Upgrading from much older rig, a little conflicted!

[nakquada]

Budget (including currency): €2000

Country: Ireland

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Battlefield, Warzone, Cyberpunk 2077, Hunt Showdown, Unreal Engine

Other details: Currently on an i7 9700k, Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Pro, 32GB Vengeance 3000Mhz DDR4, 970 Evo 1TB, Corsair AX1200i, Noctua NHD15S, GTX 1080 Founders Edition in a Phanteks Enthoo Evolv X case.

 

I've just been given wife approval to splurge on a GPU, and (if possible) any other components I would need, subject to budget limitations. My plan is to buy either an RX 7900XTX or RTX 4080 when they are released on the 13th December. I'm upgrading from a GTX 1080 that I've had for over 6 years now (which is amazing). I game on an AOC CU34G2X 34" Ultrawide (3440x1440) @ 144hz. In the last 2 years I've noticed how much my 1080 has struggled to keep up with games, especially at ultrawide resolutions. I stopped myself playing games like Cyberpunk because it would absolutely ruin the experience. Having to turn down visuals or use upscaling (FSR/NIS) with blurry performance is no fun. (No DLSS on my 1080).

 

I'm hoping to get a GPU that would be a significant boost over my 1080 and allow me to play the latest games on high/max settings @ greater than 120fps. I'm also wondering if I get a new GPU will it be held back by the 9700k and, if so, do I also go and upgrade my main rig components too. If this is the case, do I go for a Ryzen 7 7700X and B650/X670 + DDR5 or an older Ryzen CPU and chipset? Do I go for 13th gen i7 or older 12th gen and motherboard? Will there be any issue with my current motherboards PCIe gen3 holding back a newer GPU too?

 

I'm really conflicted as I'm a bit out of the loop in the last few years and I'm hoping to pick up some deals for components over the next few weeks.

 

Any input would be very greatly appreciated.

[Queen Chrysalis]

At WQHD the 9700k can probably keep up with a 6800xt or 3080 totally fine.  That would double your framerate in most games.  Anything more is just way too expensive to justify the premium.  If any games get a little CPU bound the 9700k is very overclockable, but I don't think that's gonna happen.

 

 Asus TUF-RX6800XT-O16G-GAMING Radeon RX 6800 XT 16 GB Video Card (TUF-RX6800XT-O16G-GAMING) - PCPartPicker

MSI VENTUS 3X PLUS OC GeForce RTX 3080 10GB LHR 10 GB Video Card (GeForce RTX 3080 VENTUS 3X PLUS 10G OC LHR) - PCPartPicker

 

The rest of your system should be totally fine.

[brob]

There should be enough room in the budget to squeeze in an i5-13600KF and basic z790 motherboard.

 

An LGA 1700 adapter bracket is available from Noctua for the NH-D15S cooler. PSU, memory, etc. should be all reusable.

 

If the i5-13600KF doesn't fit in the budget a 5800X with a decent B550 motherboard should fit. Noctua should still have AM4 adapter kits for the NH-D15S.

 

[Queen Chrysalis]

1 hour ago, brob said:

There should be enough room in the budget to squeeze in an i5-13600KF and basic z790 motherboard.

 

An LGA 1700 adapter bracket is available from Noctua for the NH-D15S cooler. PSU, memory, etc. should be all reusable.

 

If the i5-13600KF doesn't fit in the budget a 5800X with a decent B550 motherboard should fit. Noctua should still have AM4 adapter kits for the NH-D15S.

 

You could, but what I tell anyone looking to upgrade a GPU and on the fence about their CPU is to try before they buy.  As in, try the new GPU with the old CPU first.  If it's a problem, get a new CPU, if not carry on and save yourself all that cash for a rainy day or a golden opportunity later on down the line.  Especially with a CPU that overclocks well (first intel CPU with soldered heat spreader), is paired with a great cooler, and isn't really all that old.

[nakquada]

Thanks for the input guys — do you think it would be wise to go for a newer GPU and hopefully get as long as I did out of my 1080? Or is going for a last gen GPU going to be an issue in 2 or 3 years again? Normally all of this is a non-issue, but now that there's kids in the equation I just don't have disposable income like I used to so whatever I get/build needs to last me 4+ years at least. I don't mind stretching the budget a bit if it will make more economical sense in the long run.

 

I'd love to try an AMD build, as the last motherboard I had was back in the late 00s and was an Asus Crosshair. The last AMD GPU i had was crossfire 5870s — a long time ago! How are last / new generation AMD boards and GPUs fairing out against their Intel counterparts?