Open to suggestions!

Thanks in advance!

Look at AM5 build. 650E or 870 or 870E chipset, and look at the X3D chips.

For gaming they're higher in performance.

 

[ZippZipp]

If you're only getting a card on the level of a 4070 Super, using the 'free' Z490-A is fine.

Something like a 10600K/11700K won't perform on the level of a newer CPU, true, but it is sufficient if you get a nice deal.

The next time around, you would need a CPU upgrade.


I wouldn't, they're power hungry, not easy to cool, costly and there's really no reason to buy a potentially broken CPU at this point. If you're determined to go Intel, I'd get a 265K instead.

I'm open to different brands, so it’s not a big deal.
From what I’ve seen, the Z490-A is limited to a max of 11th gen, so it seems worth upgrading. At that point (going with current consideratnios), I’ll most likely switch to an Intel Core i7-12700K, thanks.

Look at AM5 build. 650E or 870 or 870E chipset, and look at the X3D chips.

For gaming they're higher in performance.

Thanks for the suggestion! Since this is my first time building a PC, I’m still learning.
Just to clarify, are you recommending switching to a different CPU and motherboard, like the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D and MSI MAG B650/MSI X670E, for example?

 

[Tetras]

From what I’ve seen, the Z490-A is limited to a max of 11th gen, so it seems worth upgrading.

Yes, Z490 was originally a 10th gen chipset, but it can support 11th gen too.

They're getting on now, e.g. a 11700K would struggle to beat a ~£100 Ryzen 5600 or 12400F, but they're still fine with a modest graphics card like the 4070.

If you were going to spend £1K+ on a 5080, then I'd definitely want to move on from 10th/11th gen.

I’ll most likely switch to an Intel Core i7-12700K, thanks.

Good CPUs, but do watch the price. The 12600K is around ~£150 new and the 12700K only gives you 2 extra P-cores.

Intel does offer an extended warranty on 13th-14th gen K/KF CPUs, so in theory if you plan to upgrade within 5 years you shouldn't lose money. That's assuming you're trying to re-use the DDR4 here.

Personally, if I was going to buy into something new for Intel, it'd be either a cheap 12th gen, or a Core Ultra. The AMD X3D CPUs are the CPU to pick for pure gaming, though they're expensive and would need DDR5.

 

[Gray2233]

What resolution is your monitor, and what sort of games do you play?

The easy option would be to drop in a 12600 and pick up a 9070/9070XT, you'd have almost half your budget left over and a solid rig. Put the rest on a monitor upgrade or some nice headphones/speakers etc if necessary, or just put it in the bank and keep it for a rainy day.

 

[ZippZipp]

What resolution is your monitor, and what sort of games do you play?

The easy option would be to drop in a 12600 and pick up a 9070/9070XT, you'd have almost half your budget left over and a solid rig. Put the rest on a monitor upgrade or some nice headphones/speakers etc if necessary, or just put it in the bank and keep it for a rainy day.

Samsung Odyssey G7 32". For games it's mostly various AAA and FPS.

I have the other pieces, just replacing outdated hp omen notebook.

 

[Gray2233]

Samsung Odyssey G7 32". For games it's mostly various AAA and FPS.

I have the other pieces, just replacing outdated hp omen notebook.

For the GPU keep an eye on stock dropping for a 9070XT for around the £650 range. If you really don't want to wait or have a Nvidia preference look at the 5070ti for under £800, but I wouldn't say it's worth a £150 + premium over the AMD card.

You might need to update the bios on your motherboard.

Edit: Scratch what I said about the 12600, for some reason I thought it was 11th gen rather than 12th.

You might be better off selling the RAM/Motherboard and moving to AM5.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Crucial T500 2TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 M.2 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-CRU-01090) = £127.99
• 1 x Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB Black CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: COO-TLR-02724) = £29.99
• 1 x TeamGroup Vulcan EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C38 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FLABD532G6000HC38ADC01) (SKU: MY-0B2-TG) = £79.99
• 1 x Asrock B850 Pro-A WiFi (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-ASR-04004) = £167.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Eight Core 5.20GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: PRO-AMD-03517) = £449.99

Total: £863.94 (includes delivery: £7.99)​

+ the 9070XT mentioned earlier.

This pushes the top end of your budget, an alternative to save cash would be a 7600 CPU for £200.

 

[Quartz]

CPU: Intel Core i9-14900K

This CPU is a walking time-bomb. If you're gaming, get a Ryzen 9800X3D. And - if you can get it at MSRP - the Radeon 9070XT has reviewed very well.

Power Supply: Corsair RM750 (750W)

How old is this? You don't want to risk your expensive new components with a PSU that might fail expensively.