Rebuilding/Upgrading-new GPU/CPU

andrewcmod · 8 Jan 2021

Hello! Both my PC's CPU and GPU are now caput-however I've been saving a little for an upgrade. Not a major upgrade, but I was looking for some advice.

The most demanding thing I'll be doing is gaming, and I generally like good performance-which I've mostly been able to get, but was just recently falling back a little.

My old GPU was a GTX 1080, and my old CPU was an Intel i5-7600k. Both served me extremely well for years, but I figured I might as well get something a little shinier. I have a friend selling a GTX 1080ti that he's willing to give to me for not very much at all, and I'm likely going for that. My question was more CPU based-should I bump up to an I7?

A lot of games I play are quite demanding (although not all...thanks Paradox) so I'd like something beefy but not too pricey. My motherboard is an ASUS Z170-E. Leaning toward an i7 7700k perhaps?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Hakanese · 8 Jan 2021

What budget do you have for cpu and mobo?

andrewcmod · 8 Jan 2021

Hakanese said:
What budget do you have for cpu and mobo?

I'm able to grab a 1080ti for about £350-400 or so off my friend. I'd budget about another £200-300 for a new CPU, maybe? If these figures are way out of the ballpark feel free to correct me, I built my PC long ago from preowned parts so my perception of prices will be way off. I only really need to run games looking good at 60fps (I'm still on 1080p, thinking of bumping up to 1440p)

Hakanese · 8 Jan 2021

Why not look at 8 cores instead of 4 cores a 9700k, I think you're paying too much for the gpu, I would normally be inclined to offer £350 max, or look at a 2080 or the newer gen cards, but they're not easy to get.
9700k will give you more oomph later when you decide to upgrade your gpu to a newer model and higher resolution.

andrewcmod · 8 Jan 2021

Hakanese said:
Why not look at 8 cores instead of 4 cores a 9700k, I think you're paying too much for the gpu, I would normally be inclined to offer £350 max, or look at a 2080 or the newer gen cards, but they're not easy to get.
9700k will give you more oomph later when you decide to upgrade your gpu to a newer model and higher resolution.

I'm being mostly conservative in pricing toward the GPU-it is unused, but budgeting wise I always assume I'll pay more than I likely will. I considered the i7-9700k, I saw them for less than £300 which seems strange seeing as it looks to be an enormous upgrade. Thank you for your help, by the way!

Hakanese · 8 Jan 2021

It's unused?!? wow.. 9700k/9900k would be good for you, and last quite some time. Prices are low as everyone jumped t 10700/10900 intels or they went AMD.
I would have suggested going AMD but I didn't think you wanted to get a new motherboard.

andrewcmod · 8 Jan 2021

Hakanese said:
It's unused?!? wow.. 9700k/9900k would be good for you, and last quite some time. Prices are low as everyone jumped t 10700/10900 intels or they went AMD.
I would have suggested going AMD but I didn't think you wanted to get a new motherboard.

Yes! He won it in a contest and used it to make sure it worked, but beyond that it's relatively untouched. You're right-not looking a new motherboard hopefully.

I think I'll go for the 9700k and the 1080ti then. Thank you!

Shaolin Chicken · 8 Jan 2021

The 9700k is not compatible with your motherboard, you would need to buy another, a z390 for example.

andrewcmod · 8 Jan 2021

Shaolin Chicken said:
The 9700k is not compatible with your motherboard, you would need to buy another, a z390 for example.

I realised that-I was making this thread quite tired and didn't even see Haranese's point about mobos. I think for me to get a new GPU, CPU and Mobo we're up against about £800-£900 which is a bit over what I'd hoped. My main question now is whether or not I should bother upgrading my i5 7600k for a CPU that is compatible with a Z170 (such as the i7 7600k) or if the upgrade is negligible.

Although if a 1080 and an i5 to a 1080ti and a 9700k is a considered a relatively major leap, maybe it's worth it.

Tetras · 8 Jan 2021

I wouldn't pay that much to upgrade a 1080 to a 1080 Ti, I wouldn't pay anything at all tbh, I'd just keep the card I trust.

There's no upgrade for a i5-7600K that's worth it with a stock BIOS. You could look into a modded BIOS, you might be able to find one for a 9700k. If you need a new motherboard I'd just go for a 10400F and B460, if you're looking for a cheap upgrade.

andrewcmod · 8 Jan 2021

Tetras said:
I wouldn't pay that much to upgrade a 1080 to a 1080 Ti, I wouldn't pay anything at all tbh, I'd just keep the card I trust.

There's no upgrade for a i5-7600K that's worth it with a stock BIOS. You could look into a modded BIOS, you might be able to find one for a 9700k. If you need a new motherboard I'd just go for a 10400F and B460, if you're looking for a cheap upgrade.

I'd agree-only my current card has bit the dust. Since I'm likely able to get a 1080ti very cheaply from a friend, I figured I'd base myself around that. I don't plan to play at 4K, mostly 1440p but figured I might as well grab something a little beefier.