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CPU upgrade, all help appreciated.

flasher

flasher

flasher

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Joined
28 Aug 2003
Posts
371
Location
lost on a big planet.
Last system build was over 5 years ago, and i have an itch for a new build.
Been trying to work out what best CPU to go for before sorting out the mobo, ram etc, and been getting more confused the more i read.

Currently have an intel i7-7700k 4.2 GHz installed. Looking at around £350 ish max.

First question is, is it worth upgrading?

Second is recommend CPU?

Been looking at the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X or Ryzen 7 5800X 3D and Intel i7-13700f or i5-13600K, completely unsure what to go for or if their is anything better for the price. Trying to get it futured proofed as much as possible.

Mainly used for gaming.

Any help much appreciated.
 
Amd are known for the longevity of there platform so it would be a safer bet to go that route, plus it's only just been released.

The flip side is that intel 13th gen are still decent option and will last but no option to drop in a future CPU.

Wouldn't go 5800x3d unless you already on the platform or money is tight.

Tell us more about your pc requirements are you mainly a gamer ,if so at what resolution?
 
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It sounds like £350 is your CPU budget instead of the build budget, can you clarify that? If you're going to buy a £350 CPU and a £500 motherboard, there's a better balance to be had, that's why I'm asking.

flasher said:
First question is, is it worth upgrading?
Click to expand...

You need to answer mickyflinn's question first, describe what are you doing with the PC and for your gaming, what resolution/settings?

What is your graphics card (or what do you intend to use)?

flasher said:
Trying to get it futured proofed as much as possible.
Click to expand...

What does "future proofed" mean to you? For example: how long do you wait between upgrades? What parts do you prefer to/not prefer to upgrade?

flasher said:
Been trying to work out what best CPU to go for before sorting out the mobo, ram etc, and been getting more confused the more i read.

...

Been looking at the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X or Ryzen 7 5800X 3D and Intel i7-13700f or i5-13600K, completely unsure what to go for or if their is anything better for the price. Trying to get it futured proofed as much as possible.
Click to expand...

I think you need to clarify the usage and what the whole budget is, because that has an impact on your confusion and what options are viable for you.

The 5800X3D performs well, it is competitive, but buying into AM4 when you don't have an AM4 motherboard is probably not wise if you want to be "future proof", both from the perspective of features (like M.2 slots, PCI-E 5.0) and future upgradability.

Intel 13th gen has the advantage of being able to re-use DDR4, so if you're on a tight budget it might help you get a better CPU than you could otherwise afford (e.g. i7-13700F, midrange B760 board, with existing DDR4). My opinion on the 13600K and 13700F is that if you don't care about overclocking, then buy the 13700F or non-K, since I'd prefer to have the 8 P-Cores.
 
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Mainly gaming, at the moment the res is 2560 x 1080, will be looking at moving to 3440 x 1440 on the next upgrade with the grfx card (currently GTX1080).

Looking at around £250 for the mobo, £300 at a push if its worth it for a better board. Looking at the memory seems max of £150 will get 32GB which is what ill be looking at.

Works out about max £800.

Normally i'll upgrade the board/cpu/mem first then GPU after, which is what i want to do this time. As i don't game at the maximum settings i can usually get a build to last 4-5 years, worse case has been swapping the grfx card after 2-3.
 
@flasher

Here's an AMD build gone b650 to keep with £250 range

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £745.92 (includes delivery: £7.99)​

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Intel gone b760 so limited overclocking, quality motherboard but there are cheaper options.

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £767.96 (includes delivery: £7.99)​

​
​
​
 
AMD Ryzen 7 7700X Eight Core 5.40GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail
CP-3DF-AM
£339 (incl. VAT)
£290 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Asus TUF Gaming B650-Plus WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard
MB-6K0-AS
£165 (incl. VAT)
£156 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Intel Core i7-13700K (Raptor Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail
CP-6AX-IN
£348 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
MSI MAG B760 Tomahawk WIFI DDR4 (LGA 1700) DDR4 ATX Motherboard
MB-37E-MS
£210 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Last edited:
flasher said:
Mainly gaming, at the moment the res is 2560 x 1080, will be looking at moving to 3440 x 1440 on the next upgrade with the grfx card (currently GTX1080).

Looking at around £250 for the mobo, £300 at a push if its worth it for a better board. Looking at the memory seems max of £150 will get 32GB which is what ill be looking at.

Works out about max £800.

Normally i'll upgrade the board/cpu/mem first then GPU after, which is what i want to do this time. As i don't game at the maximum settings i can usually get a build to last 4-5 years, worse case has been swapping the grfx card after 2-3.
Click to expand...

At the second resolution your current graphics card will probably be at the max, so for now it doesn't matter, but if you go for something like a 4070 Ti or 7900 XT, then 1440p does have the potential to bottleneck, so I think you're looking at the right CPUs and any of the ones you suggested would be fine really. If you wanted a cpu upgrade in 4-5 years, or gpu upgrade in 2-3 years (unlikely to be value for money in this market, but anyway), then I'd go for AM5 so that you'll have options. If you're getting something more modest like a 6800 non-XT, then my opinion would be that the Intel system will last just fine and you'll need to discard it in 4-5 years rather than get a CPU upgrade, because there won't be anything that offers enough performance.

I'd suggest similar builds to mickyflinn, but I'm more inclined toward non-K/non-X CPUs:

Intel Core i7-13700F (Raptor Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail - £359.99
Gigabyte B760 GAMING X AX (LGA 1700) DDR5 ATX Motherboard - £199.99
Kingston FURY Beast 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C40 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - £149.99

Grand Total: £717.96 (including delivery charge, £7.99)

AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Eight Core 5.30GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail - £338.99
Gigabyte B650 Gaming X AX (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard - £239.99
Kingston FURY Beast EXPO 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C36 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (KF560C36BBEK2-32) - £139.99

Grand Total: £726.96 (including delivery charge, £7.99)

I assume you're going to need a cooler too? The non-X stock cooler (Wraith Prism) isn't actually that bad, it can handle gaming, but I'd definitely want something better for the i7-13700F.
 
Thanks for the help.

Looking at going with mickyflinn Ryzen 7 7700x build, just looking at coolers now.

Trying to find if the Corsair Hydro Series iCUE H100i RGB ELITE Performance Liquid CPU Cooler - 240mm will do the job.
 
flasher said:
Thanks for the help.

Looking at going with mickyflinn Ryzen 7 7700x build, just looking at coolers now.

Trying to find if the Corsair Hydro Series iCUE H100i RGB ELITE Performance Liquid CPU Cooler - 240mm will do the job.
Click to expand...

A decent air cooler would do the job if you wanted to save a few quid.

youtu.be

How FAT should a Ryzen 7700x cooler be? ❄️ - 7700x Cooling

After we had a look at the new AMD Ryzen 7700x's performance, we will continue by finding out how much cooling it needs and how much money we actually need t...
youtu.be youtu.be
 
flasher said:
Thanks for the help.

Looking at going with mickyflinn Ryzen 7 7700x build, just looking at coolers now.

Trying to find if the Corsair Hydro Series iCUE H100i RGB ELITE Performance Liquid CPU Cooler - 240mm will do the job.
Click to expand...
I would get an ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 280 or 360mm. the 280mm is the sweet spot but if your case can fit the 360mm...
 
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