upgrade from 7700k?

[Game]

There isn't some golden rule that makes it mandatory to upgrade every component to hit the best possible balance of hardware each time you upgrade though. It is more sensible to only upgrade when your current hardware isn't giving you results you are happy with, and then to pick the weakest point, upgrade that, and re-evaluate once that part is in your system.

Pretty much I find Toms Gaming cpu Heirarchy has helped me over the years

just because someone else likes to willy waggle about synthetic cpu benchmarks doesnt meen you need to upgrade

when you notice a decline in performance and it effects what you do or play then you need to look into your options

 

[turbot1984]

Pretty much I find Toms Gaming cpu Heirarchy has helped me over the years

just because someone else likes to willy waggle about synthetic cpu benchmarks doesnt meen you need to upgrade

when you notice a decline in performance and it effects what you do or play then you need to look into your options

Agree with that, no point upgrading for sake of it. Tricky thing with 7700K is its in the 'borderline' upgrade zone, depending on what res/games you are running. i7 8700k no brainer to keep due to its extra cores. My 6700k was fine until 2020 at 4K, but with FS2020 the upgrade to 10850k was noticeable.

 

[turbot1984]

I pair an i7-7700k @ 5.1GHz with an RTX3080 and run at 1440p with a 144Hz monitor.

For most games, I don't notice a bottleneck, even though it is probably there. SotTR with Ultra/RTX runs well 70-100, RDR2 is 100+, etc. Watch Dogs Legion is the only thing I own that has been a bit of a problem, but that engine wants more threads I think. I have a ton of games still in my back catalogue to play that I know I'll have a great experience playing.

I don't have CP2077 or AC:V to try, as I am waiting for a "Definitive" or "GoTY" edition for those so I can grab all the content at once. I think by the time those come out Alder Lake / AM5 will be here and I'll probably be looking to upgrade to one of those.

I did a comparison of WDL and CP2077. Former appeared to be using 4-6 cores, latter was using all 10 cores, which was a big surprise.

 

[WiGgLr]

I did a comparison of WDL and CP2077. Former appeared to be using 4-6 cores, latter was using all 10 cores, which was a big surprise.

I was looking at 1440p, Ultra, RTX on, etc. It's the only thing I've tried that dropped below 60 consistently with my CPU, but I still keep above the magic 48 for my VRR window. However, it did get better with one of the patches to the game, so I do wonder if it is something that is more "engine" than hardware. I got WDL free with the GPU anyway, and it's so far down the back of my queue to play that I'm not fussed. (I still have WD 1 & 2 in my queue, damn you Steam sales!).

Without RTX this game flies though.

 

[G J]

What a lot of the benchmarks dont take into account is that a lot of them they run the K series cpu's at stock.

One can get nearly another 500mhz out of a 7700k if one runs it close to 5ghz.

I get why some people dont want to change motherboards but why are people still paying nearly £200 for a 7700K when a 8700k sells for the same price.

Even a 8600K is close to around £120 and even with that you have an upgrade path to a 9900K.

 

[Game]

What a lot of the benchmarks dont take into account is that a lot of them they run the K series cpu's at stock.

One can get nearly another 500mhz out of a 7700k if one runs it close to 5ghz.

I get why some people dont want to change motherboards but why are people still paying nearly £200 for a 7700K when a 8700k sells for the same price.

Even a 8600K is close to around £120 and even with that you have an upgrade path to a 9900K.

I never understand old cpu prices the older higher performing chips are really expensive

 

[WiGgLr]

I guess it can often be the cheapest viable upgrade for some use cases? For example, if you're rocking an i5-6600K (or lower), then going to an i7-7700K if your motherboard supports it is quite a jump for some things. These chips are the top of the line for Z270 chipset after all.

 

[morta]

Agree with that, no point upgrading for sake of it. Tricky thing with 7700K is its in the 'borderline' upgrade zone, depending on what res/games you are running. i7 8700k no brainer to keep due to its extra cores. My 6700k was fine until 2020 at 4K, but with FS2020 the upgrade to 10850k was noticeable.

thats kind of why im on the fence about getting somthing now or waiting till a completely new platform so i have an upgrade path later down the line if need be.

 

[morta]

What a lot of the benchmarks dont take into account is that a lot of them they run the K series cpu's at stock.

One can get nearly another 500mhz out of a 7700k if one runs it close to 5ghz.

I get why some people dont want to change motherboards but why are people still paying nearly £200 for a 7700K when a 8700k sells for the same price.

Even a 8600K is close to around £120 and even with that you have an upgrade path to a 9900K.

i could never get to 5g..i think the max i could get was 4.7 but the temp was bad..i have a **** chip..so i leave it at stock.

 

[Zeeflyboy]

Really depends what games you are playing too.

Overall though it’s fair to say with only 4 cores and a less than cutting edge single core perf it’s starting to show its age a little.

Ultimately this question always comes down to whether you are getting the gaming experience you want at the moment... if yes then hold out, if you are getting poor performance from the CPU (whether that be average frame rates or just the lows causing stuttering) then you may as well upgrade. There will always be something new around the corner but unless it’s imminent I wouldn’t personally recommend putting up with a bad experience while you wait.

 

[morta]

Really depends what games you are playing too.

Overall though it’s fair to say with only 4 cores and a less than cutting edge single core perf it’s starting to show its age a little.

Ultimately this question always comes down to whether you are getting the gaming experience you want at the moment... if yes then hold out, if you are getting poor performance from the CPU (whether that be average frame rates or just the lows causing stuttering) then you may as well upgrade. There will always be something new around the corner but unless it’s imminent I wouldn’t personally recommend putting up with a bad experience while you wait.

only game thats given me any problem is cyberpunk. but thats only because im gaming at 4k. and thats why i upgraded the gpu first. since at 1080p the game runs just fine at ultra. but the 1080ti does not cut it for 4k with this game. i can live with a few dips below 60. but when its less then 30..thats a no go for me.

 

[muziqaz]

My mate upgraded from 7700k @4.6Ghz to 3700 (and later was thinking to jump onto 5000 series, but...). While he is still stuck with 1070 (he planned to upgrade to Ampere, but...), he is obviously very GPU limited, however he saw quite a jump in minimum FPS, and much more stable minimums. And he has his (stupidly problematic) RAM clocked at 2933Mhz as well.
5800x would have given him even more gains in minimums, and with 3000 series, that would have been different class, obviously

 

[WiGgLr]

yeah, I have my 7700K delidded and running a stable 5.1GHz. I can get 5.2GHz stable, but it heats my room too much if I go there. I'm not sure I'd be in the same side of the fence if I was running at stock, I'd have upgraded by now then I think. At 5.1GHz my minimums are above 60 in all the games I'm currently playing and I don't stutter, so for now I can hold out.

 

[philo-sofa]

yea a bottleneck, but not somethign im going to see performance wise. I'm not going to get worse performance then i am currently getting. il get better performance right? just not as good if i was to upgrade the cpu aswell.

Yes. Moving to a situation where your GPU is bottlenecked rarely means that your GPU runs slower. A new GPU will run faster than your old one; just more slowly than it's capable of.

 

[csin82]

I had the same concern late last year - 6700k/2080Ti - was worried that the new consoles would increase the CPU demands of games so was all set to upgrade. Unfortunately, it turned out you only have slightly more chance of getting a Ryzen 9 than winning the lottery so that plan was put on hold. Since I don't have a variable refresh TV for now I tweak settings to get 4k60 where possible and have been playing thru some of my Steam back catalog as well as new 'last gen' games. AC-V hits 4k60 fairly comfortably with only the clouds and depth of field turned down on a 6700k/2080Ti for example. Appreciate that for those wanting higher frame rates and lower resolutions or who play FPS that wouldn't be acceptable.

Given I've waited this long, I'm thinking it may be worth waiting for the DDR5 platforms to come out (I suspect that'll make more difference that PCIE4 did). Also if AMD stick with their long term socket support, buying in to AM5 would give me a 'mid life' CPU upgrade option where as for the last decade and a half with Intel I could only drop new GPUs in and replace the lot once the CPU got too old. Not that it's been a massive problem since the Core2Duo days of the mid 00s but AMD finding their mojo again may finally stop the stagnation meaning CPUs need replacing more frequently!

 

[turbot1984]

Its that nagging doubt that your cpu is even holding back a top tier gpu just a little bit that often results in the upgrade, even if the actual performance harm is only 10-15% sometimes.