Debating between CPU or GPU upgrade - How to determine the 'bottleneck'?

chef-borjan · 5 Sep 2020 at 20:07

Hi there.

Specs as below (4790k with a GTX 1080, gaming at 1440p 144Hz). I am looking to upgrade to either a Ryzen 3600 system OR a 3070.

Now, I find I don't have as much time to game as I used to, but do find myself still playing a decent amount of Apex Legends. I'd like to upgrade therefore mainly to prevent drops from 100+ frames to the 60s or 50s when in busy areas or looking over a wider scene. Another upgrade consideration is that maybe some next gen games would also be really nice to crank up to max.

For the last consideration, obviously a 3070 makes more sense here. However, like I said, I don't find the time to game too often anyway, so maybe those next gen games would be left unplayed.

So before I decide on what to do, I would like to ask.. what is the best way to monitor why my frames drop in busy areas in games? I would like to figure out whether I would get a bigger improvement from the CPU or GPU. Is it simply a case of playing with the resolution and carefully watching the frame rate?

chef-borjan · 5 Sep 2020 at 20:49

A 3080 seems like a silly use of money giving my gaming needs but I guess that is what the credit card is for

But I think, more importantly, it might be actual overkill. Looking at the performance gains, a 3080 probably at 1440p hits 144FPS very comfortably in Apex Legends. But a 3070 should as well?

So, that is why I am looking at a 3070. If I sell off the 1080, I maybe get around £200, so I put down another £300 for the upgrade... which incidentally is about the same as what it would cost to get a 3600 and the associated ram/motherboard.

Still, I do want to figure out what is best for my current situation.

chef-borjan · 8 Sep 2020 at 07:36

decto said:
Checkout some sold prices for your 4790k CPU / mobo /Ram on the auctions, you might be suprised how little you'd need to put to a 3600 / B450 and 16GB 3200DDR4 especially if you shop around a little.

Yes, actually this is a decent plan. I've looked into it a bit more and it might actually be quite cheap to upgrade... maybe I should just do it anyway? Are the B450s expected to be able to take 4000 series Ryzens? Not that I think I need it...

chef-borjan · 9 Sep 2020 at 16:50

I've decided to go with a cheap second hand 2080Ti.

General consensus was that my CPU is still alright, and with the prices crashing on the second hand market I decided to pull the trigger instead of hoping to snag a 3070 at launch (which might be tricky from the sounds of it!).

Also worth nothing that I carefully watched my frames in Apex. Frame drops were occuring but I wasn't seeing the CPU maxing, and this was also confirmed when I dropped my resolution right down to 720p. As expected, frames stayed locked at 144 (I'm using G-sync) and my GPU utilisation was low.... and my CPU wasn't struggling to spit out 144fps either.

So.. GPU upgrade it was! Thanks for your help.