Looking for upgrade guidance

[BottomsUp]

I fell off gaming for awhile but am back. I have a i6700k I bought new and a 1080yi I bought open box for about $550 I think when the 2000 series was the new thing.

I have no idea what the CPU market is for gaming these days so need advice.

I did check out the GPUs and am considering AMD 7900 GRE or the 4070 super.

Any guidance is appreciated. I hear way tracing is nice so maybe that’s a nod to Nvidia?

 

[BlueLineSwinger]

What's the budget? What size display and what's its refresh limit? What games? Any other high-end non-gaming usage, such as audio/video editing? Any specific time frame?

Generally speaking:

The AMD 7800X3D is currently the top CPU for gaming for almost all titles. But their 9000-series X3D units are expected in a few months. Intel's top CPUs get close but require lots of power and run stupid-hot relatively, however they may be a better option if you're also running demanding non-gaming apps.

In pure raster performance, AMD units generally have better price-performance than Nvidia. But when you start adding things on like ray tracing and frame generation the latter IMO pulls ahead even with the higher costs. Check what games you play, some may better support one brand or the other. Don't bother with Intel GPUs at this point.

 

[BottomsUp]

I have a 1440p gsync 144hz monitor. All i use this rig for is gaming. No specific time frame.

Budget....i can afford what i want but i don't feel like i game enough to justify high end. Main game i'm playing is cyberpunk 2077

Thanks

 

[Comixbooks]

Intel is coming out with new chips in a few months otherwise a 12700k or 13700k is good. I think you could get a 12700 k for alot cheaper 2-3 year old chip. 4070ti is a good card 4080 is kinda expensive like 1k. The thing is Nvidia is coming out with new cards in October. If you do upgrade get DDR5 Ram 6000mhz is fine.

The best upgrade would be a OLED monitor for sure I have a 27 inch kg and love it.

 

[polonyc2]

slightly off topic but Hardware Unboxed put out a video yesterday where they say that one of the biggest upgrades you can make is...your monitor!...too many people concentrate on upgrading their GPU or CPU while continuing to use their old 1080p 60hz display...upgrading to 1440p 144hz or 4K 144hz is a massive improvement...


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCzjA5pdsNs

 

[BlueLineSwinger]

I have a 1440p gsync 144hz monitor. All i use this rig for is gaming. No specific time frame.

Budget....i can afford what i want but i don't feel like i game enough to justify high end. Main game i'm playing is cyberpunk 2077

Thanks

Well, if you want something today and/or are wary of immediately jumping on new hotness like the upcoming AMD and Intel CPUs, I'd go with an AMD 7800X3D system. Nice side bonus is AMD's CPU socket longevity. The upcoming Zen 5/9000-series CPUs will work in whatever mainboard you buy today (assuming BIOS/UEFI updates), and Zen 6 is expected to when those are released in a couple years. If you are OK with waiting to see what comes out in the next few months and are willing to work through possible launch issues (e.g., the AMD 7000-series was a bit rough at first), then hold off and also maybe get some decent clearance/black Friday deals.

If the display is truly GSync (not simply a FreeSync unit labeled as "GSync compatible"), then you're pretty much locked to Nvidia GPUs as AMD's won't support any variable refresh features on it. For that size/refresh I'd say a 4070 Super at the minimum, more if you think you'll really be cranking up the textures and/or ray tracing. Check around various review sites to see what hardware scores what for CP2077 and other titles you're interested in.

Mainboard: AMD side the B650 chipset is fine, the B650E if you want PCIe5. No need to go with the X670 chipset unless you really need the expansion options. Intel side go with a Z790 board.

RAM: 32 GB. 16 GB is borderline for current gaming, more is superfluous for almost all titles. AMD systems benefit more from faster RAM, DDR5-6000 being the sweet spot for the 7000-series (may change with the 9000-series).

CPU cooling: The current high-end Intel CPUs almost require a closed-loop cooler to avoid throttling. On the AMD side a good air tower (e.g., Thermalright, Noctua) in a good case is sufficient, but the better cooling capacity of a CLC may allow the CPU to run faster.

SSD: If you're getting a new one, a good PCIe4 unit is fine. The current PCIe5 units are expensive, run stupid-hot, and provide no real-world benefit. The WD SN850X, SK Hynix P41, Solidigm P44, and Samsung 990 Pro are top choices.

PSU: A good 850 W unit (e.g., Seasonic, Corsair) is plenty.

 

[Armenius]

Well, if you want something today and/or are wary of immediately jumping on new hotness like the upcoming AMD and Intel CPUs, I'd go with an AMD 7800X3D system. Nice side bonus is AMD's CPU socket longevity. The upcoming Zen 5/9000-series CPUs will work in whatever mainboard you buy today (assuming BIOS/UEFI updates), and Zen 6 is expected to when those are released in a couple years. If you are OK with waiting to see what comes out in the next few months and are willing to work through possible launch issues (e.g., the AMD 7000-series was a bit rough at first), then hold off and also maybe get some decent clearance/black Friday deals.

If the display is truly GSync (not simply a FreeSync unit labeled as "GSync compatible"), then you're pretty much locked to Nvidia GPUs as AMD's won't support any variable refresh features on it. For that size/refresh I'd say a 4070 Super at the minimum, more if you think you'll really be cranking up the textures and/or ray tracing. Check around various review sites to see what hardware scores what for CP2077 and other titles you're interested in.

Mainboard: AMD side the B650 chipset is fine, the B650E if you want PCIe5. No need to go with the X670 chipset unless you really need the expansion options. Intel side go with a Z790 board.

RAM: 32 GB. 16 GB is borderline for current gaming, more is superfluous for almost all titles. AMD systems benefit more from faster RAM, DDR5-6000 being the sweet spot for the 7000-series (may change with the 9000-series).

CPU cooling: The current high-end Intel CPUs almost require a closed-loop cooler to avoid throttling. On the AMD side a good air tower (e.g., Thermalright, Noctua) in a good case is sufficient, but the better cooling capacity of a CLC may allow the CPU to run faster.

SSD: If you're getting a new one, a good PCIe4 unit is fine. The current PCIe5 units are expensive, run stupid-hot, and provide no real-world benefit. The WD SN850X, SK Hynix P41, Solidigm P44, and Samsung 990 Pro are top choices.

PSU: A good 850 W unit (e.g., Seasonic, Corsair) is plenty.

A 4070 SUPER and 7800X3D can run on a 600W PSU. NVIDIA's own specs list a 650W PSU as "required," but that also accounts for Intel CPUs that use twice the power.

 

[BottomsUp]

hey all OP here. after this thread and watching few videos I decided to buy the Microcenter 7800x3d bundle with the 7900XT. It was just under $1300 and the card/rig runs cyberpunk 2077 with RT ultra at 1440p ultra just fine. most times around 70fps, sometimes 60, sometimes 80 but with vsync it's totally fine. I've been Nvidia/Intel forever (I'm old) so it feels kind of good to give team red a chance and have a good experience.

 

[Sycraft]

hey all OP here. after this thread and watching few videos I decided to buy the Microcenter 7800x3d bundle with the 7900XT. It was just under $1300 and the card/rig runs cyberpunk 2077 with RT ultra at 1440p ultra just fine. most times around 70fps, sometimes 60, sometimes 80 but with vsync it's totally fine. I've been Nvidia/Intel forever (I'm old) so it feels kind of good to give team red a chance and have a good experience.

Good to hear. AMD for CPU is for sure the way to go right now, until Intel figures out and fixes their issues with 13/14th gen CPUs.