Upgrade Guidance - Bang for Buck

[dlockers]

Hi folks,

Any sense in upgrading bits of this? I am upgrading to a 34" Alienware monitor and predicting some issues. I mainly play CS2, but also play Battlefield very occasional (not for about 9 months tho lol).

Anything that may make a noticeable impact?

Core i7 4790k @ 4Ghz
MSI Gaming 7 Motherboard
32GB RAM - can't seem to find the receipt as to what this is
AMD RX 5700 XT 8GB (but it is a 5700 flashed to XT)


I hadn't realised quite how old the CPU is (2015!!). Perhaps I am due a full refresh...

 

[dlockers]

Do you have a budget in mind and I assume the monitor is 4K?

A full refresh would most likely be the better option but I would suggest waiting for the ne AMD processors at the end of the month that are due out.

Do you have a budget in mind?

How old is the PSU?

No budget - only if it is really worth it. I'll keep close to the AMD news; I first had an AMD Athlon 1600 and upgraded to a 3000+ so excited to go back to Team AMD.

5700 XT looks like it does alright at 1440p & 4K, though ofc it would depend what framerate is acceptable to you:

Counter-Strike 2 Performance Benchmark Review - 40 GPUs Tested

Counter-Strike 2 is available now, with improved graphics powered by Valve's Source 2 engine. All the maps have received overhauls, which gives them a much more realistic look, without breaking the classic CS Experience. In our performance review, we're taking a closer look at image quality...

www.techpowerup.com

These are outdated tests, but suggests your CPU is also likely to be fine if the Ryzen 2600 can maintain an average of 200 fps (since the 4790K has a similar single thread and I don't think CS2 uses 6 cores?):

[Outdated - New Tests] Counter-Strike 2 CPU Benchmarks: E-Core Challenges & X3D Benefits

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I wonder what a 5700 flashed to XT is; I think I am few cores down or something! CS:2 is such a light game. Guess I could stay put and be fine

 

[dlockers]

You could always try your current setup with the new monitor and then go from there

I think that may be the plan. I predicted an issue but knew the CS2 game is a bit low tax. I am just surprised I bought this bad boy in 2015 and it is still going really strong.

The 2015 upgrade was following the i7 920 which was 2009. I thought that was good innings!

 

[dlockers]

It would be pretty close to those results, so I think it is doable with your new monitor.

I don't know about CS2 specifically, but I suspect if you did a meaningful upgrade of either component then you'd run into some major bottlenecking with the other one, so you'd have to be REALLY pushing the GPU @ 4K/max settings, for example, for me to say "go GPU!" and know that it'll help out.

The 5700 XT is roughly equivalent to a 6600, so on the AMD side you're looking at a 6750 XT (around £300) or 6800 non-XT (around £370) as a minimum really, but ideally something more like a 7900 GRE to make big gains and push forward your capability at high res gaming for the next 4-5+ years.

CPU, I'd say a minimum of a 7500F/7600 or a 12600K (not 13th/14th gen), but in older games and many newer ones, your 4790K will be holding on fine:

Gaming with the i7 4790 in 2023.

If you wanted top tier performance in 2014 but didn't want to overclock or spend extra on the "K" version, then the standard 4790 would have been perfect for...

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GPU was bought from OCUK in late 2019/early 2020 for just £260. Sounds like I hold fire until there is a game that really needs attention. Thank you!