Question 2080 -> 4090 question - older system questions (Specs inside, 1500W Power supply)

[Adam744]

Good Morning/Afternoon!

I am currently running a 2080 Gigabyte RTX
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X 16-core 3.50 GHz
32 gig Ram (I think this is 2933 but it is 4 years old)
I had bought a 1500W Power supply because I was going to add a second card at a later date (This ended up getting pushed back because of life/issues)
Motherboard is a X399 AORUS XTREME
I have an extremely wide case/Large case, I have always leaned towards these just for air flow.

I would like to know if it is possible to purchase and add a 4090 or the upcoming 4090TI/Titan to this case. I am not sure if I have provided all the needed information, but really need an upgrade for 3D rendering / AI for my job, or if I need to do a new build? The ram is also another place I was looking at upgrading. Currently run 32 Gigs at a max run of 2933, I have 8 slots on the board, would like to go to at least 128 provided price/money is good.

Also I know I originally built this computer to be upgraded as time went on, but that seems like a bad idea in hindsight, would love any insight anyone has into this part. Is it better to build new every 3-6 years or upgrade as you go?


Thanks again!

 

[Lutfij]

Can you state the make and model of the 1500W PSU? How old is it at this point of time? Powered only an RTX2080? Nothing Prior?

Thumb rule, if the platform is no longer able to perform the tasks you need it to, that's when you look at an upgrade/revamp of the build/system.

 

[Adam744]

I can try to find the box in the morning (I kept all the additional cables), it is 4 years old like the rest of the computer. Only powered the RTX2080 and the ThreadRipper.

It can still do what I want it to do, just not as fast or as extreme as I'd like it. Key example would be Render times of massive scenes and GPU Dedicated memory for 3D/AI, 2080 being 8G 4090 being 24G and almost 2x-3x the speed

 

[Avro Arrow]

It all depends on what you're doing with the PC. Sure, the RTX 4090 would definitely work in that PC but for gaming, that Threadripper would probably be a serious bottleneck.

Depending on what you use your PC for completely changes the conversation when it comes to upgrading. If you're a prosumer, then getting the most potent system makes a lot more sense because it's your livelihood. OTOH, if you primarily game with your PC, the most cores your should ever have is 8 and you NEVER need a Threadripper. Since you do have a TR-2950X, I have to assume that your PC is more of a workstation than a gaming rig.

If you're wanting to game with it, 4K would probably be unaffected, 1440p would probably see only a slight bottleneck while 1080p would see a serious bottleneck. Having said that, nobody buys a TR-2950X on an AORUS Extreme motherboard for 1080p gaming so I really doubt that this is your intention.

If you're going to use the RTX 4090 for things like rendering it won't make as much of a difference because it's offloading that task from the CPU so you should be just fine. You haven't stated what kind of PSU you have but judging by the rest of your rig, I seriously doubt that it's a substandard model especially if it successfully powered an RTX 2080. That's not exactly small potatoes when it comes to power draw.