Upgrading ideas

[TSNxHITMARKERZ]

Budget (including currency): Not sure yet.

Country: U.S.A

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: gaming/streaming/work

Other Details: I have a cooler master 750w power supply. Play 2560x1440 at 165 Hz for now. Looking for ideas if just a GPU upgrade or go all the way with new system for newer CPU motherboard since I now have 2 gig internet and my motherboard can only handle 1 gig

 

[Hinjima]

4 minutes ago, TSNxHITMARKERZ said:

Budget (including currency): Not sure yet.

Country: U.S.A

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: gaming/streaming/work

Other Details: I have a cooler master 750w power supply. Play 2560x1440 at 165 Hz for now. Looking for ideas if just a GPU upgrade or go all the way with new system for newer CPU motherboard since I now have 2 gig internet and my motherboard can only handle 1 gig

 

 

If you have the budget I would recommend a full new rig.

The intel 8700k is old and will struggle in modern games, especially if you want higher framerate.

 

Even a budget Ryzen 7600 would destroy that 8700k in performance.

[thekingofmonks]

2 hours ago, Hinjima said:

gaming/streaming/work

Gonna have to be a bit more specific here.

 

If it's just casual gaming and no post-2020 titles, I would just max out the specs on that platform (9900K, DDR4 4400+, best GPU for the resolution)

 

If it's for modern titles, large audience streaming or CPU/GPU work, it's something entirely new, but it still depends.

[SorryBella]

41 minutes ago, thekingofmonks said:

If it's just casual gaming and no post-2020 titles, I would just max out the specs on that platform (9900K, DDR4 4400+, best GPU for the resolution)

Youve seen the price of these in used markets? They dont make sense either compared to buying straight up brand new platform. 230 USD is Ryzen 5 5600 + motherboard combo pricing.

 

 

Flagship intel needs to stop being put on a pedestal on eBay before these will be worth even a second at that price. And remember that only select few of these and 5600s can make that DDR4 4400 speed work without crashes or clocking down to 3200-3600. And for 80-100$ used compared to pennies for no label 32GB 3200C16? All for insanely meager performance increase? No thanks.

 

And this is without cooling upgrades for both the CPU and presumably the board, these things can power throttle too like 10th and 11th gen Intel. If they dont have similarly competent board power delivery and cooling for the CPU, then there will be choke in one way or another. Final nail is that your idea here makes even less sense for someone casual. If they're casual they should just stick with this system. No upgrades unless if its about power efficiency cut.

[thekingofmonks]

48 minutes ago, SorryBella said:

Youve seen the price of these in used markets? They dont make sense either compared to buying straight up brand new platform. 230 USD is Ryzen 5 5600 + motherboard combo pricing.

 

Flagship intel needs to stop being put on a pedestal on eBay before these will be worth even a second at that price. And remember that only select few of these and 5600s can make that DDR4 4400 speed work without crashes or clocking down to 3200-3600. And for 80-100$ used compared to pennies for no label 32GB 3200C16? All for insanely meager performance increase? No thanks.

 

And this is without cooling upgrades for both the CPU and presumably the board, these things can power throttle too like 10th and 11th gen Intel. If they dont have similarly competent board power delivery and cooling for the CPU, then there will be choke in one way or another. Final nail is that your idea here makes even less sense for someone casual. If they're casual they should just stick with this system. No upgrades unless if its about power efficiency cut.

I meant "casual" as in a casual gamer that does not seek the absolute best performance for a measly 200 dollars. I believe I did not mean poor when saying "casual"...

 

9900K QQBY revision can go for as low as 150 USD on AliExpress, and is easily overclockable. Perhaps 8700K for ~100 would make more sense for your definition of "casuals".

Sure, I admit 4400 is a bit of a stretch, but stable 4000 at 1.35V wasn't rare at all with Coffee Lake-S... And 3200-3600 was only a premium, whereas people were still cheaping out with 2400 kits. Those speeds were not the stable max.

 

80$ for a 4400 kit is new, not used. And "pennies" for 3200 is just dishonest, those kits go for at least 50.

 

And please, Zen 2/3 MC can easily achieve 3800 and would likely crash with fclk beyond 1900.

 

I know what I'm talking about, bub. Don't worry.

Edited January 28, 2025 by thekingofmonks

[SorryBella]

26 minutes ago, thekingofmonks said:

9900K QQBY revision can go for as low as 150 USD on AliExpress, and is easily overclockable. Perhaps 8700K for ~100 would make more sense for your definition of "casuals".

Just saying you could avoid all this if you specify this, because i didnt consider ES CPUs generally because they can be mouse trap sometimes. But sure, good argument.

 

27 minutes ago, thekingofmonks said:

80$ for a 4400 kit is new, not used.

I forgot how theyre not that different between the two market, im dumb.

[thekingofmonks]

32 minutes ago, SorryBella said:

Just saying you could avoid all this if you specify this, because i didnt consider ES CPUs generally because they can be mouse trap sometimes. But sure, good argument.

 

I forgot how theyre not that different between the two market, im dumb.

No, you're not.

Sorry I got a bit high there.

 

Indeed, I should've specified it.

You are absolutely right, though, the 9900K has no good price. It's an old premium so people charge insanely high prices for it, but even at 150 it's worse in terms of price to perf.

I guess I just feel like old platforms deserve a glow up.

 

OP's 8700K can be OC'd but as you pointed out, Skylake chips need some beefy cooling to sustain a constant 5GHz. 

 

They also limit the 1080Ti's potential, that's just how old they are.

 

So yes, for casual gaming, the 5600 is the better way to go.

[TSNxHITMARKERZ]

I have a custom 240 water cooling loop from ek I'm most likely gonna save up and go all new with a 4080 or higher and a new motherboard for DDR5 and faster m.2 speeds I have 2 970 evo m.2s but mainly wanting to take full advantage of my 2 gig internet speeds and looking at probably going with AMDS newer CPUs since it seems like Intel 14th gen has issues but I've always been an Intel guy so price and availability will determine that