Upgrade or save for new PC

ironictoaster

Hi Everyone, just wondering if I could get advice in regards to my PC.

I was hoping to upgrade in the near future for maybe 4XXX or 5XXX series as I enjoy playing 1440p ultra wide at high frame rates for most modern titles.

I’m just concerned about upgrading my current setup as I feel it might be a headache due to the size of my case and the size of GPUs these days and their power draw.

However, I am just wondering would it make more financial sense for me to just drive this PC to obsoletion and save for a brand new build down the road or upgrade. Spec is below.

Thanks!

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/GNwYKB

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor 

CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X62 Rev 2 98.17 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler 

Motherboard: Gigabyte X470 AORUS ULTRA GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL15 Memory 

Storage: Seagate BarraCuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive 

Video Card: Gigabyte WINDFORCE GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB Video Card 

Case: NZXT H500i ATX Mid Tower Case 

Power Supply: EVGA 650 GQ 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (£79.99) 

Custom: WD Blue 3D NAND 500GB PC SSD - SATA III 6 Gb/s M.2 2280 Solid State Drive - WDS500G2B0B 

Dcully

If you can play your games at a framerate and resolution your happy with then in fairness its not essential yet.

Turn down or off those post processing effects while keeping textures relatively high can make a big difference.

Homelander

For high FPS at 1440P you probably realistically want a new CPU as a priority. An RTX2070 will still drive good frames at 1440P by turning down some settings, but a 2600X isn't a great high-refresh CPU.

That PC is fully upgradable at this point. It really depends on your budget.

Ryzen 5600X, or Ryzen 5800X if you're willing to spend more, are ideal. Card wise, bit harder, as prices aren't great right now and the RTX2070 is still pretty good.

You'd really be looking at something like RTX3070Ti or 6800XT to make it a solid worthwhile upgrade. AMD are due to announce new cards very soon so I would say it's definitely worth waiting to see what happens there, what impact it has on Nvidia pricing, etc.

Secondary but not hugely considerations at this point: Faster RAM and an m2 NVME drive.

ironictoaster

Thanks for the help! I could look into a CPU upgrade. If I was going to upgrade my GPU, I would be looking at a 3080 or equivalent. However, I think I can hold off for that for a while. My fps is all over the place when playing the MW2 Campaign this week until I changed DLSS to ultra performance.

ironictoaster

Hi Guys,

Just following up on this.

I ended getting a good deal on a 5800X3D on amazon.de which I have installed an hour ago, however it seems that my fans are ramping up randomly. Not sure why as my previous CPU and new CPU have the same TDP. This is my first hardware upgrade to my original build. Any ideas?

I did the following,

Updated BIOS

Replaced CPU and cleaned the heat block.

Applied new paste to the CPU (approx 2cm line) of Artic Silver

Renabled XMP profile (BIOS resetted after installing new CPU)

K.O.Kiki

TDP is not a "real" measure of heat, sadly.

But you should be able to tame it with Curve Optimizer https://github.com/PrimeO7/How-to-undervolt-AMD-RYZEN-5800X3D-Guide-with-PBO2-Tuner

Or simply use Argus fan controller https://www.argusmonitor.com/

ironictoaster

Thanks KO for the help on this last month!

Just to follow on from this. I’m considering pulling the trigger on a 4080 tuf card

just wondering if you think I should upgrade the PSU? Pc part picker estimates a 544w draw. I would be using the below.

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/4bGqfv

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D 3.4 GHz 8-Core Processor

Video Card: Asus TUF GAMING OC GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB Video Card 

Power Supply: EVGA 650 GQ 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (£79.99) 

K.O.Kiki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120092685#Comment_120092685

Yeah, you need a new PSU for a 4080. ASUS recommends a 750W+ for a 4080 + Ryzen 7 system; and the GPU itself needs 3x 8-pin for the power adapter.

dotsman

Wait a second - are you really going to spend over €1,500 to upgrade a 2070 to a 4080? And all just to play at 1440p? What games are you having an issue with today with a 2070? What FPS are you getting and at what settings?

By all accounts, the 4080 is the most overpriced PoS ever produced. But more than that, it is aimed at the 4K market, so it seems like a huge waster of money for your needs.

Given that it has been an epicly disastrous launch from both AMD/Nvidia so far, I can't recommend anything from the current gen. But I would strongly advise waiting on the 7800 or even 7700 to launch to see if they offer any better value (and would be aimed at 1440p). If not, I would suggest either holding on to the next generation or try to pick up a previous gen for better value (I won't say "cheap" as that word no longer exists when describing GPUs).

ironictoaster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120095651#Comment_120095651

I mainly play MW2/Warzone, Flight Simulator and the odd AAA game these days. I was interested in a new upgrade after I was getting massive frame drops with WZ on low settings and DLSS set to Quality anytime it got remotely hectic.

Admittedly, I feel like I am getting shafted no matter what I do when comes to GPUs this gen or last gen. Value is dead.

dotsman

Whatever about flight simulator which is very demanding, I'm surprised by Warzone 2. Haven't played it much, but did a few games over Xmas with my nephew on a very old pc with only a 960 gpu. On 1080p at relatively low settings I was getting a consistent 60fps (all the monitor could handle). Didn't bother upping the settings to find the biting point as it was only a few games, but surprised that a 2070 (significant improvement over a 960) would be running into problems at 1440p low settings. Are you using the nvidia experience overlay (or something similar) while playing? It would be interesting to see the gpu utilisation when those framerates drop. The 2600 is a pretty weak cpu by modern standards and wonder if that could be the bottleneck?

I have a 2070 Super (for 4k gaming). But after spending 2 grand on building a new pc, I brought my 2070 Super over from my old pc as I can't justify the ridiculous money that nvidia/amd expect me to pay for a modest improvement, especially when the bulk of the games I play give me 60fps at ultra or close to it (albeit a lot of games I play would be a few years old).

There is no hope for nvidia this gen, but am holding out hope for the 7800 or even 7700 being released at something that resembles value, or that prev gen high-end cards will fall significantly in price over the coming months. If not, I'll wait until next year or even the year after if I have to.

K.O.Kiki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120095651#Comment_120095651

The cost-per-frame of the RTX 4080 is fine. Slightly better than 4090, better than any previous-gen above 3080 (admittedly at US prices)

7900 XT / XTX are better value though.

dotsman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120096607#Comment_120096607

But there are many things you are missing with that graph.

First, the cost per frame is supposed to improve significantly with each generation. That is the whole purpose of a new generation. You should be seeing a good 20%-50% improvement with each generation.

Secondly, that graph is based on mrsp. When comparing current gen vs previous gen, the previous gen should currently be at a significant discount.

Thirdly, the cost of a gpu to an Irish person is very different to the US mrsp.

Ultimately, the performance of the 4080 is poor, regardless of price, and gives the performance of what the 4070 should be giving. But instead of it costing €400 - €500 to an Irish person as the xx70 models used to, it is costing circa €1,400 - €2,000.

But people are happy to pay that price now, so that's what they charge.