Upgrade Path Opinions

Light1984

Gawd
Joined
Dec 31, 2004
Messages
615
My good people, don't really post much, have been out of the game for awhile so to speak, but will be coming back soon. I have purchased a case and have most of my parts picked out (yet to purchase). I will be returning to an AMD system most likely but I am unsure what to do for a GPU. My gut tells me this is a really bad time to upgrade and to wait. But honestly, my GTX970 and Intel 2700K aren't really cutting it anymore. I upgraded to an LG ultrawide monitor and it is gorgeous, but I can't run all the eye candy in anything and usually get around 40-50 fps with stuff turned down. I want to build another custom loop system so I am kind of stuck having to upgrade everything all at once. I could potentially get a AIO cooler for the CPU and a cheaper 2000-series RTX card and run air cooling until next year, but that kind of seems lame. I feel on the opposite side of the coin, going all the way up to the 2080Ti doesn't make sense because it has been out so long and will likely receive a refresh within six months. What would you all do?
 
The waterblock on your 2700k will likely work with a modern Intel system as the mount holes haven't changed.

I just did the same thing coming from a 2500K/GTX 970. I upgraded the mobo/CPU/RAM to a 9700K, and bought a RTX 2800 Super a few weeks later.
 
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I thought about going this route too, but I like the PCIe 4.0 storage solutions/speeds. So that is part of the reason I wanted to go back to AMD. Also, I think AMD made a great effort in regaining some enthusiast market share with the Ryzen 3000 parts and so I wanted to vote with my wallet. I don't think a 9700/9900K is going to get me many more frames at native resolution on my monitor to justify the added expense of the CPU, motherboard, etc. But, if I can reuse some water cooling components, it may offset the cost... Interesting suggestion. Thanks.
 
If you need the extra speed PCIe 4.0 offers then yeah, AMD's x570 chipset is your only option right now. However only you will know if you will actually be able to utilize that speed. It will be another 8-10 years before GPUs and other components surpass PCIe 3.0.
 
I won't be doing any large file transfers per se, but wouldn't the increased sequential read/writes allow faster loading in games?
 
I won't be doing any large file transfers per se, but wouldn't the increased sequential read/writes allow faster loading in games?

A SSD helps a ton of course, but most loading is single thread. So HDD -> SSD is a huge change but the bottleneck becomes the CPU in a lot of cases.

I’d do it for shits and giggles, but, I wouldn’t go in with huge expectations of improvements if you’re already on a SSD of some kind.
 
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What makes you think now is not a good time to upgrade? I'd say just the contrary: with Ryzen 3000 out, and the 5700 series, we finally have competitive AMD parts improving the price/performance.

If I was you, with that Freesync display, I'd be looking at a Ryzen 3600 and 5700xt, and an x570 board. The 3600 will remain a viable CPU for a good while, and the 5700xt you could keep on air for the time being, then put under water at some point. I really question if you'd really see much of a practical improvement with PCI 4.0 for GPU or storage speeds, but understand that you want to keep your platform cutting-edge.

I concur that 2080 ti is horrible value at present. With a 5700xt or 2070, you can get ~80% the performance for 40% the cost of a 2080 ti.
 
What makes you think now is not a good time to upgrade? I'd say just the contrary: with Ryzen 3000 out, and the 5700 series, we finally have competitive AMD parts improving the price/performance.

If I was you, with that Freesync display, I'd be looking at a Ryzen 3600 and 5700xt, and an x570 board. The 3600 will remain a viable CPU for a good while, and the 5700xt you could keep on air for the time being, then put under water at some point. I really question if you'd really see much of a practical improvement with PCI 4.0 for GPU or storage speeds, but understand that you want to keep your platform cutting-edge.

I concur that 2080 ti is horrible value at present. With a 5700xt or 2070, you can get ~80% the performance for 40% the cost of a 2080 ti.

That’s only true if the 2080ti is CPU bottlenecked, which is pretty easy to do with that absolute beast of a card.
 
Once you get past 1440p res IMHO you really force yourself into top tear GPUs if you want to run with eye candy cranked. I really wouldn't consider anything less than a 2080 or waiting for big Navi if you want to run native rez @ 144hz with details turned up
 
How much is your budget?

I think AMD CPUs are well worth it, unless you need every last frame (Intel is still slightly ahead).

The 3600 or 3600X are good bang for buck, though if you don't upgrade often, I would recommend the 3700X at least.

For the GPU it will depend on the monitor you have. What is the res / refresh and is it FreeSync or GSync?

I think the RX 5700 XT is nice for 1080p high refresh and up to 1440p. But once you go higher you may be better off with Nvidia, 2080 or better.
 
You don't say what you have for a water system but I will assume from your RAD. I have the XPSC D5 240 kit for the Intel 4770K and my GTX 970 died a year ago..... I'm going Sapphire pulse 5700rx and total AMD down the road! I can keep my loop the way it is(CPU only) just need to get a new CPU bracket for the AMD chip.
http://www.xs-pc.com/waterblocks-cpu-amd/raystorm-pro-rgb-bracket-kit-amd-am4

Your call I'm just sick of the prices on Nvidia cards and have had two die on me out of the two I bought.... not fan boy of any brand just telling you what happened to me. Don't want to start a war so FYI since my VOODO days I have only upgraded 5 times. I had two AMD cards and Two Nvidia cards and one after the 3DFX I cant remember the make..... anyway the last one was a Gigabyte 970 I got brand new and got burnt on the memory deal and then the card died on me. I could look at it and fix it (electrical technician) but with the memory so low why? Been running a 5870 to play Diablo 3 since the 970 died on me:)

Sapphire 5700xt will be here this week to kick the I74770K in the but and will set up the rest of the system when the snow falls and I have more time.

Now just have to fork out $200 for Windows 10 unless they bring TRIXX software to DX11:(
 
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Now just have to fork out $200 for Windows 10 unless they bring TRIXX software to DX11:(

It's funny how we fork out so much $ for our parts, yet complain we need to fork over $100 to pay for the software that lets us use all our hardware.
 
Windows 10 also doesn't have to cost $200.

I've gotten keys for as low as $15 (though you do have to be careful here).

Looks like the going price is $30 on Kinguin today.

I think there are also some tricks to install Win 10 for free (legally) but I haven't tried it.
 
Windows 10 also doesn't have to cost $200.

I've gotten keys for as low as $15 (though you do have to be careful here).

Looks like the going price is $30 on Kinguin today.

I think there are also some tricks to install Win 10 for free (legally) but I haven't tried it.


I've bought a few Windows 10 pro keys from cdkeyhouse.com. Never had an issue with them.

Looks like they're selling keys for $7 today.
 
Thanks for all the responses. It's definitely a lot to consider. As far as water cooling, I'd rather use all new components. Been rocking my existing setup and had zero issues for six years except needing to change the radiator due to a slight leak. I'll take a closer look at the 5700, but is there something else coming out from AMD? Somebody mentioned "big Navi"?
 
Thanks for all the responses. It's definitely a lot to consider. As far as water cooling, I'd rather use all new components. Been rocking my existing setup and had zero issues for six years except needing to change the radiator due to a slight leak. I'll take a closer look at the 5700, but is there something else coming out from AMD? Somebody mentioned "big Navi"?

I wouldn't hold your breath. I did a build in November. Wait till July for Navi. Waited till September for AIB Navi. Suffered for that long while the rest of my stuff depreciated, wasn't getting utilized fully. (LG 34GK950F the big ticket there)

Decide what resolution and frame rate you want to hit at your budget, and buy now.
 
1080ti ~$400 here
You want to trade off eye candy for framerate that is up to you.
I think we are a couple gens away from ray tracing delivering aesthetic value.

B450 mobo + 2600 + wraith prism $150
Inland 1tb nvme drive ~$100

Ram you don’t have to worry about as much anymore, and it’s cheap again.
 
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