Upgrade path for a slightly aged machine

esK` · Monday at 21:20

At the moment my current specs are:

Core i7 8700K
3070 FE
32Gb ram PC3200 2x16
MSI Z370 Gaming M5
750W Corsair PSU

What I'm more thinking is upgrading the cpu/mobo/ram as the 8700K may be bottle-necking the 3070 potentially.

I'm not tied to Intel would happily go AMD if price to performance suits.

CPU cooling wise, nothing to be worried about, currently have a Noctua NH-D15 which I am happy to reuse.

Tetras · Monday at 21:26

It depends on the games you play and the resolution, but I'd be surprised if the 3070 was massively bottlenecked by that CPU. Have you checked the CPU/GPU utilisation?

What is your budget for the upgrade?

Gray2233 · Monday at 21:26

Are there any particular games that you play having issues?

What are you expecting from this upgrade?

What resolution do you game at?

You can check to see if you're being bottlenecked with MSI Afterburner, set up an OSD and try monitoring how your cpu/gpu/vram etc act in the places you're struggling.

Gray2233 · Monday at 21:27

Tetras said:
It depends on the games you play and the resolution, but I'd be surprised if the 3070 was massively bottlenecked by that CPU. Have you checked the CPU/GPU utilisation?

What is your budget for the upgrade?

The cheek of you beating me to it like that! :cry:

tamzzy · Monday at 21:29

if the 8700k is overclocked to 4.8-4.9ghz, it compares favourably with a ryzen 5600/intel 12400 ie the bottleneck should be minimal and probably not worth the upgrade unless you're swapping out the 3070 too

esK` · Monday at 21:36

Being honest the games I play most are PUBG (don't, I hate myself enough for playing it haha) Res Evil remakes, COD, whatever appears on Xbox pass I like the look of. No real fixed games.

Budget probably 700-800. Ideally I'd like to keep the 3070 as it's been solid thus far. I game at 1440p. Not many games I dip below 80-90 fps. I'm thinking about a bit more future proofing really.

Gray2233 · Monday at 21:37

esK` said:
Being honest the games I play most are PUBG (don't, I hate myself enough for playing it haha) Res Evil remakes, COD, whatever appears on Xbox pass I like the look of. No real fixed games.

Budget probably 700-800. Ideally I'd like to keep the 3070 as it's been solid thus far. I game at 1440p. Not many games I dip below 80-90 fps. I'm thinking about a bit more future proofing really.

If everything runs well what's the point in future proofing further?

You're better off waiting until you actually run into performance issues and buying then, maybe set up a savings account and add to the pot over time and aim for a full rebuild down the line?

tamzzy · Monday at 21:41

esK` said:
I game at 1440p. Not many games I dip below 80-90 fps. I'm thinking about a bit more future proofing really.

Gray2233 said:
You're better off waiting until you actually run into performance issues and buying then, maybe set up a savings account and add to the pot over time and aim for a full rebuild down the line?

this^

there's no such thing as "future-proofing" tbh
honestly if you're happy with the performance, you'd get a much better performance bump waiting for when you actually need to upgrade.
by then you'd probably get the 10800x3d + 6070 or whatever's next for team blue/red/green respectively

of course, unless you have the upgrade itch that desperately needs scratching now, in which case, it's your money so you do you, and that budget will get you a 9800x3d, but then you'd be "bottlenecked" by that 3070

esK` · Monday at 21:42

Gray2233 said:
If everything runs well what's the point in future proofing further?

You're better off waiting until you actually run into performance issues and buying then, maybe set up a savings account and add to the pot over time and aim for a full rebuild down the line?

Certainly not a bad idea, I was more thinking along the lines of could my CPU be holding me back a little? let's face it coffee lake is old now. Could the likes of a mid tier Ryzen 5 give me a bit of a boost in frames?

esK` · Monday at 21:44

I used to be all over PC hardware back in the day but a lapse of a few years has left me flummoxed at what is available now haha.

Gray2233 · Monday at 21:45

esK` said:
Certainly not a bad idea, I was more thinking along the lines of could my CPU be holding me back a little? let's face it coffee lake is old now. Could the likes of a mid tier Ryzen 5 give me a bit of a boost in frames?

It matches well with your GPU, especially if overclocked.

If you were wanting a big GPU update then sure, but you're just throwing money away for a worse long term experience by "upgrading" now shy of a platform + gpu update, and given you're happy with your current performance it's not necessary anyway.

esK` · Monday at 21:52

Gray2233 said:
It matches well with your GPU, especially if overclocked.

If you were wanting a big GPU update then sure, but you're just throwing money away for a worse long term experience by "upgrading" now shy of a platform + gpu update, and given you're happy with your current performance it's not necessary anyway.

Could do a bit of reading and give it a bit of a clock then. The Noctua wont be phased by that at all I'd imagine. Thanks for the quick replies all it's much appreciated!

tamzzy · Monday at 22:08

esK` said:
Could the likes of a mid tier Ryzen 5 give me a bit of a boost in frames?

given the games you play (PUBG and COD) - these actually really really like the ryzen X3D cpus - so, whilst you will get some FPS boost even with a 3070, what is even more noticeable is a more stable framerate (with higher mins/0.1% lows that are closer to the avg FPS), and hence, a smoother gameplay
so, if you really wanted to part with your cash, i would be recommending a 9800x3d rather than just a basic 7600/9600x

Tetras · Monday at 22:11

esK` said:
Could the likes of a mid tier Ryzen 5 give me a bit of a boost in frames?

If you're going to do the upgrade anyway because you want to scratch the itch, I'd just get the 9800X3D.

Reason being: once you've done it, you can just leave it, since that CPU will take anything up to 5090 level (probably beyond). At the current rate of progress in the midrange (super snail) this CPU will give you a GPU upgrade path for 10+ years.

esK` said:
Budget probably 700-800. Ideally I'd like to keep the 3070 as it's been solid thus far. I game at 1440p. Not many games I dip below 80-90 fps. I'm thinking about a bit more future proofing really.

Otherwise, you could just up the budget a bit and do the lot:

My basket at OcUK:

1 x AMD Ryzen 5 9600X Six Core 5.40GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: PRO-AMD-02677) = £188.99
1 x Sapphire Nitro+ B850A WiFi 7 (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-SPR-05688) = £157.99
1 x PNY XLR8 Gaming EPIC-X 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-51200C36 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-PNY-04564) = £77.99
1 x PowerColor Radeon RX 9070 Reaper 16GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-PWC-04020) = £499.99

Total: £932.95 (includes delivery: £7.99)

Personally, I find the upcoming CPUs much more exciting than what we have now. The new X3D (10800X3D or whatever) is believed likely to have 12 cores per CCD, which will be the first core count upgrade since the 5800X3D and Intel's new CPUs will hopefully address the Core Ultra's inconsistent gaming performance.