Need help on an upgrade path! CPU / GPU

[Logicoe]

1. Budget & Location

I live in the USA. The budget itself is hard to put a number on. I am looking to do an upgrade to get a little more out of my system without doing a full rebuild. I'm not looking to spend thousands of dollars. Upgrade should be as cheap as possible but maximize the performance increase.

2. Aim

The goal I have for this upgrade is to get some more FPS at higher gameplay presets. I used to play FPS primarily, but I've started doing more single player games. I've recently purchased Cyberpunk, Red Dead Redemption 2 and I would like to have a nicer looking game and have great FPS.

3. Monitors

I currently have 2 monitors. Both are Asus Rog Swift 27" 2k monitors. One is curved the other is a standard flat panel. The monitor colors seem washed out, maybe im in the wrong setting. I'm not 100% sure I want to keep 2 monitors. I might change the setup to a single slightly bigger monitor in the future. 4K gaming would be nice but not a requirement.

4. Why are you upgrading?

I'm mainly looking for a performance increase over all. Just not sure which part should be the priority to upgrade first.

 

Current Setup:

CPU: Intel i7 8700k (With AIO water cooler)

Motherboard: Asus ROG Maximus X HERO

Ram: 32GB DDR4 3000 CL15 (4x8)

Graphics Card: EVGO GeForce RTX 2080 Super

PSU: Corsair HXi 750W

Storage: 

• Samsung 960 Pro 512GB (OS Only)
• Samsung 850 EVO 1TB x2 (Storage/ Older Games)
• Samsung 970 Pro  1TB (Newer Games

[Dedayog]

15 minutes ago, Logicoe said:

1. Budget & Location

I live in the USA. The budget itself is hard to put a number on. I am looking to do an upgrade to get a little more out of my system without doing a full rebuild. I'm not looking to spend thousands of dollars. Upgrade should be as cheap as possible but maximize the performance increase.

2. Aim

The goal I have for this upgrade is to get some more FPS at higher gameplay presets. I used to play FPS primarily, but I've started doing more single player games. I've recently purchased Cyberpunk, Red Dead Redemption 2 and I would like to have a nicer looking game and have great FPS.

3. Monitors

I currently have 2 monitors. Both are Asus Rog Swift 27" 2k monitors. One is curved the other is a standard flat panel. The monitor colors seem washed out, maybe im in the wrong setting. I'm not 100% sure I want to keep 2 monitors. I might change the setup to a single slightly bigger monitor in the future. 4K gaming would be nice but not a requirement.

4. Why are you upgrading?

I'm mainly looking for a performance increase over all. Just not sure which part should be the priority to upgrade first.

 

Current Setup:

CPU: Intel i7 8700k (With AIO water cooler)

Motherboard: Asus ROG Maximus X HERO

Ram: 32GB DDR4 3000 CL15 (4x8)

Graphics Card: EVGO GeForce RTX 2080 Super

PSU: Corsair HXi 750W

Storage: 

• Samsung 960 Pro 512GB (OS Only)
• Samsung 850 EVO 1TB x2 (Storage/ Older Games)
• Samsung 970 Pro  1TB (Newer Games

Do you live by a Microcenter?

 

4K gaming... bring your wallet, or go home.  Keep it at 1440p gaming, or 1440p Ultrawide (yes please).

 

You've a good foundation to run 1440p with a 5070/5070TI/9070/9070XT.  The 8700K, if you want to OC it up to 5GHz, can handle 1440p.  I have a 9900K with a 6900XT that does 1440p very well.

 

So you can look at upgrading the GPU, the build wil support it.

 

Granted if you want to do the CPU too, you're looking at a full CPU/MOBO/RAM upgrade as staying on DDR4 just isn't really viable anymore.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Video Card: Asus PRIME OC GeForce RTX 5070 12 GB Video Card  ($549.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: MSI SHADOW 3X OC GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB Video Card  ($799.99 @ Best Buy) 
Video Card: ASRock Challenger Radeon RX 9070 16 GB Video Card  ($599.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: Asus PRIME OC Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB Video Card  ($719.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $2669.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-08-13 10:49 EDT-0400

 

Personally I would get the 9070XT and then upgrade my CPU when wallet allows.

[johnt]

7 minutes ago, Logicoe said:

I am looking to do an upgrade to get a little more out of my system without doing a full rebuild. I'm not looking to spend thousands of dollars. Upgrade should be as cheap as possible but maximize the performance increase.

Consider the 5060 ti. My quick research shows it is about a 25% performance lift over the 2080. It also has frame generation which I've found palatable at 2x or 3x depending on the game, which is a great way to enjoy Cyberpunk. I would not go much higher as your 8700k is likely to leave performance on the table if you jump to a 5070ti or 5080. Plus, those cards put you in the $1k+ territory.

[Logicoe]

2 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

Do you live by a Microcenter?

 

4K gaming... bring your wallet, or go home.  Keep it at 1440p gaming, or 1440p Ultrawide (yes please).

 

You've a good foundation to run 1440p with a 5070/5070TI/9070/9070XT.  The 8700K, if you want to OC it up to 5GHz, can handle 1440p.  I have a 9900K with a 6900XT that does 1440p very well.

 

So you can look at upgrading the GPU, the build wil support it.

 

Granted if you want to do the CPU too, you're looking at a full CPU/MOBO/RAM upgrade as staying on DDR4 just isn't really viable anymore.

I don't live directly next to a Microcenter but it isn't out of the realm of posibility. 

 

I figured 4K Gaming would need a bigger upgrade. I think 2K is right for me. Maybe an ultrawide. I like that idea!

 

From what I am understanding you are recommending a GPU upgrade rather than a CPU?  My only worry was bottlenecking a newer GPU with an older CPU. Asus stopped supporting this board a long time ago. The reason I bring this up is because I found a video either from Linus or Jayztwocents to gain a little more FPS with Nvidia cards there is a BIOS setting. I believe it is available on some Z370 MB but I couldn't find it on my current one.

 

I understand that CPU would mean a whole platform upgrade. With the prices of GPUs lately. I figured i would do a platform upgrade or just a gpu. 

[Logicoe]

3 minutes ago, johnt said:

Consider the 5060 ti. My quick research shows it is about a 25% performance lift over the 2080. It also has frame generation which I've found palatable at 2x or 3x depending on the game, which is a great way to enjoy Cyberpunk. I would not go much higher as your 8700k is likely to leave performance on the table if you jump to a 5070ti or 5080. Plus, those cards put you in the $1k+ territory.

This is exactly my worry about jumping too far into the 50 series. What about the higher end 40 series? Still a worth while upgrade or just go with a lower tier 50 series?

[Dedayog]

5 minutes ago, Logicoe said:

I don't live directly next to a Microcenter but it isn't out of the realm of posibility. 

 

I figured 4K Gaming would need a bigger upgrade. I think 2K is right for me. Maybe an ultrawide. I like that idea!

 

From what I am understanding you are recommending a GPU upgrade rather than a CPU?  My only worry was bottlenecking a newer GPU with an older CPU. Asus stopped supporting this board a long time ago. The reason I bring this up is because I found a video either from Linus or Jayztwocents to gain a little more FPS with Nvidia cards there is a BIOS setting. I believe it is available on some Z370 MB but I couldn't find it on my current one.

 

I understand that CPU would mean a whole platform upgrade. With the prices of GPUs lately. I figured i would do a platform upgrade or just a gpu. 

Correct, upgrade the GPU now if you're on 1440p.  The GPU willbe of course contrained by the CPU to a point, but the benefit of going GPU now beats going CPU now.

 

Either way, you'll need to go BOTH to get the most out of them both.  I just wanted to share that an 8700K can support a GPU at 144p well enough to make it the logical first upgrade if you cannot do both at the same time.

 

Or schedule a 1/2 day road trip to a Microcenter (lunch, MC< etc etc.) and get a CPU bundle and a GPU and a monitor!   Hit Bucees on the way!

 

If you can, OC the 8700K to 5Ghz for a little more oomph.

 

3 minutes ago, Logicoe said:

This is exactly my worry about jumping too far into the 50 series. What about the higher end 40 series? Still a worth while upgrade or just go with a lower tier 50 series?

I get what that guy is saying, but if you're going to upgrade the CPU in the future... you'll be stuck with a 5060Ti.  That isn't a high refresh rate 1440p card.

 

Plus a 25% increase over the 2080Ti isn't enough of an uplift for me, personally.

 

The other point is that you bought the flagship 20 series and are you now planning on going mid on GPUs now?  Or do you like being high tier performance?

[Logicoe]

6 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

Correct, upgrade the GPU now if you're on 1440p.  The GPU willbe of course contrained by the CPU to a point, but the benefit of going GPU now beats going CPU now.

 

Either way, you'll need to go BOTH to get the most out of them both.  I just wanted to share that an 8700K can support a GPU at 144p well enough to make it the logical first upgrade if you cannot do both at the same time.

 

Or schedule a 1/2 day road trip to a Microcenter (lunch, MC< etc etc.) and get a CPU bundle and a GPU and a monitor!   Hit Bucees on the way!

 

If you can, OC the 8700K to 5Ghz for a little more oomph.

 

I get what that guy is saying, but if you're going to upgrade the CPU in the future... you'll be stuck with a 5060Ti.  That isn't a high refresh rate 1440p card.

 

Plus a 25% increase over the 2080Ti isn't enough of an uplift for me, personally.

 

The other point is that you bought the flagship 20 series and are you now planning on going mid on GPUs now?  Or do you like being high tier performance?

I see what you are saying. I feel like my issue lately seems to be when having multiple things open at the same time. It feel like when things are loading the entire computer just freezes slightly. Might be a software vs hardware issue. But if it isn't software it could be CPU related. Maybe this year is a new CPU kinda year. I see that Microcenter has a few combo deals MB/CPU/RAM. 

 

Price to performance. What is your recommendation for an upgrade from the 8700k? Amd or Intel doesn't matter as long as the price to performance is good.

[johnt]

17 minutes ago, Logicoe said:

This is exactly my worry about jumping too far into the 50 series. What about the higher end 40 series? Still a worth while upgrade or just go with a lower tier 50 series?

I am not sure what is available to you. The 5060 ti cards are selling for MSRP on Amazon (or very close to it). The 40 series can be trickier to find, but I don't think the prices were much better. Even then, the 4070/4070 ti only comes with 12 GB of vram. I suppose you could look used for a 30 or 40 series, but the 5060 ti was like $430 for a card with 16 GB of vram. You have to step all the way up to a 4080 for that. I still feel like you will be double the cost of a 5060 ti.

 

Also, the 3080/4070/4080 all use the 12vhpwr power connector (the one with melting issues). I think they come with 3x8-pin adapters but can your GPU handle it? They expect three separate wires from your PSU, which is insane, and no daisy chained ends (the wires with two ends). Or you can purchase a dedicated cable for your PSU if it is modular and you can find a reliable one. But it's an added cost. The 5060 ti are all traditional 8-pin.

 

Edit: I noticed you had a Corsair HX for PSU. Corsair does make a decent cable with type-4 connectors for newer GPU power ports.

[johnt]

4 minutes ago, Logicoe said:

It feel like when things are loading the entire computer just freezes slightly

Might be time for a fresh install of Windows? When did you last install Windows on your system and have you upgraded OSes on the same install?

[Dedayog]

1 minute ago, Logicoe said:

I see what you are saying. I feel like my issue lately seems to be when having multiple things open at the same time. It feel like when things are loading the entire computer just freezes slightly. Might be a software vs hardware issue. But if it isn't software it could be CPU related. Maybe this year is a new CPU kinda year. I see that Microcenter has a few combo deals MB/CPU/RAM. 

 

Price to performance. What is your recommendation for an upgrade from the 8700k? Amd or Intel doesn't matter as long as the price to performance is good.

I'd look at a fresh Windows install if you have that type of glitching, Seen it before in years long Windows installs, may or may not be relevant.

 

At the top end, the 9800X3D bundles are 100% worth it, I'd dip for the upgraded mobo (at $649).  It's the best gaming CPU in the Universe after all.

 

The 9700X bundle for $429 is what I would buy on a semi budget.  The 9600X looks MUCH cheaper but I'd prefer 8 cores, and the 9600X bundle only comes with 16GB RAM not 32GB. 16GB today is a no no for me.  Plus the 9600X is on a mATX board.

 

They have the 9070XT Steel Legend in white even for $699.  

 

You can probably find deals similar on Newegg, they have had some recently.

 

 

[Logicoe]

3 minutes ago, johnt said:

Might be time for a fresh install of Windows? When did you last install Windows on your system and have you upgraded OSes on the same install?

Now that I think about it. My Windows installation might be 5-6 years old at this point. It is up to date on Windows 11 but you're probably right. I think I will do this tonight and see what happens.

[Dedayog]

Just now, Logicoe said:

Now that I think about it. My Windows installation might be 5-6 years old at this point. It is up to date on Windows 11 but you're probably right. I think I will do this tonight and see what happens.

After that,  pop in yuor BIOS and see if there is an AUTO OC for the 8700K to 5Ghz.  My Gigabyte had it.   Try it out see if you notice anything.

[Logicoe]

2 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

I'd look at a fresh Windows install if you have that type of glitching, Seen it before in years long Windows installs, may or may not be relevant.

 

At the top end, the 9800X3D bundles are 100% worth it, I'd dip for the upgraded mobo (at $649).  It's the best gaming CPU in the Universe after all.

 

The 9700X bundle for $429 is what I would buy on a semi budget.  The 9600X looks MUCH cheaper but I'd prefer 8 cores, and the 9600X bundle only comes with 16GB RAM not 32GB. 16GB today is a no no for me.  Plus the 9600X is on a mATX board.

 

They have the 9070XT Steel Legend in white even for $699.  

 

You can probably find deals similar on Newegg, they have had some recently.

 

 

I think if I'm going to do a 2 year approach to upgrading. I might as well aim top end CPU bundle and then commit to new GPU next year.

[Logicoe]

3 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

After that,  pop in yuor BIOS and see if there is an AUTO OC for the 8700K to 5Ghz.  My Gigabyte had it.   Try it out see if you notice anything.

I believe I tried 5GHz but i don't remember why i stopped.