Upgrade or Scratch & Rebuild?

[sparkski]

1. Budget & Location

$1000-1500, United States

2. Aim

1440p Gaming: Rocket League, Titanfall 2, Steep, Cyberpunk, and DOOM Eternal
Creative Work: Adobe Creative Cloud, Unreal Engine 5, Blender / Fusion, and Figma

3. Monitors

2x HP Omen 27i (2560 x 1440, 165Hz)

4. Peripherals

No peripherals needed, only upgrading PC hardware. 

5. Why are you upgrading?

I built my first PC at the beginning of 2020, and haven't followed along with any of the new generations of hardware until now. This is my current build, and while it does work for most applications, it has been slowing down in creative programs and some newer games. I'm on the AM4 platform with a 20 series GPU, so I'm not entirely sure whether or not it would be a wiser choice to upgrade what I can (keeping motherboard, etc.) or move on to the newest platforms. I do have some budget to work with, but I don't think I need to push it to the high end of what I have. 
As far as I can tell, my options are to either upgrade the CPU / GPU to a Ryzen 5000 / GeForce 4000, or start over (more or less) and go to AM5. With just the CPU / GPU, I can keep everything else in my system (probably time for a new PSU though), where rebuilding means only the cooler, case, and storage can stick around. What's the best bet in this situation? I appreciate any feedback you have. 

[Shimejii]

It comes down to is this a HOBBY stuff, or is this for work? Unless you plan on getting a 4080 or higher, a 5700x3d/5800x3d Would do fine.

 

If it is for work and such, getting a 9700x or a 9800x3D would be better for sure, or if you need a lot more cores/threads get a  7950x/9950x. I dont like 7950x3D/ 9950x3D because of its overcomplicated setup process for most normal end users, its not a simple plug and play.

 

 

 

 

[Why_Me]

Add another set of that RAM for a total of 32GB.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 7 5700X 3.4 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($148.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: *G.Skill Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory  ($44.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: *ADATA XPG Core Reactor II 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($99.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $293.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-02-23 23:43 EST-0500

[sparkski]

On 2/23/2025 at 9:18 PM, Shimejii said:

It comes down to is this a HOBBY stuff, or is this for work? Unless you plan on getting a 4080 or higher, a 5700x3d/5800x3d Would do fine.

 

If it is for work and such, getting a 9700x or a 9800x3D would be better for sure, or if you need a lot more cores/threads get a  7950x/9950x. I dont like 7950x3D/ 9950x3D because of its overcomplicated setup process for most normal end users, its not a simple plug and play.

 

 

 

 

I do freelance creative work on this PC, but I also have a computer provided by my company that I use for my salaried job. 

I don't think I'll be going as far as a 4080, as it looks like those are all outside my budget (or out of stock at MSRP) by themselves. It sounds like a 5700X/X3D and a 30xx series would be the best bet for now. Thanks for your help!

[sparkski]

On 2/23/2025 at 9:43 PM, Why_Me said:

Add another set of that RAM for a total of 32GB.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 7 5700X 3.4 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($148.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: *G.Skill Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory  ($44.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: *ADATA XPG Core Reactor II 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($99.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $293.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-02-23 23:43 EST-0500

Do you think that the 2070S in my system is fine to leave as is?

Graphics cards are definitely the most expensive component to replace, so if that's fine I'm all for it. 

[Why_Me]

14 minutes ago, sparkski said:

Do you think that the 2070S in my system is fine to leave as is?

Graphics cards are definitely the most expensive component to replace, so if that's fine I'm all for it. 

I would keep it for now until graphics card prices get back to normal and that could be months from now.

[sparkski]

1 hour ago, Why_Me said:

I would keep it for now until graphics card prices get back to normal and that could be months from now.

Sounds good, thanks!

One other question came up while I was looking for the new RAM: I went back in my order history and found the original kit that I bought, linked here. It's a DDR4 3600 CL19 model. Would it be best to buy another 2x8GB set of what I have, or move on to a 2x16GB set at a lower timing? I've also heard the fewer sticks, the better. 

The original 2x8GB kit is $50USD, while a 2x16GB kit of the same model at CL16 or CL18 ranges from $65 to $80USD.

[Why_Me]

10 minutes ago, sparkski said:

Sounds good, thanks!

One other question came up while I was looking for the new RAM: I went back in my order history and found the original kit that I bought, linked here. It's a DDR4 3600 CL19 model. Would it be best to buy another 2x8GB set of what I have, or move on to a 2x16GB set at a lower timing? I've also heard the fewer sticks, the better. 

The original 2x8GB kit is $50USD, while a 2x16GB kit of the same model at CL16 or CL18 ranges from $65 to $80USD.

DDR4 is dirt cheap atm. Just get a set of 2x16GB DDR4-3600 CL18 and Ebay your current RAM.