Need a new CPU for 4K gaming but Zen3 has no upgrade path.

sblantipodi

2[H]4U
Joined
Aug 29, 2010
Messages
3,759
Hi all,
I'm running a [email protected] with a 2080Ti.

I have a 4K/144Hz monitor and I'm not interested in ultra high refresh rate but I'm worried about low 1%.
If I need to be sincere my CPU was enough for 4K gaming but with 3080 I feel that is a bit too old even for 4K.

I would really like to upgrade to Zen 3 but the fact that Zen3 have no upgrade path, that Zen 4 will bring DDR5 and USB4 along PCIe5 makes me feel that Zen3 is not the right choice in this moment.
We are only a step away from a major architectural change that happen every 6 or 8 years.

What do you think about this?
 
I think Zen3 will not be a gaming bottleneck at such high resolutions for a very long time. It will also take some time to develop ddr5 and when there are kits of 4600 c17 kits of ddr4, too many expect some amazing performance boost from the next generation of memory.
 
Honestly if you stuck with a 2011v3 platform thus far what makes you not want to do the same with am4? If amd really trumps intel ipc this cycle which sure looks like a possibility, and you can get 16c32t what more would you want to gain? Just curious what massive tech could be crammed in in say next 4 years? Ddr5, pcie5, maybe some new universal thunderbold usb hybrid?
 
Honestly if you stuck with a 2011v3 platform thus far what makes you not want to do the same with am4? If amd really trumps intel ipc this cycle which sure looks like a possibility, and you can get 16c32t what more would you want to gain? Just curious what massive tech could be crammed in in say next 4 years? Ddr5, pcie5, maybe some new universal thunderbold usb hybrid?

memory upgrade is the things I generally do over time.
thanks to X99 I was able to upgrade my RAM from 16 to 64GB last year without problems. if I had DDR3 the upgrade would not be so easy.

this is why I want DDR5 because I generally tend to upgrade RAM later in years.
 
What do you think about this?

There's nothing to say. It is what it is. Zen 3 is for the users who've been on this platform, not really for those wanting to jump in at the last hour. That said what does it matter to you? Clearly you don't upgrade often so I don't think it matters anyways. By the time you finally upgrade again it'll be a whole new platform then as it is now.
 
Hi all,
I'm running a [email protected] with a 2080Ti.

I have a 4K/144Hz monitor and I'm not interested in ultra high refresh rate but I'm worried about low 1%.
If I need to be sincere my CPU was enough for 4K gaming but with 3080 I feel that is a bit too old even for 4K.

I would really like to upgrade to Zen 3 but the fact that Zen3 have no upgrade path, that Zen 4 will bring DDR5 and USB4 along PCIe5 makes me feel that Zen3 is not the right choice in this moment.
We are only a step away from a major architectural change that happen every 6 or 8 years.

What do you think about this?
There is always somethings it coming out...heck, half of Intel's platforms only had a single generation and were dead ends. Zen3 may not have an upgrade paths but how often do you upgrade and what do you expect out of the platform? Intel will finally release their dead end platform next year, you could wait for that and they may finally have pcie 4 working... Or you could stick with what you have and hope ddr5 brings improvements... Going by past memory changes (ddr->ddr2->ddr3->ddr4) you won't see much benefit right away until speeds get higher. What we've seen int he last was faster speeds but more latency making a lot of games and stuff run either the same or even slightly worse until faster speed and/or lower latency memory comes out. If you buy now you'll most likely be safe from needing/wanting to upgrade for at least 2 years or so, and considering how many generations of performance you've skipped so far, probably longer). If you wait a year for zen4, it probably won't be a huge increase in performance but possibly higher prices (platform, ddr5, etc, not just CPU). You can always say something new is coming and never buy, but if you want something and are ready to buy, I don't think you'll regret it.
 
Hi all,
I'm running a [email protected] with a 2080Ti.

I have a 4K/144Hz monitor and I'm not interested in ultra high refresh rate but I'm worried about low 1%.
If I need to be sincere my CPU was enough for 4K gaming but with 3080 I feel that is a bit too old even for 4K.

I would really like to upgrade to Zen 3 but the fact that Zen3 have no upgrade path, that Zen 4 will bring DDR5 and USB4 along PCIe5 makes me feel that Zen3 is not the right choice in this moment.
We are only a step away from a major architectural change that happen every 6 or 8 years.

What do you think about this?
Not a good enough reason not to upgrade to Zen 3. The only reason not to would be if you're satisfied with your 4K lows. DDR5 is realistically a 2022. thing and your Zen 3 options w/ DDR4 should be great even past that, especially for 4K.
 
If you’re thinking you don’t actually need to upgrade - as you’ve said, you just think your processor is “too old” for pairing with a 3080 - and there isn’t an option you’re really happy with, why upgrade?

why not just wait for zen4 and the new platform, if the idea of buying the last gen of AM4 bothers you that much? In your own words, your current system is fine.

don’t scratch the itch if you’re just going to give yourself a headache doing it.
 
I'm planning on building a new Zen 3 build with 32GB of DDR4 3600...I have zero concerns about DDR5 coming next year...this build should last me 5-7 years (with only the GPU needing upgrading)
 
Last edited:
Back
Top