New build or new gpu?

[Red_TC]

Budget (including currency): N/A

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: warzone overwatch etc 

Other details

Hey guys I’m looking to get a little more boost in my gaming experience and looking where to start I’ve been thinking of buying a 4090 / 4090ti and was wondering on your guys Opinion is it worth me upgrading just my gpu or should I bite the bullet and build a whole new system? Below is my current build and if needed I’ll switch my Psu 

just looking for some advice

[ilikememe]

If you want to get a 4090, you'll have to upgrade your CPU, at the very least to avoid a 50% bottleneck. Also, DDR4 is at the end of it's line so maybe an upgrade would be good. Basically, you would be better off upgrading it for the long term by making a new build.

[Crunchy Dragon]

4 minutes ago, ilikememe said:

If you want to get a 4090, you'll have to upgrade your CPU, at the very least to avoid a 50% bottleneck. Also, DDR4 is at the end of it's line so maybe an upgrade would be good. Basically, you would be better off upgrading it for the long term by making a new build.

I'm skeptical that an i9-9900K will bottleneck a 4090 by 50%. I'm also unwilling to say DDR4 is at the end of its line simply because motherboards and CPUs that support DDR5 are on the market.

 

OP: I honestly would not recommend buying a 40-series card. Maybe a 4070Ti or 4080 if money isn't an issue for you. If you want a better experience gaming without going crazy, a 3080 on the used market would be a solid upgrade.

[BiG StroOnZ]

You don't mention what monitor you're using or what resolution and refresh rate you're gaming at. So it's really hard to determine.

 

But you would see great improvement moving from the 9900k to say a 13600k. In Cinebench R23 a 13600k is 94% faster than a 9900k. In gaming the 13600k is around 17-48% faster than a 9900k:

 

 

If you upgrade to a 4090, it would definitely be held back by your current CPU. However, depending on the resolution you are playing at, depends on what makes sense to upgrade first, CPU or GPU. Personally, if I was playing at 1080p or 1440p 120-165Hz and I had a 2080 Super. I would probably upgrade to a 13600k and hold onto my 2080 Super for a little bit (see if NVIDIA is forced to lower prices slightly for their current 4000 series stack). As the 13600k would breathe new life into your 2080 Super. Raising minimum framerates, 1% lows, and 0.1% lows drastically. Which will provide a much smoother and fluid gaming experience. Something that is necessary for Warzone and Overwatch.

 

However, being that you have 4090 money. I would probably do something like this as the endgame for your complete upgrade:

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Hqzs78

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-13600K 3.5 GHz 14-Core Processor  ($319.91 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z790 UD AC ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($199.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  ($174.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: Zotac GAMING Trinity GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12 GB Video Card  ($799.99 @ B&H) 
Total: $1494.88

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-01-14 13:40 EST-0500

 

Reuse your current CPU Cooler (will probably need an updated mounting bracket from source), Storage, Case and Power Supply. Just make sure to do a fresh install of Windows 11. You could also always add a 500GB Crucial P3 or P5 Plus for $42 or $65 if you want to leave your previous storage alone and do a fresh install of Windows on a new drive. 500GB should be enough for OS/Programs and your main games anyway. 

[GeorgeMKane]

1 hour ago, Red_OW said:

Budget (including currency): N/A

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: warzone overwatch etc 

Other details

Hey guys I’m looking to get a little more boost in my gaming experience and looking where to start I’ve been thinking of buying a 4090 / 4090ti and was wondering on your guys Opinion is it worth me upgrading just my gpu or should I bite the bullet and build a whole new system? Below is my current build and if needed I’ll switch my Psu 

just looking for some advice

At this point, new build makes sense. You'll want new cpu, motherboard, and ram with the new gpu. You might as well get new case and cooler too. I would probably recommend a 4080 over a 4070Ti, if you still have room in the budget though. Definitely a bigger improvement.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/t3LKTn

CPU: Intel Core i7-13700K 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor  ($421.97 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair iCUE H115i ELITE CAPELLIX 97 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($159.99 @ B&H) 
Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX Z790-F GAMING WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($419.99 @ ASUS) 
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  ($174.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: Asus ROG STRIX GAMING GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12 GB Video Card  ($949.99 @ ASUS) 
Case: Corsair 5000D AIRFLOW ATX Mid Tower Case  ($144.99 @ Amazon) 
$2271.92

 

 

[ilikememe]

1 hour ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

I'm skeptical that an i9-9900K will bottleneck a 4090 by 50%. I'm also unwilling to say DDR4 is at the end of its line simply because motherboards and CPUs that support DDR5 are on the market.

 

OP: I honestly would not recommend buying a 40-series card. Maybe a 4070Ti or 4080 if money isn't an issue for you. If you want a better experience gaming without going crazy, a 3080 on the used market would be a solid upgrade.

Honestly, I should have looked at that page a bit longer, I think that 50% was for something else but my point still stands about a severe bottleneck. DDR4 isn't really at the end of it's line and that wasn't what I meant to say. To clarify, DDR4 is NOT at the end of it's line, but an investment into DDR5 could be worth it. It's on me for saying it wrong.

[Crunchy Dragon]

7 hours ago, ilikememe said:

Honestly, I should have looked at that page a bit longer, I think that 50% was for something else but my point still stands about a severe bottleneck. DDR4 isn't really at the end of it's line and that wasn't what I meant to say. To clarify, DDR4 is NOT at the end of it's line, but an investment into DDR5 could be worth it. It's on me for saying it wrong.

 

It also depends on games, resolution, and refresh rate. In some cases, one might not even notice the bottleneck.

[Red_TC]

sorry for the late response i game at 1080p 240hz i also run 3 other montior as 60fps 1080 discord and tidal montiors tbh

[BiG StroOnZ]

19 hours ago, Red_OW said:

sorry for the late response i game at 1080p 240hz i also run 3 other montior as 60fps 1080 discord and tidal montiors tbh

 

I think a 4070 Ti is enough for that resolution and refresh rate. You might want to bump up to a 4080 to get closer to 240Hz in more games though.