Upgrade from 8th gen Intel to 12th gen. Worth it?

Baterka · October 20, 2022

I am planning to do the ugrade of my i7-8700 + 1070Ti system (built in Q3 2018) this, or start of next year while spending around 1000-1500$ at on it.

I was looking trough new gen CPUs from both teams and I think that I will try to stick with team blue still (I was planning move to AMD, but then 13th gen came out).

I am Android/Web dev (so CPU performance is more important than GPU performance) and sometimes enjoying to play some games like Satisfactory, Rust, Oxygen Not Included, LoL, PUBG, etc... I do not play AAA games like Cyberpunk, tho.

CPU:

My question is, if I should go with some 12th gen i7 and call it a day, as 13th gen is not really cheap (and will probably not get cheaper for a year) and is very power hungry. I have an Seasonic Focus Plus 550W.

I see that 13th gen cpus are still compatibile with 6xx boards so I can upgrade in few years to 13th gen if the performance improvement will be worth.

I also do not see a point in overclockable versions as I do not want to change everything from a case (rocking an SilentiumPC Signum SG1X) to power suppy (if not nessesary).

DDR5 is mixed feeling for me as I would like to upgrade to it, because I would be able to use same sticks for next build, but when I look at price I still think it is not worth it.

To sum it up: I think that jump from 8th gen to 12th gen will be still very much worth and there is no need to pay extra for an 13th gen. You guys agree?

GPU:

How I said, I am not an hardcore gamer and I rock double 1080p (maybe will upgrade to 1440p) monitors. Also I am not planning to play on more than 75Hz monitors.

My question is same as about CPU, should I buy an 3070/3080 and call it a day, or wait for 4070, or buy 4080? Is the performance jump worth it when I am upgrading from 1070Ti where I am overall satisfyed with performance but I would like to enjoy some games (like Rust, Satisfactory) with more FPS?

I know that from my description, it seems like I do not even need an upgrade, but I just want to do some upgrade as I have money for it and it will make me happy

jaslion · October 20, 2022

Your pc right now is perfect for what you do. Upgrades will result in no noticeable gains for you in any way shape or form. The only game that could run better is pubg with a better gpu if you want higher settings but thats about it.

I'd just leave it really.

Baterka · October 20, 2022

1 hour ago, jaslion said:

Your pc right now is perfect for what you do. Upgrades will result in no noticeable gains for you in any way shape or form. The only game that could run better is pubg with a better gpu if you want higher settings but thats about it.

I'd just leave it really.

And you think that if I buy an 3070 or similar my CPU will still not bottlenect it? If any I want at least the GPU upgrade.

LAwLz · October 20, 2022

2 hours ago, Baterka said:

I am Android/Web dev (so CPU performance is more important than GPU performance) and sometimes enjoying to play some games like Satisfactory, Rust, Oxygen Not Included, LoL, PUBG, etc... I do not play AAA games like Cyberpunk, tho.

I guess it depends on how big projects you are working on, but I think upgrading would be a pretty big uplift for you.

In general, when only looking at the large cores, Alder Lake is about twice as powerful as 8th gen Intel, and that's when we look at core for core performance (completing ignoring the E cores, which by themselves performs almost as well as Intel 8th gen).

In GCC 4.5 (very old and not optimized for Alder Lake, that came in version 12), the i5-12600K outperforms the i7-8700K by roughly 80%. Compile times are almost cut in half using a compiler that doesn't properly take advantage of the hybrid architecture. My guess is that with a more modern compiler, you might be able cut compile times in half. And that's if we are looking at the i5-12600K.

Gaming performance wise, it will probably not make a big difference. Your current processor should be good enough to handle those games with ease.

2 hours ago, Baterka said:

13th gen is not really cheap (and will probably not get cheaper for a year) and is very power hungry.

According to Inte, 13th gen is a lot more efficient than 12th gen.

13th gen should be able to do the same amount of work as a 12th gen, but using a lot less power.

2 hours ago, Baterka said:

To sum it up: I think that jump from 8th gen to 12th gen will be still very much worth and there is no need to pay extra for an 13th gen. You guys agree?

I think that is hard to say at this point in time. Just give it a few days. 13th gen reviews should be out by today or tomorrow, and it will be a lot easier to comment on whether or not the higher price for 13th gen will be worth it.

Something to keep in mind is that 13th gen basically bumps everything up one tier. The 13th gen i5 will probably outperform the 12th gen i7. Something to keep in mind when comparing prices.

If you can wait until early next year, prices for 13th gen will probably be down as well (with the launch of non-K variants).

Edit:

Reviews are out now. Give it a day or two and a consensus might have been reached regarding 12th gen vs 13th gen.

neekoanddime · December 24, 2022

Apologies for rezzing this but i had recently went from 8086k and 1070 to 12900k and 3060ti. I dont play new titles- pretty much just play league of legends and so i still am on an acer xb272 240hz 1080p monitor i bought years ago. But anyways upgrading from a z370 to a z790 board plus the gpu/cpu upgrades tbh i dont see much of a performance increase. I dunno maybe its my ram and motherboard. Havent looked too much into it but i figure z790 boards work better with ddr5. I opted to stay on ddr4 because ddr5 seems like it isnt where it should be yet. Anyways just figured id share my thoughts since we have similar older builds. I personally dont believe you're missing out on anything . Happy holidays btw