Upgrade Advice - GPU

Parkinson1NX

Parkinson1NX

Parkinson1NX

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Joined
16 Oct 2015
Posts
325
Location
Norfolk, ENG
Hi everyone,

It's been around 5 years since I built my second PC and have been toying with the idea of upgrading my GPU for a few months and now I'm looking at the Gigabyte AORUS GeForce RTX 4090 MASTER.

I game at 1440p at 240hz (32" & the G9 Ultra Wide) but would also look at stepping up to 4k.

My current specifications will be posted below.

Case
Corsair Obsidian 500D RGB
CPU
Intel i9 9900k @5.0ghz - 1.3v
CPU Cooler
Corsair H150i Pro
Motherboard
Gigabyte Aorus Z390 Master
Graphics Card
EVGA FTW3 Ultra 2080Ti
Memory
Corsair Vengance PRO RGB 16GB @3200 MHz
Storage
OS Drive - Samsung 970 EVO 250GB M.2
Samsung EVO 1TB SSD [Steam Library]
Power Supply
Corsair RM1000i

I haven't much kept up with pc components and would also like to know if my current Motherboard, CPU, etc will be good for at least a couple more years.

I do plan on upgrading my RAM with Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 32GB (2x16GB) 3600MHz when/if doing the GPU.

Any help is greatly appreciated as always.

Many thanks,

Alex.
 
Your cpu/mobo is not terrible by any means but you will be limiting the 4090 by a significant margin with it. If you absolutely have to have 240hz in the most modern fps titles then your cpu is not upto the task but you will still have great fps. Upgrading to 32gb is a fairly cheap so a sensible move. If you get a 4k monitor then the 4090 will be stressed more but the bottleneck will still be the cpu.
The key point here is that this is PC hardware. You can buy the 4090 and plug it in and see if you are happy with your performance, if it is not upto your standards then for half the price of the 4090 you can get a whole new cpu/mobo/ram setup and will be good to go for the next few years.

One thing to point out. Nvidia is often worse than AMD when pairing super fast gpus with older hardware. Been a few vids by HWunboxed highlighting this issue.

www.youtube.com

Nvidia Has a Driver Overhead Problem, GeForce vs Radeon on Low-End CPUs

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedJoin us on Floatplane: https://www.floatplane.com/channel/HardwareUnboxedBuy relevant products ...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

I quickly scanned the vid and your 9900k will most likely give similar performance to a 5600x so you will be getting over 150 fps in the majority of titles, that would be good enough for me but if you need the full 240hz then your 9900k will not provide it in some titles.
 
Haz123 said:
Your cpu/mobo is not terrible by any means but you will be limiting the 4090 by a significant margin with it. If you absolutely have to have 240hz in the most modern fps titles then your cpu is not upto the task but you will still have great fps. Upgrading to 32gb is a fairly cheap so a sensible move. If you get a 4k monitor then the 4090 will be stressed more but the bottleneck will still be the cpu.
The key point here is that this is PC hardware. You can buy the 4090 and plug it in and see if you are happy with your performance, if it is not upto your standards then for half the price of the 4090 you can get a whole new cpu/mobo/ram setup and will be good to go for the next few years.

One thing to point out. Nvidia is often worse than AMD when pairing super fast gpus with older hardware. Been a few vids by HWunboxed highlighting this issue.

www.youtube.com

Nvidia Has a Driver Overhead Problem, GeForce vs Radeon on Low-End CPUs

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedJoin us on Floatplane: https://www.floatplane.com/channel/HardwareUnboxedBuy relevant products ...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

I quickly scanned the vid and your 9900k will most likely give similar performance to a 5600x so you will be getting over 150 fps in the majority of titles, that would be good enough for me but if you need the full 240hz then your 9900k will not provide it in some titles.
Click to expand...
Hi there Haz,

Really appreciate your advice.

I looked into it a bit more and came to the same conclusion you did about upgrading the mobo, CPU and memory.

I feel I'd be better to go with the below...

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...lga-1700-ddr5-eatx-motherboard-mb-5bj-gi.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/inte...ocket-lga1700-processor-retail-cp-6az-in.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...dr6x-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-1fd-gi.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...l-kit-black-cmh32gx5m2b5600z36-my-4dt-cs.html

If everything is compatible and my current hardware such as PSU, case etc are okay then I'd go for the above.

I'd like to think that would give me at least 4/5 years of future proofing. I'll likely stick with 1440p for gaming but I also like to stream and edit too. I'd keep my old hardware and possibly make a standalone streaming pc with it.

Again, thanks for your help!
 
Parkinson1NX said:
Also, I'm thinking I'm correct that I could use the below for the 4090, it's the same cables I have now and would still match my build which I'd like to do.

Assuming most cables are the same going to the mobo I can hopefully plug and play.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cabl...n-16-pin-to-triple-8-pin-600mm-cb-019-cm.html
Click to expand...

Corsair do an adapter specific to Corsair PSUs, which gives them a native cable. I'd rather use that, if your PSU supports it.

Parkinson1NX said:
Thanks for the reply Tetras, do you mean it won't be much of a bottleneck at 1440p?
Click to expand...

At 4K the 4090 will have more trouble, so a slower CPU can keep up with it easier. 1440p / 240 is a very demanding target and can start to be heavily influenced by the CPU and RAM speed (at least, with a 4090, something like a 3050 wouldn't be hitting 240 fps at 1440p no matter how fast the CPU is, ..except in CS:GO :D ).
 
Tetras said:
Corsair do an adapter specific to Corsair PSUs, which gives them a native cable. I'd rather use that, if your PSU supports it.



At 4K the 4090 will have more trouble, so a slower CPU can keep up with it easier. 1440p / 240 is a very demanding target and can start to be heavily influenced by the CPU and RAM speed (at least, with a 4090, something like a 3050 wouldn't be hitting 240 fps at 1440p no matter how fast the CPU is, ..except in CS:GO :D ).
Click to expand...
Thanks for you advice Tetras,

All I can say about my PSU is it's a 2019 Corsair RM1000i and hasn't missed a beat. I wouldn't know exactly what cables I'd need for the 4090 and if I need to I'll recable the whole lot as I'm sure I could make it neater.

I'm so out of the loop and never actually upgraded a PC and instead just built a new one but I like my case and don't particularly want to change it if I don't need too.

I just know if I'm upgrading I don't want to have to do it again until at least 2027 :D

What would your suggestions be, regarding a 4090, newest intel socket, mobo and memory.

I'd like to keep it a maximum of 3.5k budget.

Thanks in advance,

AP.
 
Parkinson1NX said:
All I can say about my PSU is it's a 2019 Corsair RM1000i and hasn't missed a beat. I wouldn't know exactly what cables I'd need for the 4090 and if I need to I'll recable the whole lot as I'm sure I could make it neater.
Click to expand...

Here's the cable:

www.overclockers.co.uk

Corsair PCIe 5.0 12VHPWR Type-4 PSU Power Cable (CP-8920284)

Order Corsair PCIe 5.0 12VHPWR Type-4 PSU Power Cable (CP-8920284) now online and benefit from fast delivery.
www.overclockers.co.uk www.overclockers.co.uk

From looking at the compatibility chart, I'm a bit confused (yours appears to be in the legacy section), but I believe the cable is compatible with your PSU.

You shouldn't need any other new cables for a new build, or graphics card, just that one (though they do also bundle adapters with the graphics card).

Parkinson1NX said:
What would your suggestions be, regarding a 4090, newest intel socket, mobo and memory.
Click to expand...

For 4K, something like this:

Intel Core i7-13700F (Raptor Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail - £359.99
Gigabyte B760 GAMING X AX (LGA 1700) DDR5 ATX Motherboard - £199.99
Corsair Vengeance 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C36 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK32GX5M2B5600C36) - £139.99

Grand Total: £707.96

For 1440p / 240, I'd need to do more research on how much you'd benefit from faster RAM and CPU.

My advice would still be to put the 4090 in your current system though and see what you think.
 
Last edited:
Parkinson1NX said:
Hi there Haz,

Really appreciate your advice.

I looked into it a bit more and came to the same conclusion you did about upgrading the mobo, CPU and memory.

I feel I'd be better to go with the below...

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...lga-1700-ddr5-eatx-motherboard-mb-5bj-gi.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/inte...ocket-lga1700-processor-retail-cp-6az-in.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...dr6x-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-1fd-gi.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...l-kit-black-cmh32gx5m2b5600z36-my-4dt-cs.html

If everything is compatible and my current hardware such as PSU, case etc are okay then I'd go for the above.

I'd like to think that would give me at least 4/5 years of future proofing. I'll likely stick with 1440p for gaming but I also like to stream and edit too. I'd keep my old hardware and possibly make a standalone streaming pc with it.

Again, thanks for your help!
Click to expand...


Holy moly thats an expensive mobo, you can easily shave off £200 with a cheaper Z790 or B760. Like Tetras I would also recommend the i7 13700 and not the i9 13900, you are paying £200 more for 1% extra fps. The ram you have linked in the above post is expo ram and that is designed to primarily work with AMD cpus , if you get any other type it will be fine for intel system and you can go upto 7200mhz with 13th gen intel and it gives decent performance gains.

Like I said before and like others have said , buy the 4090 first and stick it in your current system. If you are happy then great , if you are not happy then these Intel and AMD options will still be available and also the 7800X3D may be available and be the obvious choice. No real harm in doing this slow and buying the gpu first.
 
Orange said:
Would a 4070ti/4080 do well on a 9700k at 27' 2560x1440 144hz?
Currently running a rtx2070.
Click to expand...
It's no slouch. Ofc you will get better FPS with a newer CPU but again i would not be so quick to dump it. No harm in buying the GPU first and seeing if you're okay with the FPS boost it brings.
If you're happy then that's £600 saved. Can always upgrade the platform later down the line for another FPS boost when you are no longer satisfied with the FPS/resolution/settings
(FPS loss is more evident if you play mmo/multiplayer FPS where single thread performance and cache size matters)
 
tamzzy said:
It's no slouch. Ofc you will get better FPS with a newer CPU but again i would not be so quick to dump it. No harm in buying the GPU first and seeing if you're okay with the FPS boost it brings.
If you're happy then that's £600 saved. Can always upgrade the platform later down the line for another FPS boost when you are no longer satisfied with the FPS/resolution/settings
(FPS loss is more evident if you play mmo/multiplayer FPS where single thread performance and cache size matters)
Click to expand...
I'm not looking at changing the MB/CPU yet, was looking at changing those next year.
Thats a good point you raise there actually. Need to check single player FPS if they still run ok.
In MMO/multiplayer I noticed the drop more recently.
 
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