[SOLVED] Buy a CPU now or wait?

[tairygreene]

I'm looking to slowly start upgrading my PC

Current Specs:

i7-4790k
Cooler master Evo 212
1080 ti
24 GB HyperX Fury DDR 3 RAM 1866
850w Evga Supernova G2

I was thinking about replacing my CPU right now. I am planning to get a 144hz 3440x1440 ultrawide and I currently have a 4k LG C9 OLED. I would want my rig to be able to push higher than 60 fps on both.

I am not in a hurry to upgrade though. Is there a good CPU to get right now or should I hold off another year for something better?

 

[NightHawkRMX]

With such high resolution displays, your GPU will probably be the limitation. So i wouldnt upgrade CPU.

The 2080ti is really the only compelling upgrade, and that would cost $1200, so not a good upgrade.

 

[TCA_ChinChin]

Since you are not really in a hurry to upgrade, I would at least wait another month of two. Intel is going to release their 10th gen desktop processors in the first quarter of this year so you might want to keep your eyes on that. Even if they are not the most compelling processors to buy, they might cause older Intel processors, or similar bracket AMD processors to be put on sale/discounted. If you are willing to wait an entire year, then you would be able to also possibly wait for the release of the next generation of AMD processors (again hopefully driving prices down for previous gen products if the actual new CPU isn't that big of an upgrade).

But as @NightHawkRMX has already stated, driving such a high resolution display at such a high refresh rate might require a most powerful graphics card than your current GTX-1080ti (which is still one of the most powerful GPUs out there). The only obvious choice is the RTX-2080ti which is really expensive. If you have the money for it then thats great, but if you want to save some money, waiting seems like a good idea as there might be higher end AMD cards coming out in the future as well as the long rumored Ampere GPUs from Nvidia.

Of course, you can wait forever and ever for the next release of technology, but if you're not in a hurry to upgrade, then waiting is decent I think.

 

[tairygreene]

With such high resolution displays, your GPU will probably be the limitation. So i wouldnt upgrade CPU.

The 2080ti is really the only compelling upgrade, and that would cost $1200, so not a good upgrade.

Yeah that high cost is why I am not upgrading my GPU right now.

So I should stick with the 4790k then?

 

[tairygreene]

Since you are not really in a hurry to upgrade, I would at least wait another month of two. Intel is going to release their 10th gen desktop processors in the first quarter of this year so you might want to keep your eyes on that. Even if they are not the most compelling processors to buy, they might cause older Intel processors, or similar bracket AMD processors to be put on sale/discounted. If you are willing to wait an entire year, then you would be able to also possibly wait for the release of the next generation of AMD processors (again hopefully driving prices down for previous gen products if the actual new CPU isn't that big of an upgrade).

But as @NightHawkRMX has already stated, driving such a high resolution display at such a high refresh rate might require a most powerful graphics card than your current GTX-1080ti (which is still one of the most powerful GPUs out there). The only obvious choice is the RTX-2080ti which is really expensive. If you have the money for it then thats great, but if you want to save some money, waiting seems like a good idea as there might be higher end AMD cards coming out in the future as well as the long rumored Ampere GPUs from Nvidia.

Of course, you can wait forever and ever for the next release of technology, but if you're not in a hurry to upgrade, then waiting is decent I think.

OK I'll definitely hold off upgrading for now then

 

[geofelt]

Since you are planning to buy a new monitor, do that first.
You will then have a better idea on what else you might need.

A cpu change is also going to need a motherboard change as well as DDR4 ram.

When you get your new monitor, try this test:
Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
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 time to change is when your current system no longer does what you want.
New products and prices are constantly being launched so it usually pays to wait.
But, in you wait for the next best thing, you will wait forever.

GTX1080ti is still a great card.
It rates 96.0 out of 100 on tom's gpu hierarchy chart:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html

If you value ray tracing functionality, that would be a main reason to upgrade.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

I would say wait until at least summer since you've got a good setup. I think the Ryzen 3000 series released around June/July last year. So maybe 4000 series comes out about that time. Then either you can grab one of those, or grab a Ryzen 3000 series on sale.

 

[allbies1]

People always say don't wait or else you'll be waiting forever but that removes a lot of nuance the people above mentioned. In your case and for the things you're after considering you have a 1080ti which is still a great card, I would wait for the next GPU performance jump which is probably in the summer and go from there.