How limiting is my CPU on a planned GPU upgrade

Light1984

Gawd
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Dec 31, 2004
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So.. I've been wanting to upgrade my current GPU (970 GTX) to a 2080 Super or 2080 Ti or whatever is released this summer. But the rest of my system really doesn't "need" to be upgraded in my opinion. How many frames, or what kind of percentage in performance do you guys/girls think I stand to lose by sticking with my current setup vs upgrading to a Ryzen 3600X system? I thought about putting this in the CPU section, but since I will be going from Intel to AMD this time around, I thought maybe the GPU section would be the best section to avoid that argument. I know this question has many factors that could contribute to gains/losses, so I am just asking in general terms.

For example, if I am upgrading to play Cyberpunk when it comes out, lets say whatever GPU I upgrade to gives me 100 FPS with an upgraded Ryzen 3600X. Where about do you think my current Intel 2700K rig would put my frames with just an upgraded GPU, everything else being the same, 10% lower, 20%, etc.?

Again, I know this is impossible to answer in specifics, more just curious how much of a difference a complete system upgrade would make vs just a GPU upgrade in general terms with regards to frame rate. This rig is used 95% for gaming and 5% for surfing the web, hence not really needing a complete system upgrade. An entire new system the way I would want to do it, new case, custom water loop, etc. would be at least $3500, whereas just a GPU upgrade would be the cost of the GPU plus a water block for my current custom loop. So cost is the driving force for the question. Hope this all makes sense, TIA.
 
Having just upgraded from a 4770K to a 3900X, there is a very noticeable boost in games, particularly minimum frame times. Battlefield 5 especially is notably faster as that game likes cores and will load up my CPU quite a bit in multiplayer. It's hard to give you an exact figure since no one knows how CPU heavy CPU punk is, but I'd say MINUMUM 10% and perhaps closer to 20% if it's CPU heavy.
 
Ok, thanks for the responses. Figured I'm in order for a whole new system, was going to see if I could get away with just a gpu upgrade again. Thanks for the info.
 
Obviously you like to hold onto your systems for a while if you're still on a 2700K. I'd look at a minimum 8 core AMD CPU rather than the 3600X only because the new consoles are rumored to be 8 core AMD creations, and I'm sure we'll see plenty of lazy ports of console games for the PC over that span.
 
Obviously you like to hold onto your systems for a while if you're still on a 2700K. I'd look at a minimum 8 core AMD CPU rather than the 3600X only because the new consoles are rumored to be 8 core AMD creations, and I'm sure we'll see plenty of lazy ports of console games for the PC over that span.
10-4, good thinking. I do like to make my systems last as long as possible. Prior to the 2700K I was on an Athlon system, haha. Buy once, cry once I suppose. Should heed my own advice. Thanks.
 
10-4, good thinking. I do like to make my systems last as long as possible. Prior to the 2700K I was on an Athlon system, haha. Buy once, cry once I suppose. Should heed my own advice. Thanks.
Here's a site I just learned of a few days ago - https://pc-builds.com/calculator/ . You might find it helpful but if not, it's a nice way to pass the time imagining different configurations and how they might work together.
 
I'm not sure about your CPU.

I ran 1080p @60Hz with high game settings using Fx 8350 and gtx 970 until a few weeks ago then upgraded to new Mobo, ryzen 5 2600 CPU and DDR4 3000 but still using the 970. Here's the performance change I experienced:

- was able to OC the 970 much higher
- everything loads much faster
- in Metro Exodus the cut scene at the end of the bunker level used to run @ 8 fps for some reason but now it runs smoothly
- can now use "fast" V-sync in nvidia control panel for Exodus without dropping below 60 fps

Other than that I've not seen anything else (that is noticeable during gaming)

So, in closing I'd say my upgrade was mainly to get ready for a 20 series GPU sometime down the road.

I hope that helped :barefoot:
 
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Your CPU has no effect on how high you can OC your GPU. How much of a performance difference you get out of that OC is another matter
 
I had a 3770K @ 4.4GHz with 16GB DDR3 and a GTX 970. Last summer I upgraded to a used 1080 Ti and it was a HUGE improvement in gaming. I did notice that minimum frame rates were still an issue as well as hitching here and there, and benchmarks obviously proved that my 3770K was holding the 1080 Ti back, but I bought it knowing I was building a new system soon enough.

I put together this 9700K rig on Black Friday. The biggest difference is minimum frame rates are up and every game just feels butter smooth all the time. Battlefield V is the biggest difference, I could not play it maxed out on my 3770K due to hitching/min frame rates which went away with the new CPU. Games like Apex Legends and Mass Effect Andromeda the difference was very minor.

You'll definitely get a huge boost with a 2080 Ti but you'll also be handicapping it, especially if your CPU is not overclocked. It seems like the next gen NVidia cards are a possibility in July-September time frame which is still pretty far off, I'd either buy a 2080 Ti immediately or would wait.. I'd be pissed if I bought one in April/May and then new cards launch a month or two later.
 
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I'll likely wait for the next batch of cards from both teams and see who is faster. Thanks for the input everyone.
 
Here is my very first Gen 3 Ryzen build with a Best Buy cpu I bought in early Aug as I dropped it in this board and I don't even knows the setting or what is controlling at this moment but it is not a hard set overclock as it's boosting and loves mixed G-Skills in dual channel all 4 dims and I just flashed it to 50 f bios and all windows patch's because it's been setting dark since Oct and I drop the MSI RX 5700 Mech OC in it for a test run . https://valid.x86.fr/bench/jj5hzu/12

The story on that board is I bought it for a 2200g back then as it offered support out of the box .. then me living up to my name haha .. I was Cross Firing RX 570''s with the 2200g as the cpu and hit 18,000 with a 24000 gpu score .. it's is nice board for the money as it cost me $62 new back then .
 
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