Question 11700k still ok or upgrade ?

Azhureus

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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

Titan
Moderator
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.
 
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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

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Nov 4, 2014
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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''
 

Zerk2012

Titan
Ambassador
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

Polypheme
Ambassador
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.
 
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Azhureus

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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.
 
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.
 
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