[SOLVED] 11700k still ok or upgrade ?

[Azhureus]

Hey peeps,
lately I keep asking myself should I upgrade CPU or wait for new GPU lineup.

Im running 11700kf with RTX 4080, 36GB ram and 850W 85+ Gold EVGA PSU. But my screen is 3840x1080p 49inch ultra wide monitor, which is quite a big resolution.
With this resolution games are running just fine, but Im a sucker when it comes down to highest graphical settings, RT ON and so on, I need it top notch.
With all them demands I have, I kinda keep thinking if I should buy a new CPU like 7800X3D with entirely new MOBO and DDR5 or just wait for new GPUs from Nvidia(since they do Ray Tracing better than AMD).
What would help me the most ? Is the 11700kf still a good CPU that can handle new high end GPUs, or would it be better to get a new CPU with the current GPU I have(4080) ?
Please help people, It's killing me xD

 

[Lutfij]

Rule of thumb, if you don't have any hardware and software related issues but your tasks are lagging while running on your current system is when you swap platforms/upgrade. If you get a new CPU, what are you looking at?

I would wait till the end of this year before deciding on spending towards a new platform.

You should also mention your current specs like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model. BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time.

Please also mention your preferred site for purchase, your location and your absolute budget for your upgrade path, if you do want to move forward with said upgrade path.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Im running 11700kf with RTX 4080, 36GB ram and 850W 85+ Gold EVGA PSU. But my screen is 3840x1080p 49inch ultra wide monitor, which is quite a big resolution.
With this resolution games are running just fine, but Im a sucker when it comes down to highest graphical settings, RT ON and so on, I need it top notch.

Then get RTX 4090.
On high resolutions workload is shifted entirely to GPU.

 

[Azhureus]

Rule of thumb, if you don't have any hardware and software related issues but your tasks are lagging while running on your current system is when you swap platforms/upgrade. If you get a new CPU, what are you looking at?

I would wait till the end of this year before deciding on spending towards a new platform.

You should also mention your current specs like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model. BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time.

Please also mention your preferred site for purchase, your location and your absolute budget for your upgrade path, if you do want to move forward with said upgrade path.

I more wanted to know if the current 11700k I have will handle the new GPUs in upcoming years so I can stick with it for few more years, or if its better to upgrade entire PC basically and stick with the 4080 I have rn and prolly upgrade GPU in few years. My PC is running just fine, any task I run/do, no problem there at all.

SPECS​

CPU: 11700kf stock clocks running on 125W
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i Platinum SE 240mm
MOBO: Gigabyte Z490 Vision G
RAM: 2x16GB 3200mhz Corsair CL 16-20-20-38 (dual channel)
STORAGE: WD 1TB M2 SSD / Crucial 2TB SATA SSD/10TB of mixed HDDs
PSU: EVGA 850W 85+ Gold/ about 3 years old.
CASE: Asus TUF Gaming GT501
OS: Windows 11 23H2
BIOS: F21
MONITOR: Samsung LC49HG90DMRXUU 144hz 49''

 

[logainofhades]

I would say the CPU is due for an upgrade. Might want to wait for the 9000 x3d chips to arrive, even if it's so you can maybe snag a 7800x3d for less, when AMD starts a fire sale on them.

 

[Zerk2012]

I more wanted to know if the current 11700k I have will handle the new GPUs in upcoming years so I can stick with it for few more years, or if its better to upgrade entire PC basically and stick with the 4080 I have rn and prolly upgrade GPU in few years. My PC is running just fine, any task I run/do, no problem there at all.

SPECS​

CPU: 11700kf stock clocks running on 125W
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i Platinum SE 240mm
MOBO: Gigabyte Z490 Vision G
RAM: 2x16GB 3200mhz Corsair CL 16-20-20-38 (dual channel)
STORAGE: WD 1TB M2 SSD / Crucial 2TB SATA SSD/10TB of mixed HDDs
PSU: EVGA 850W 85+ Gold/ about 3 years old.
CASE: Asus TUF Gaming GT501
OS: Windows 11 23H2
BIOS: F21
MONITOR: Samsung LC49HG90DMRXUU 144hz 49''

Your statement.

My PC is running just fine, any task I run/do, no problem there at all

If it's running just fine then no reason to spend any money.
By the time you need to upgrade they will be better stuff out.

Edit my 10600K and 2080 still runs everything fine so I have no reason to upgrade.

 

[punkncat]

IMO:

Given the issues with 13/14th gen Intel, I wouldn't currently go that way.

Supposedly the performance of the 9xxx series of Ryzen is in serious question. 7xxx had some issues early on, but I believe there was a BIOS fix for that.

As above, when you are going with a larger resolution, the graphics card takes a great deal of the load, just so long as the CPU is powerful enough to get information to it (which yours is)

Not for nothing, I am still using all 11th gen for my work and play PC's. That actually came out of some opportune pricing just after 12th gen came out. My main "play" rig is an 11900K and I have yet to find a reason to need to replace it.

In a case like this I would probably take a look at Afterburner while in the game or task that works the rig the hardest. If you are seeing 100% GPU and much lower CPU use you may well have room for a better graphics card. If you are seeing lower utilization of the graphics with the CPU consistently high it would likely benefit replacing the platform.

 

[Azhureus]

I would say the CPU is due for an upgrade. Might want to wait for the 9000 x3d chips to arrive, even if it's so you can maybe snag a 7800x3d for less, when AMD starts a fire sale on them.

Yep, I was thinking the exact same thing, 9700X3D/9800X3D if they come out or just go for 7800X3D when price goes down a bit. Thanks

 

[Azhureus]

IMO:

Given the issues with 13/14th gen Intel, I wouldn't currently go that way.

Supposedly the performance of the 9xxx series of Ryzen is in serious question. 7xxx had some issues early on, but I believe there was a BIOS fix for that.

As above, when you are going with a larger resolution, the graphics card takes a great deal of the load, just so long as the CPU is powerful enough to get information to it (which yours is)

Not for nothing, I am still using all 11th gen for my work and play PC's. That actually came out of some opportune pricing just after 12th gen came out. My main "play" rig is an 11900K and I have yet to find a reason to need to replace it.

In a case like this I would probably take a look at Afterburner while in the game or task that works the rig the hardest. If you are seeing 100% GPU and much lower CPU use you may well have room for a better graphics card. If you are seeing lower utilization of the graphics with the CPU consistently high it would likely benefit replacing the platform.

In Steel Nomad in 3D Mark I got 58% CPU utilization and 99-100% GPU load. I guess that is still alright for next few years. It might be more logical to go for next gen GPU rather then replacing entire setup.

 

[geofelt]

Try this simple test:
Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
This makes the graphics card loaf a bit.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.
The strongest cpu that your motherboard will support is a I9-11900K.
Not worth it. Essentially the same performance.
If you have not done so already, you can get a bit more cpu performance via overclocking.

cpu utilization can be hard to interpret.
A single threaded cpu limited app may well show only 30% utilization.
Look at task manager cpu graph.
Right click and select logical processors view.

To do significantly better will require not only a cpu change but also a motherboard change(and in the case of ryzen a ram replacement to DDR5)

Most games have a heavy single thread cpu component.That is where the ryzen X3D processors shine.
They have a huge cpu cache that gets applied to the gaming thread.
Unfortunately, other tasks do not run as well as the base processor.
7700X will run most non gaming workloads better than the 7800X3D will.

The Intel 13/14th processors have some issues.
They mostly were caused by motherboard makers default bios that overclocked the processors with voltages that far exceeded Intel specs. By now those bios'es have been fixed.

If you have a budget restriction, look for panic sales of i5-13600K and ddr4 motherboards.

 

[Azhureus]

Try this simple test:
Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
This makes the graphics card loaf a bit.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.
The strongest cpu that your motherboard will support is a I9-11900K.
Not worth it. Essentially the same performance.
If you have not done so already, you can get a bit more cpu performance via overclocking.

cpu utilization can be hard to interpret.
A single threaded cpu limited app may well show only 30% utilization.
Look at task manager cpu graph.
Right click and select logical processors view.

To do significantly better will require not only a cpu change but also a motherboard change(and in the case of ryzen a ram replacement to DDR5)

Most games have a heavy single thread cpu component.That is where the ryzen X3D processors shine.
They have a huge cpu cache that gets applied to the gaming thread.
Unfortunately, other tasks do not run as well as the base processor.
7700X will run most non gaming workloads better than the 7800X3D will.

The Intel 13/14th processors have some issues.
They mostly were caused by motherboard makers default bios that overclocked the processors with voltages that far exceeded Intel specs. By now those bios'es have been fixed.

If you have a budget restriction, look for panic sales of i5-13600K and ddr4 motherboards.

Thanks for the answer. I tried to lower the settings in few games. I can get around 30-60 FPS difference in few games from highest to lowest graphical settings(without RT on). With RT on in Cyberpunk and FC6(only RT games I own) it wasnt that much of a difference even with DLSS/FSR on quality, around 10-20 FPS, but I guess RT is quite demanding on whatever HW even today still.
This just showed me that the 11700k is still a very good CPU, it might get around well with a new GPU from next gens, no need for other HW upgrade I guess. Eventually I could get 13600k or 7800X3D once they go lower in price. With 13600k I wouldnt really need to upgrade RAM since I have DDR4, yeah.
Thanks again, helped alot.

 

[35below0]

Imo, it's still good. But if you need the extra performance then you need the extra performance.

I have the 13600K and it's been very sweet for me. On paper it is much stronger than the 11700K, but in practise this only shows in some workloads.

And even then the difference might be pretty small considering you need a new motherboard/full upgrade.

If you can snag a z690 motherboard and a fairly low price 13600K, then go for it.
DDR4 is still good and will probably stay good for years.
(z790 motherboards are marginally better but cost much more)

13/14700K would be slightly stronger but riskier since it's affected by Intel instabilities much more often than the 13600K.

A 12900K is not recommended because the 13600K is more powerfull.

 

[logainofhades]

The best Intel deal going right now, IMO, is the 12600k, followed by the 12700k. No worries about the CPU burning up either. 13600k might be faster than the 12600k, but it is not $80 faster, or $40 faster than a 12700k.

 

[35below0]

The best Intel deal going right now, IMO, is the 12600k, followed by the 12700k. No worries about the CPU burning up either. 13600k might be faster than the 12600k, but it is not $80 faster, or $40 faster than a 12700k.

It kinda is $80 faster.

In the long run, it will not become outdated as early as the 12600K. The performance jump isn't huge between them (and the 14600K has next to nothing on the 13600K), but it's worth paying less than hundred bucks for. IF you're going to have that PC for a long time at least.

The 12600K is priced reaaaly competitively though, i have to admit.

Real world performance might differ but on numbers alone the 13600K is faster than the 12900K, so the $40 difference between it and the slower 12700K is pretty meaningless.