Worth upgrading gpu?

[Willum]

First post here, let me know if I'm in the wrong forum or something.

 

Budget (including currency): 

Country: Sweden

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: gaming cs2/LoL, maybe future games, gta6?

 

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): 

 

Current build: (built around 2016)

Cpu: i5-6600K

Cooler: Corsair Hydro H115i 

Gpu: Asus 1070 dual OC

Mb: Msi Krait gaming Z170A

Ram: Corsair 4x4gb 2400Mhz

Psu: Corsair Rm750X 

Case: Phanteks Eclipse P400S

 

Current plan upgrade:

Cpu: AMD Ryzen 5 7600X

Coolor: Same? The cooler i have supports am4 sockets, but according to https://help.corsair.com/hc/en-us/articles/9842633794317-AIO-Cooler-Is-the-AMD-AM5-motherboard-socket-compatible-with-older-cooler-brackets

am5 uses the same bracket? Correct me if I'm wrong please.

Mb: ASRock B650M-HDV/M.2

Ram: Kingston 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 6000MHz CL30 FURY Beast

(overkill?)

Case: Same

Psu: Same (should be enough?)

 

Now to my question:

Is it worth upgrading the gpu aswell for my purposes? Digging around I would believe that my i5 is the culprit in not able to game at 144Hz, large frame drops etc in cs2 for example.

Im also planning to upgrade my monitor from 1920x1080 to a 4K in the future.

 

What about the other parts? Im looking for a fairly budget upgrade, and got these parts from one of Linus videos from their $1000 version PC https://youtu.be/RqQ8SQqjlGk?si=15_4G9xhf9llEHJd

 

Best regards, William

 

[CatTNT]

If you're playing the sort of  games you are, you might as well pay more for a better CPU that'll last longer, and upgrade you GPU down the line when you actually start playing games that need a better GPU.

As far as I know, any AM4 cooler is going to work fine n AM5, unless you have some really exotic and weird cooler. 

 

if you're upgrading to a 4K monitor in the future, save your GPU upgrade for the same time as well. You don't need a GPU upgrade now with the games you play, you'll need it when you go to 4K. Buying the best CPU now, and then later on buying a GPU + new 4K monitor will allow you to save enough money to get the best of both worlds. Also, the GPU market is totally fucked right now, and is expected to dramatically improve later. 

 

[Amir F. Rad]

1 hour ago, Willum said:

 

 

What about the other parts? Im looking for a fairly budget upgrade, and got these parts from one of Linus videos from their $1000 version PC https://youtu.be/RqQ8SQqjlGk?si=15_4G9xhf9llEHJd

 

Best regards, William

 

look at the 6:30 of this video you posted its link again please about what linus said about be flexible and look for deals on bondles 

[Willum]

2 hours ago, CatTNT said:

If you're playing the sort of  games you are, you might as well pay more for a better CPU that'll last longer, and upgrade you GPU down the line when you actually start playing games that need a better GPU.

As far as I know, any AM4 cooler is going to work fine n AM5, unless you have some really exotic and weird cooler. 

 

if you're upgrading to a 4K monitor in the future, save your GPU upgrade for the same time as well. You don't need a GPU upgrade now with the games you play, you'll need it when you go to 4K. Buying the best CPU now, and then later on buying a GPU + new 4K monitor will allow you to save enough money to get the best of both worlds. Also, the GPU market is totally fucked right now, and is expected to dramatically improve later. 

 

Is it really necessary though going for the top of the line cpu? my budget for 10k was more including a gpu at that point. i dont play that much so was thinking something more budget friendly in that case aswell. but as you said, gpu is not top priority so thanks for confirming that aswell.

 

[CatTNT]

24 minutes ago, Willum said:

Is it really necessary though going for the top of the line cpu? my budget for 10k was more including a gpu at that point. i dont play that much so was thinking something more budget friendly in that case aswell. but as you said, gpu is not top priority so thanks for confirming that aswell.

 

You could get a 7800X3D, 7700X, 9700X, 7600X, or 9700X and still have most of the performance, it's just the 9800X3D is in it's own performance tier at 1080p. It will be less useful at 4K, and something like a 7700X/9700X would be just as good since at 4K your GPU is the main factor. If you save the money by going to a 7/9700X instead of a 9800X3D and use that money for a better GPU later on, it will be worth it. 

[Willum]

6 minutes ago, CatTNT said:

You could get a 7800X3D, 7700X, 9700X, 7600X, or 9700X and still have most of the performance, it's just the 9800X3D is in it's own performance tier at 1080p. It will be less useful at 4K, and something like a 7700X/9700X would be just as good since at 4K your GPU is the main factor. If you save the money by going to a 7/9700X instead of a 9800X3D and use that money for a better GPU later on, it will be worth it. 

Cheers mate, thanks for pointing that out. 

[Timme]

39 minutes ago, Willum said:

Cheers mate, thanks for pointing that out. 

Don't buy a top-tier CPU. It's a waste of money for a gaming PC, as it won't see even 50% utilization. Unless you pair it with a top-tier GPU, there won't be much of a boost over, say, 14600kf. And it's definitely not a $ $300 boost.
 

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-14600KF 3.5 GHz 14-Core Processor  ($219.94 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  ($40.59 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI MAG Z790 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($179.99 @ MSI) 
Memory: G.Skill Flare X5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  ($99.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Western Digital WD_Black SN850X 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($84.00 @ iBUYPOWER) 
Storage: Western Digital Black SN770 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($119.68 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GAMING OC Radeon RX 7800 XT 16 GB Video Card 
Power Supply: be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($99.90 @ Amazon) 
Total: $844.09
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-02-23 17:26 EST-0500

 

[Willum]

..

[Willum]

25 minutes ago, Timme said:

Don't buy a top-tier CPU. It's a waste of money for a gaming PC, as it won't see even 50% utilization. Unless you pair it with a top-tier GPU, there won't be much of a boost over, say, 14600kf. And it's definitely not a $ $300 boost.
 

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-14600KF 3.5 GHz 14-Core Processor  ($219.94 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  ($40.59 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI MAG Z790 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($179.99 @ MSI) 
Memory: G.Skill Flare X5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  ($99.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Western Digital WD_Black SN850X 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($84.00 @ iBUYPOWER) 
Storage: Western Digital Black SN770 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($119.68 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GAMING OC Radeon RX 7800 XT 16 GB Video Card 
Power Supply: be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($99.90 @ Amazon) 
Total: $844.09
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-02-23 17:26 EST-0500

 

Lga1700 socket is end of its line though? Seems, for me at least, that im locking myself into something that i might regret some years ahead if i want to upgrade, without changing mother board again. And I'm only looking for Cpu/mobo/ram upgrade right now

[Timme]

4 minutes ago, Willum said:

Lga1700 socket is end of its line though? Seems, for me at least, that im locking myself into something that i might regret some years ahead if i want to upgrade, without changing mother board again. And I'm only looking for Cpu/mobo/ram upgrade right now

14600k will serve you for a good few years. And you don't really need more than this for gaming. Plus, you can overclock it.

 

[CatTNT]

I personally wouldn't invest in a dead platform, as investing in AM5 will guarantee at least another 1-2 new CPU generations on it, and in 3-4 years you can upgrade to the best of AM5 for cheap once it becomes end of life

[Willum]

7 hours ago, Timme said:

14600k will serve you for a good few years. And you don't really need more than this for gaming. Plus, you can overclock it.

 

Looking at the comments at that video just tells me that the gpu is driving most of the load in those tests, i dont do 1440p gaming atm, and not with that gpu either. Im keeping my hands of dead sockets.

[Timme]

43 minutes ago, Willum said:

Looking at the comments at that video just tells me that the gpu is driving most of the load in those tests, i dont do 1440p gaming atm, and not with that gpu either. Im keeping my hands of dead sockets.

Even when you play at 1080p, you're still GPU-capped because no matter how fast your CPU is, the GPU can only render as many frames as it can. When people talk about the "King of 1080p gaming CPU," they are referencing the performance of the 4090. You can see on the graph how far from the real-world performance differs:

[Willum]

22 minutes ago, Timme said:

Even when you play at 1080p, you're still GPU-capped because no matter how fast your CPU is, the GPU can only render as many frames as it can. When people talk about the "King of 1080p gaming CPU," they are referencing the performance of the 4090. You can see on the graph how far from the real-world performance differs:

Yeah, I get that. How about staying on the AM5 side, heard too much trouble with intel these days (not saying it is) which lets me upgrade my pc with only mobo, cpu, ram. And saving money for a GPu later on when needed. Would Ryzen 5 7600X be a good option? Money wise it looks really good.

[Timme]

Just now, Willum said:

Yeah, I get that. How about staying on the AM5 side, heard too much trouble with intel these days (not saying it is) which lets me upgrade my pc with only mobo, cpu, ram. And saving money for a GPu later on when needed. Would Ryzen 5 7600X be a good option? Money wise it looks really good.

The trouble was with the higher tier 14900k and 14700 and that is pretty much fixed. If don't mind adding another 100-200$ for a similar AMD CPU/MB go for it.

[Willum]

3 hours ago, Timme said:

The trouble was with the higher tier 14900k and 14700 and that is pretty much fixed. If don't mind adding another 100-200$ for a similar AMD CPU/MB go for it.

With Lga1170 i have to change coolor aswell, and im very happy with what i have now, so i will go for a supported socket to keep the budget down for that anyway. thanks for your advice.