What's my GO TO upgrade? Thoughts?

[Sam1H]

Hey Everyone, I thought to keep it simple i'll use the existing template

 

Budget (including currency): 3-5k AUD

Country: Australia

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

Games such as Tarkov (we all know how poorly optimized it is, and i'm an absolute sucka for a high framerate in shooters), Star Citizen, those two are the main kickers really (I do play a TONNE of games though), and rendering 3D work with primarily Blender (3D is a secondary concern, mostly gaming in mind) 

Other details: 

I currently have a full gaming PC with the specs; 
Prime z390-A, i9 9900k running at 4.6-5GHz, 2x32GB DDR4 at 3200MHz, GTX 2080ti with a closed water loop, running windows 11. *edit* EVGA Supernova 750 G2 power supply
Other stuff i have in it are; Samsung 960 ssd with my OS and a Samsung 970 500gb with the games i play often that require faster load times. Other stuff i jam into an older 2TB HDD, slower games, music, pictures from my dslr etc. 
I have a LG 32'' 165Hz 1440p monitor, I do like to play games in 1440p ever since i bought this monitor but sometimes it feels like my system really struggles with it and i'll have to lower graphical settings to squeeze out every bit of performance i can get. (for those who might find it interesting, my monitor has 27842 hours total power on time ) I mostly use the single monitor, I do have another smaller 1080 monitor that i'll power on from time to time when i'm doing 3D work so i can watch a movie or a twitch stream, but a single monitor is comfortable for me. 
I mostly game, browse the web, youtube, netflix, all that good stuff, but i do dabble in 3D, not as much as i'd like to. I create in Blender and even Houdini, but render times are atrocious on my current setup, at least for the scenes i try to create  I do want to upgrade soon, although i seem to be cursed as every time i go to upgrade, something new will be announced right after i purchase the goods. 

 

I know enough about PC's to keep myself afloat, build & maintain them, but not necessarily what upgrades to get first.
What would be the IDEAL upgrade for my current setup? Mobo & Ram? GPU?

 

[johnno23]

with such a decent budget it might be worth researching some 3D workflow forums etc as AMD efficeincy in rendering over multiple threads might be your best course.

but then you are not upgrading but doing a new build.

your budget though is high enough to keep what you have and do a new build anyways....so you could consider building a new rig network your present system and simply let that do your rendering whilst you are working on the next item in your personal workflow.

I lean towards new build as if you have the budget why waste it simply trying to extend the life of something you will invariably replace at a later date.

[Bismut]

1 minute ago, johnno23 said:

with such a decent budget it might be worth researching some 3D workflow forums etc as AMD efficeincy in rendering over multiple threads might be your best course.

For a gaming focused build? Nah.

 

9 minutes ago, Sam1H said:

What would be the IDEAL upgrade for my current setup? Mobo & Ram? GPU?

It depends, what is holding you back the most? You could go for one of the new X3D chips if they prove to be as good as the old one was, that should give you a noticable boost everywhere. Grab some DDR5 6Gt/s and you'll be golden, although those chips are not released yet.
If your GPU is lacking, get a 4080/7900XT(X).

[SupaKomputa]

10 minutes ago, Sam1H said:

What would be the IDEAL upgrade for my current setup? Mobo & Ram? GPU?

for 5K, you can upgrade everything.

GPU is still ok.

As a minimum upgrade, i suggest upgrading MB, RAM and CPU to Ryzen 7000 or Intel 13th.

wait... dont get intel, as you may need to upgrade the PSU too.

[johnno23]

then do not say you want to have better render times and do more 3D work....if you want to ugrade as the gaming is giving you issues then go crazy  with a GPU better CPU etc etc just eliminate as many gaming bottlenecks as you can.

I also suggest you wait till end of february as test results for the new AMD 3D cache chips will be in and looking at the performance of the already well know 58003D it could be a true game changer.

 

[Sam1H]

7 minutes ago, johnno23 said:

then do not say you want to have better render times and do more 3D work....if you want to ugrade as the gaming is giving you issues then go crazy  with a GPU better CPU etc etc just eliminate as many gaming bottlenecks as you can.

I also suggest you wait till end of february as test results for the new AMD 3D cache chips will be in and looking at the performance of the already well know 58003D it could be a true game changer.

 

I did mention i mostly game, anything to boost 3D render time would mostly be a bonus. I appreciate you saying i should get a second PC for rendering, I'll probably look into doing that in the future. Thank you for your replies. 
 

12 minutes ago, Bismut said:

For a gaming focused build? Nah.

 

It depends, what is holding you back the most? You could go for one of the new X3D chips if they prove to be as good as the old one was, that should give you a noticable boost everywhere. Grab some DDR5 6Gt/s and you'll be golden, although those chips are not released yet.
If your GPU is lacking, get a 4080/7900XT(X).

14 minutes ago, SupaKomputa said:

for 5K, you can upgrade everything.

GPU is still ok.

As a minimum upgrade, i suggest upgrading MB, RAM and CPU to Ryzen 7000 or Intel 13th.

wait... dont get intel, as you may need to upgrade the PSU too.

 

Thank you both for your replies. Would i go straight for a 4080, possibly even 4090 as a gpu upgrade? That is quite a hefty price for a single piece of hardware, but it would be a substantial upgrade, Or would i be better off getting a 3080ti, and then upgrading my cpu to a 12, 13 series intel? I've only once had a fully AMD spec'd pc, and it had quite a few problems (this was YEARS ago and i guess i've become biased, but that's not stopping me from going amd again) 
 

[johnno23]

if you want to go 40 series just go full blast on 4090.........in most markets it is selling well and the drop in performance for a 4080 costing almost as much is something most buyers find unnaceptable unless they have no other choices.

 

My reasoning for 4090 is simply that it should last you a long time looking forwards. If the results of independant reviews as Linus can confirm what AMD are saying about the february release for their 3D cache upgrades to their current line of CPUs is close to what AMD claim then it will be a game changer as the issues of workflow are awesome and the jump in CPU performance across the board for most games is substantial. Adding a 4090 to the mix then you really are in God like territory when it cones to gaming and the added bonus is the desire to do 3D rendering etc.

[jaslion]

A new gpu and thats it?

 

If your renderer can use otpix then the cpu doesnt matter at all.

 

The 2 games you listed are bottlenecked by their programing and basically use the new gpu to just make em look prettier

[Sam1H]

8 minutes ago, jaslion said:

A new gpu and thats it?

 

If your renderer can use otpix then the cpu doesnt matter at all.

 

The 2 games you listed are bottlenecked by their programing and basically use the new gpu to just make em look prettier

Tarkov has plenty of issues, but the performance can be improved with hardware. I generally sit between 30-50fps on most maps which doesn't feel great, and 60-80fps on the older ones. (Factory sits steady at ~90)
I know with an upgrade of brute power, frame rates can be increased and cruise at 100-140 on all maps as has been proven by content creators and streamers. I have always had a competitive itch and love the feeling when hardware isn't the thing holding me back, but rather my own personal skill. (room to improve is a wonderful thing)
Star Citizen is going to be a fun experience, whenever it's completed... 
I'd love to experience it with a framerate > a microsoft powerpoint presentation

Jokes aside, I appreciate all of your feedback, and I'm happy to finally be on the LTT forums after being such a long time Linus viewer. 
Many thanks!

[johnno23]

6 minutes ago, Sam1H said:

(room to improve is a wonderful thing)

Now thats a line I greatly approve of... and i agree with your sentiments about hardware. 

I worked many years as a carpenter but never purchased a dollar shop chisel........when a quality chisel did not make be better it lasted me a lifetime whilst my skills improved.

to add context I am almost 65 now and yes I do still have my quality chisels

[Bismut]

19 hours ago, Sam1H said:

straight for a 4080, possibly even 4090

The 4080 gets outdone by the 7900XTX as far as I know, so the 4090 would be your balls-to-the-walls no compromises option and the only reasonable one from NVIDIA. Go for it if you're cool with the price and power draw, I would get a 1kW PSU to go along, possibly even 1,2kW+ if you plan on OCing.