Is It Worth Upgrading My GPU At This Point?

Hulk

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So my system is like 10 years old and is finally starting to show it's age. I thought about building a new PC but I would need to start totally from scratch and not sure I want spend $1,000 to $2,000 or even more.

Here are my specs:


i5 4670K (OC to 4.1GHz)
ASRock Z87 Extreme4 Socket LGA

G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) 240-Pin SDRAM​

AMD Radeon R9 FURY X 4GB GPU
Seasonic X-750
Zalman 320 cooler for CPU
24" 1920 x 1200 60Hz monitor

I was thinking of picking up a 6700XT but not sure if it's even worth it because the CPU is so old. I'm surprised how well the CPU holds up though, the only game so far that is giving my trouble is Days Gone where even at low settings there is huge stuttering. This combo plays games like Witcher 3 and GTA V pretty good (it is a 10 year old game almost).

Any thoughts?

If I do build a new system it would probably be with the new 7900x since going from a 4 core to 12 core CPU would be a huge upgrade and I could keep the new system for another 10 years or so.
 
There is no reason you can't get the 6700xt now and use it, then upgrade your mb/mem later.

You will get a lot of responses how your cpu will bottleneck the 6700, and that is true, to a point. You may not get as many fps out of it as you would with a new top of the line cpu, but you will still see a dramatic improvement.
 
This isn't just about your CPU being a clear and obvious bottleneck for any remotely decent modern card this is about your CPU being a massive bottleneck for modern gaming in general. An older four core four thread CPU absolutely cannot deliver acceptable performance in a lot of modern games. In any halfway CPU intensive game that old CPU is going to do nothing but shit itself being pegged at 100% and cause massive stuttering trying to push a modern graphics card. A 4670 is not even capable of averaging 60 FPS in some games never mind the the minimums which will clearly be in the 40s and 30s at times. I absolutely would not fool with getting a GPU until you upgrade that entire computer.


And trying to build a computer to last 10 years is just dumb in my opinion. It would be a hell of a lot more sensible to build a computer that meets your needs for the foreseeable future and then upgrade and sell off your current stuff as needed. Trying to hold on to hardware until it's borderline obsolete or completely useless to anyone else just makes no sense whatsoever.
 
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First, I would start off by collecting some basic performance information during actual gameplay. Have something like MSI Afterburner running on a 2nd monitor and simply monitor your GPU usage. If your GPU usage is pegged at 100% while in-game, then that is clear evidence that you would benefit from a new GPU (even if you are CPU limited at that point). If your GPU is not hitting 100% usage most of the time, then upgrade your CPU first.

I also don't think that it necessarily makes sense to build a complete computer from scratch every time you upgrade. Even just having to upgrade the CPU+Mobo+Ram all at the same time is a pretty significant investment, and even that assumes that you can get away with re-using your existing PSU and Case, etc. I personally like to trade-off. Upgrade my CPU (and Mobo+Ram if needed), and then a year or two later upgrade my GPU, and then a year or two later upgrade my CPU again, etc. Try to do it all at once and you end up having to settle for lower-end parts just to keep the cost reasonable.

I use a 5820k in my backup system. Even though it has 6 cores, it's still the same Haswell architecture as your 4670k. It's not nearly as terrible as some would make it out to be. It should not be a big deal if you upgrade your GPU now and then upgrade your CPU 6 months from now.

I don't think it's "dumb" to want your system to last a long time. I know people who are still clinging to their 2500k system and somehow they still manage to play games and have fun.

Just keep in mind that a lot of hardware (both on the CPU and GPU side of things) is being released now. It's a great time to pick up bargains on used hardware. Buy something like a used 5800X+X570 setup from someone who is upgrading their system to Zen4.
 
Sorry but it can be dumb to buy hardware with the only intention of trying to keep it for 10 years just because you don't want to upgrade in between. Hanging on to outdated components that can't even provide decent performance in the games you want to play not to mention in some games they are literally not even meeting the minimum requirements that may be needed just to play at all. Buying what you actually need now and for the foreseeable future and then selling off parts as needed for upgrades along the way if absolutely needed can be cheaper in the long run not to mention you'll always have a computer that does what you want it to do.

If somebody wants a 6700xt then that means they want to play modern games at good frame rates. It's not even a debate that a 4670k absolutely cannot do that in several modern games. It is not a debate that a 4670k will be completely maxed out and cannot even average 60 FPS in some games and will be a stuttering mess.
 
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No point when your weakest link is the 1080P 60Hz office monitor.
The best gaming monitor in the world is not going to make any real difference when you're rocking an outdated four core four thread CPU.
 
The best gaming monitor in the world is not going to make any real difference when you're rocking an outdated four core four thread CPU.
So you are saying when I had my 2600k system with a GTS 450 and upgraded to a 1060 then 1080 and finally a 1080ti I didn't see a difference? So if I run any games on that same system with the 2080ti I would not see a difference? You sir do not see that there will be an improvement in his gaming. You only want to see a bottlenecked CPU. If he upgraded to a let's say a 3070ti in his same system. Will he get the same FPS as if he had a 5800x? No but he will get better FPS than his old card. A newer card will run better than his old one PERIOD. Bottleneck to what FPS he could get but still better than his current. If I am wrong then prove it with facts. Let's see some benchmarks with lower scores to what his system can do.
 
So you are saying when I had my 2600k system with a GTS 450 and upgraded to a 1060 then 1080 and finally a 1080ti I didn't see a difference? So if I run any games on that same system with the 2080ti I would not see a difference? You sir do not see that there will be an improvement in his gaming. You only want to see a bottlenecked CPU. If he upgraded to a let's say a 3070ti in his same system. Will he get the same FPS as if he had a 5800x? No but he will get better FPS than his old card. A newer card will run better than his old one PERIOD. Bottleneck to what FPS he could get but still better than his current. If I am wrong then prove it with facts. Let's see some benchmarks with lower scores to what his system can do.
Maybe actually read a little closer and I would not have to repeat the same thing. AGAIN I said that an old 4 core/ 4 thread cpu will be a bottleneck for modern games in general not just a bottleneck for the gpu itself. AGAIN a 4670k will be pegged trying to push any decent gpu in any halfway cpu intensive game and will cause stuttering. And AGAIN a 4670k can not even maintain anywhere near 60 fps in some games. Those are the FACTS.
 
Maybe actually read a little closer and I would not have to repeat the same thing. AGAIN I said that an old 4 core/ 4 thread cpu will be a bottleneck for modern games in general not just a bottleneck for the gpu itself. AGAIN a 4670k will be pegged trying to push any decent gpu in any halfway cpu intensive game and will cause stuttering. And AGAIN a 4670k can not even maintain anywhere near 60 fps in some games. Those are the FACTS.
RE-READ again. He will get an improvement. Show me different in benchmarks or in game vids it will not be better. Until then be quiet.
 
RE-READ again. He will get an improvement. Show me different in benchmarks or in game vids it will not be better. Until then be quiet.
An FPS improvement does not mean a goddamn thing if the game is stuttering and/or cant even hold 60 fps in many cases. Until you can comprehend that then perhaps it is you that should "be quiet". :rolleyes:
 
I mean if you've waited this long might as well wait for amd to drop the 7000 series cards.. and see what happens? I got force to upgrade a few months ago, because my RX580 started acting up.. and at the same time my wife's Haswell rig (i7-4770K) became unstable... Due to needing her to have a working pc I gave her my ryzen 5 3600 and bought a i7-12700K and a 3070FE (and aorus x690 Elite AX /32GB DDR5 5600 (corsair) and a 2TB samsung 980 Pro ... all in all I can't complain my wife can do her work she needs to do at home and the i7 and 3070 are a pretty step up from the Ryzen 5 3600 and RX580... but I would have rather waited for 7000 cards to come out and see what was up then. I mean it is 1 week until the radeon 7000 launch event (Nov 3, 2022) ... Even if you still end up buying a 6700 it may be cheaper after the 7000 launches? or at least you'll know what is up at least.
 
No point when your weakest link is the 1080P 60Hz office monitor.
This is also true.
I do think that for 1080p 60Hz, Fury X (same level as 1660/rx 590) still has acceptable performance.

If OP do really want to upgrade, may as well go with 5800x3d + cheap b550, then re-use the ram kit.
Save the remaining budget + re-sale value of previous cpu + mb combo for rdna 3 / ada mainstream gpu.
 
I generally agree with jobert - I think the i5 will hold you back in quite a few games with a 6700XT. Will you get an overall boost? Sure, definitely, but you're going to be heavily CPU limited in almost any modern game. Early last year my brother has a skylake i5 paired with a 2080 and he was painfully bottlenecked. Going to a 8700k was a night and day difference, and that wasn't even close to top end at the time.

If you had a 4790k, I'd say you'd have a bit more headroom to benefit. Those can typically get 4.4ghz all core and have 8 threads. I actually know a couple of people who still game on them, and they get okay performance with 1000 series Geforces. Sure you can upgrade to one for ~$100 on ebay, but that's also a decent chunk that could be used towards a modern setup.
 
This is also true.
I do think that for 1080p 60Hz, Fury X (same level as 1660/rx 590) still has acceptable performance.

If OP do really want to upgrade, may as well go with 5800x3d + cheap b550, then re-use the ram kit.
Save the remaining budget + re-sale value of previous cpu + mb combo for rdna 3 / ada mainstream gpu.
His current platform uses DDR3.
 
An FPS improvement does not mean a goddamn thing if the game is stuttering and/or cant even hold 60 fps in many cases. Until you can comprehend that then perhaps it is you that should "be quiet". :rolleyes:
And one should have a clue and not play games that a system is under spec'ed for. Otherwise play the latest and greatest that your CPU is rated for and a more powerful GPU will show an improvement. Hell at this point an older GPU might cause more stutters/hitches/crashes etc.. because it isn't supported and optomized for current games. Get a modern GPU in there and then all you have to worry about is avoiding games that are past CPU requirements.
 
And one should have a clue and not play games that a system is under spec'ed for. Otherwise play the latest and greatest that your CPU is rated for and a more powerful GPU will show an improvement. Hell at this point an older GPU might cause more stutters/hitches/crashes etc.. because it isn't supported and optomized for current games. Get a modern GPU in there and then all you have to worry about is avoiding games that are past CPU requirements.
Lol so you think games have a warning in the requirements letting you know it will stutter with only 4 threads in cpu limited scenes? How about getting a modern system first so you can play all of your modern games properly on that new gpu? ;)
 
Aren't there still people on here stating their overclocked intel 2 series cpu still is just as good as intels 13 series? Really?
 
Lol so you think games have a warning in the requirements letting you know it will stutter with only 4 threads in cpu limited scenes? How about getting a modern system first so you can play all of your modern games properly on that new gpu? ;)
Yes it is called the minimum and recommended system spec. Most every piece of software lists this ya?
There are also forums to discuss games and common sense to avoid this years "Crysis!"
 
Yes it is called the minimum and recommended system spec. Most every piece of software lists this ya?
You cant possibly be that ignorant about pc gaming. A game could run much worse or much better than the requirements suggest. Plus when they list the minimums they assume no one is stupid enough to pair a modern upper mid range card with an outdated cpu that just barely makes the cut to even play the game at all. FFS do you actually think any game dev for the last few years is wasting their time testing a goddamn 4 thread cpu from 2013?
 
You cant possibly be that ignorant about pc gaming. A game could run much worse or much better than the requirements suggest. Plus when they list the minimums they assume no one is stupid enough to pair a modern upper mid range card with an outdated cpu that just barely makes the cut to even play the game at all. FFS do you actually think any game dev for the last few years is wasting their time testing a goddamn 4 thread cpu from 2013?
Right so the only solution to modern gaming is to have a beast system. Everyone making due under your high-bar is just a fuck-tard. Gotcha :rolleyes:
 
Right so the only solution to modern gaming is to have a beast system. Everyone making due under your high-bar is just a fuck-tard. Gotcha :rolleyes:
I said a game could run worse OR better so the POINT was you cant just look at requirements to know exactly what to expect. And to you there is nothing in between a beast system and a 4 thread cpu from 2013? What a ridiculous thing to say. Then again you are the one thinking it makes sense to stick a 6700 xt with a 4670. :rolleyes:

EDIT: Anyway this thread is not worth wasting any more time on. OP if you want to get a 6700 xt and get half the performance it can offer at 1080p along with some stuttering and hitching in some games as well as not always even being able to maintain 60 fps then go right ahead. My advice would be to upgrade to a modern platform.
 
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was thinking of picking up a 6700XT but not sure if it's even worth it because the CPU is so old. I'm surprised how well the CPU holds up though, the only game so far that is giving my trouble is Days Gone where even at low settings there is huge stuttering. This combo plays games like Witcher 3 and GTA V pretty good (it is a 10 year old game almost).

Any thoughts?

The lack of GPU memory may be a factor in some cases, but also the lack of threads on the CPU, the only reasons to me to only go for a new videocard is lack of funds so you can save up for the rest of the parts or you wan to wait for the 3D versions of the new AMD CPU's.

You CPU's main problem will be the minimum fps in games going forward, but this also depends on which games you intend to play.

For a gaming only system I could advise a 5800X3D CPU which should be sufficient for a while, but it's a dead platform now, on the other hand if you are going to keep it for 10 years, they all will be.
 
I mean you don't necessarily have to spend $1000 on a new setup. You could buy someone's AM4 gear and still see an upgrade for a lot less than $1000. Personally, I would look at that vs. buying a 4790k to slot in the current motherboard. If you are an Intel fan, you can get something like a 12400, a DDR4 motherboard, and 16GB of DDR4 for ~$300.
 
I have a 4590 with 8 gigs of ram, and I saw a big jump going from gtx 750 -> 960 -> 1070 each time. Currently very happy running 1080p games. I'm about to upgrade too, but mostly for load times and 4k. AM4 and 12400 systems are great values right now.

I mean you don't necessarily have to spend $1000 on a new setup. You could buy someone's AM4 gear and still see an upgrade for a lot less than $1000. Personally, I would look at that vs. buying a 4790k to slot in the current motherboard. If you are an Intel fan, you can get something like a 12400, a DDR4 motherboard, and 16GB of DDR4 for ~$300.

Incidentally, I just bought a Gigabyte DS3H, 12400f, and 2x16GB of DDR4 for $310 ;-)
 
I mean you don't necessarily have to spend $1000 on a new setup. You could buy someone's AM4 gear and still see an upgrade for a lot less than $1000. Personally, I would look at that vs. buying a 4790k to slot in the current motherboard. If you are an Intel fan, you can get something like a 12400, a DDR4 motherboard, and 16GB of DDR4 for ~$300.
This ^. Almost every newer processor will give you better results.


So you are saying when I had my 2600k system with a GTS 450 and upgraded to a 1060 then 1080 and finally a 1080ti I didn't see a difference? So if I run any games on that same system with the 2080ti I would not see a difference? You sir do not see that there will be an improvement in his gaming. You only want to see a bottlenecked CPU. If he upgraded to a let's say a 3070ti in his same system. Will he get the same FPS as if he had a 5800x? No but he will get better FPS than his old card. A newer card will run better than his old one PERIOD. Bottleneck to what FPS he could get but still better than his current. If I am wrong then prove it with facts. Let's see some benchmarks with lower scores to what his system can do.
Funily enough I upgraded my [email protected] and mobo to a [email protected] after jumping from a 1080 to a 1080 TI because i was getting the same results in the games I was playing at the time.
However the 7820x was stuttering massively in some titles with my 3080TI, tried to keep it for at least another generation of GPUs... I could have understood lower performance than expected (was getting around the 3070 performance from most review sites), but the stuttering was the last straw for me.
 
Considering that the junk in my signature is still allowing me a good experience in Cyberpunk 2077 and Far Cry 6 currently, I think your system is still quite decent if you have reasonable expectations like I do with my relic.

Why not spend $20 bucks and upgrade to a Xeon E3 1240 V3, which will overclock like your i5, and give you Hyper-Threading on the cheap. Those extra threads will certainly help extend the life of your system.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/364006931206

Then a video card upgrade will make more sense......
 
As an eBay Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
The Ryzen 5 5600 at $129 was made for someone just needing a taste of speed / cheap B550 / keep the Fury as it run speeds you never seen it do before. I would love to see the uplift with same video card.
 
That system is a bit long in the tooth.
You should get a 6700 and a z-170 board so you can reuse your current RAM.
Plus you'll get optane support.

Seriously though pretty much everything is an upgrade at this point.
Get the new video card. If it doesn't yield the results you were expecting, at least you will have the first new component and a working gaming PC while you wait for the rest of the parts.
 
I am serious, what do you mean?
That was an honest question because almost all the threads discussing platform upgrade, all of the posters have great uplift of performance. Maybe there's just minority thinking their old ddr3 platform still cut it in today's games.
 


I found this vid interesting. Not apples to apples of the discussion but kinda shocking the performance uplift for an ancient Ryzen 5 2600 when going from a 1080ti to a 4090 in many titles when I thought it would bottleneck.
 
I've seen enough systems to have actually experienced what happens when you put powerful video cards with old CPUs.

The bottom line: Stuff is too expensive these days and I'm the last person to money shame. You spend what you can afford. If you have a 4000 series CPU and you can't afford to upgrade more than one thing right now then yes absolutely you should do the GPU now and the CPU later. But you need to understand why you must eventually do both: In my experience with current games CPUs at and before the 8000 series (and especially any before this) will now be oddly slower, have bad 1% lows, spikes, and generally not as smooth as newer CPUs and motherboards will deliver. You'd get radically better game performance if you paired that 6700 XT with a $100 i3-12100F and a $100 mobo. This is still "only" a 4-core 8-thread CPU, but the gaming performance will decimate your i5-4670 on the new video card. It's just how far architecture changes have come in 10 years. It's more than you think. More than I used to think. 4000 and 6000 series CPUs are seriously long in the tooth now for gaming even though they hold up ok for office and internet work.
 
That was an honest question because almost all the threads discussing platform upgrade, all of the posters have great uplift of performance. Maybe there's just minority thinking their old ddr3 platform still cut it in today's games.
He is not running a x58 Xeon in Triple Channel @ 1600Mhz with pair of RX 570 8Gb in CX = this what 5600x has on hold waiting for you

 
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That system is a bit long in the tooth.
You should get a 6700 and a z-170 board so you can reuse your current RAM.
Plus you'll get optane support.

Seriously though pretty much everything is an upgrade at this point.
Get the new video card. If it doesn't yield the results you were expecting, at least you will have the first new component and a working gaming PC while you wait for the rest of the parts.
6700 uses DDR4, OP's current platform uses DDR3, as stated a few posts above, so reusing the RAM won't be an option with that upgrade, unfortunately.

I said a game could run worse OR better so the POINT was you cant just look at requirements to know exactly what to expect. And to you there is nothing in between a beast system and a 4 thread cpu from 2013? What a ridiculous thing to say. Then again you are the one thinking it makes sense to stick a 6700 xt with a 4670. :rolleyes:

EDIT: Anyway this thread is not worth wasting any more time on. OP if you want to get a 6700 xt and get half the performance it can offer at 1080p along with some stuttering and hitching in some games as well as not always even being able to maintain 60 fps then go right ahead. My advice would be to upgrade to a modern platform.
OP could always get the GPU with an uplift of 10~ fps, then upgrade the whole system at a later point to get modern performance.
So you are saying my AMD Jaguar will bottleneck it's RTX 3070??? ;)

While I do agree with you that the OP's CPU will certainly bottleneck that GPU and not play modern games without a limited capability, it is their choice and if on a tight budget it is what it is.
It would certainly be better to upgrade to even a modern low-end 6-core CPU and platform with a current mid-range GPU - that would drastically improve performance overall compared to the nearly decade old CPU being paired with a higher-end GPU.
 
I have to ask do you not have a job? Do you only make like $25000 a year and qualify for food stamps? Just build a new computer dude. If you are that tight on money lay off the crack or get a better job seriously
 
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6700xt stutters on my i7 920 box @ 1080p. I use that pc as a remote box so I can game on a 55 inch tv on my couch. If I try to play any modern games on the box, it's got atrocious load times and it stutters.
 
🤣

OP hasn't responded in this thread and other threads just recent indicate he/she is getting a 4k monitor and "most likely a 6800 XT"...

this thread is dead
 
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