Upgrade from I7-4790k

[ultrapolog]

Hey guys,

I am looking to upgrade my 6 years old I4790k and Z97X-G3 motherboard along with the little old ddr3 1600mhz 12gig ram and gtx 1080.

Now my dilemma is, should I just get the rtx 3080 for now and wait a ~year with the rest( dont have money atm for a full computer rebuild) or get a good ryzen 3600/intel 10600k build and stick with the gtx 1080.

Simply put,Which upgrade would be the most beneficial right now: a new rtx 3080 or processor/motherboard/ram change?

I have a Dell 1440p 144hz monitor so thats the goal and maybe future 4k, I play all the new games alongside WoW so Im not looking for minecraft and csgo 300fps...

Thanks for all the tips

[Shakadam]

Now my dilemma is, should I just get the rtx 3080 for now and wait a ~year with the rest( dont have money atm for a full computer rebuild) or get a good ryzen 3600/intel 10600k build and stick with the gtx 1080.

Neither.

Upgrading right now is shit unless you absolutely have to. And a 3080 with a 4790K would be a colossal CPU bottleneck.

Wait for the next gen of Ryzen CPU's which will be announced in 2 days from now, and wait for the RTX 3070 and/or RX 6000 series later this month/early next month.

[Thunderball]

I wouldnt try changing platforms right now unless you absolutely have to. I'd wait for LGA1700 or w/e new socket AMD will move to with Zen 4. If you have to - depends on the budget but generally if you can afford both: AMD if you dont overclock or dont wanna bother and Intel if you do wanna bother, but that might all change with Zen 3 which is right around the corner, sooo wait.

[Temp name]

I wouldnt try changing platforms right now unless you absolutely have to. I'd wait for LGA1700 or w/e new socket AMD will move to with Zen 4. If you have to - depends on the budget but generally if you can afford both: AMD if you dont overclock or dont wanna bother and Intel if you do wanna bother, but that might all change with Zen 3 which is right around the corner, sooo wait.

That's if you primarily game. If you do work, then what brand you want will depend on what you do, since some tasks like cores more, and some like frequency more.

And Zen4 is probably at least a year away, more like 18 months if they release during summer again. That's a loooong time to wait

[AntenoraDK]

Neither.

Upgrading right now is shit unless you absolutely have to. And a 3080 with a 4790K would be a colossal CPU bottleneck.

Review sites recommend that the minimum CPU you should pair a 3080 with would be a Ryzen 5 3600 / Intel 10600k.


Anything less than that is as you said a colossal bottleneck.


Source: https://levvvel.com/best-cpu-for-rtx-3080/



Tbh I wouldn't pair anything above maybe a 1660 Super / 2060 non super with a 4790k.

Now my dilemma is, should I just get the rtx 3080 for now

You won't get one this side of Christmas.

NVIDIA's Jensen has admitted the stock issues will probably carry over into Q1 of 2021.


I'm personally waiting for RDNA2 from AMD.

[Toybox]

Hey guys,

I am looking to upgrade my 6 years old I4790k and Z97X-G3 motherboard along with the little old ddr3 1600mhz 12gig ram and gtx 1080.

Now my dilemma is, should I just get the rtx 3080 for now and wait a ~year with the rest( dont have money atm for a full computer rebuild) or get a good ryzen 3600/intel 10600k build and stick with the gtx 1080.

Simply put,Which upgrade would be the most beneficial right now: a new rtx 3080 or processor/motherboard/ram change?

I have a Dell 1440p 144hz monitor so thats the goal and maybe future 4k, I play all the new games alongside WoW so Im not looking for minecraft and csgo 300fps...

Thanks for all the tips

For primarily gaming purposes, I don't think the 3600 is much of an upgrade over the 4790k at all, although it could all start adding up once you add things like NVME, DDR4, etc.

What sort of OC are you running? As others have mentioned, I'd definitely wait for the new stuff to come out, but I'm interested to see what games are currently bottlenecked by your CPU at the moment. As someone that moved from an overclocked i7 3770k to a 3700x recently, I can't say the leap in game performance has been massive, and the 4790k is quite a bit better than my old 3770k was.

[AntenoraDK]

For primarily gaming purposes, I don't think the 3600 is much of an upgrade over the 4790k at all

I personally went 4770K => 3700x.


Feels like a huge upgrade tbh.

[Toybox]

I personally went 4770K => 3700x.


Feels like a huge upgrade tbh.

For gaming purposes? Maybe it's just a difference in what both of us play, but I never really encountered many issues with my 3770k @4.4GHz at QHD, & when I did they were GPU related rather than CPU related.

It's fair to note the 4790k is actually a decent step up from the 4770k if memory serves.

Gamers Nexus did a video on the 4790k not too long ago, comparing it to modern CPUs. Should help give the OP more of an idea what to expect

[Shakadam]

For primarily gaming purposes, I don't think the 3600 is much of an upgrade over the 4790k at all, although it could all start adding up once you add things like NVME, DDR4, etc.

What sort of OC are you running? As others have mentioned, I'd definitely wait for the new stuff to come out, but I'm interested to see what games are currently bottlenecked by your CPU at the moment. As someone that moved from an overclocked i7 3770k to a 3700x recently, I can't say the leap in game performance has been massive, and the 4790k is quite a bit better than my old 3770k was.

I went from a Xeon 1231v3 (basically an i7-4770) to a Ryzen 3600 and the difference was huge. Vastly improved minimum FPS in everything I play. I also went from DDR3-1600mhz memory (like the OP) to 3600mhz DDR4 memory so that probably played a large part as well.
That said, I play primarily CPU limited games. ARPG's, strategy, MMO's etc.

[Thanatu]

Your system is on the cusp of struggling to do quite a lot. What I would do is really consider what is my timeline, what is my budget, and is there any one need that prevails over all.

From what I can tell these guys are arguing over nothing really, upgrading to the top end right now has never been more affordable and price per frame / performance metrics have never been higher.

If you are going with a 3000 series card know right away you should be looking for a motherboard that supports pcie 4.0 to get max value. To do this you'll need a new AMD / Intel chip so best bet will be to wait some for releases and restocks. You'll have better drivers and updated after market vendor options as well.

Don't build a PC around a part though or argue the small differences in top end performance with these guys. Have a budget and get the best you can with it, not okay I need this 10 series intel chip now what, or I need this 3080 now what. You'll skimp on things you shouldn't otherwise. If you need assistance Id be happy to help you this pcpartpicker side of all this.

One thing too a lot of these messages aren't asking if what monitor situation you are on, my assumption is your setup supports 1080p quite well and thats what youre utilizing. 3000 series is going to be begging for 4k / 1440p min to really flex itself. Would budget that into your build out, consider a Gsync monitor. Getting to DDR4 and M.2 should be a big boost in regular task performance for you.

[procne]

Anything less than that is as you said a colossal bottleneck.
.

How much is "colossal"? How much % less fps would he get than with optimal CPU?

[lloose]

How much is "colossal"? How much % less fps would he get than with optimal CPU?

Its difficult to say since they are so scarce. A rough guess would be 30-50% fewer frames. Theres a lot of factors too that play into it. If you are playing at 4k, the bottleneck will be less than if you were playing at 1080p.

[Thunderball]

That's if you primarily game. If you do work, then what brand you want will depend on what you do, since some tasks like cores more, and some like frequency more.

And Zen4 is probably at least a year away, more like 18 months if they release during summer again. That's a loooong time to wait

Especially if you do workstation stuff. DDR5 is going to bring massive benefits to the 2 channel mainstream platform users. For example 32GB config using 2 single rank modules.

[Kagthul]

How much is "colossal"? How much % less fps would he get than with optimal CPU?

but still well over the refresh rate of your monitor unless you have a 300hz display