Question GPU upgrade assistance for a 1440p Mini ITX build ?

[Nigel Thornberry11]

Hi guys, the day has come I can no longer confidently play late release games at 1440p maxed out and would like to update my GPU and hopefully avoid needing to upgrade every other component. My PC has run flawlessly for the last 5 years+ for casual gaming and is only starting to show signs up needing an upgrade.

I'd appreciate some suggestions on what GPU would give me a nice bump up in perforamnce and be able to retain the rest of my build. I would happily purchase a 4070 but I know the CPU will bottleneck and other compenents will need upgrading. So I guess the question is, how high can I go on the GPU upgrade to plug and play for more performance?

I want to keep the current case/mini ITX form factor, and just need to be sure the GPU will be compatible and fit in the ITX case. Looking to play games like Forza, CODMW3, Battlefield etc. at high-max setings 1440p ~100fps. I'm not wanting to play titles like CyberPunk or Hogwarts Legacy, or needing 4k.

Current build as below;

• NZXT H200i Mini-ITX
• Asus GTX 1080ti OC
• Intel i5 8600k 3.6GHz
• Asus ROG Strix Z370i
• G.Skill Trident Z 16GB DDR4 3000Mhz
• NZXT Kraken X42 140mm AIO
• EVGA 550W G3 80+ Gold
• Samsung 970 EVO 2TB SSD

*Disclaimer - PC Part Picker states that the GPU (300mm in length) and AIO do not fit in my case, yet it has fit and worked seamlessly for over 5 years.
Thanks! 😊

 

[Aeacus]

So I guess the question is, how high can I go on the GPU upgrade to plug and play for more performance?

Up to RTX 4090.

Looking to play games like Forza, CODMW3, Battlefield etc. at high-max setings 1440p ~100fps.

In this case, RTX 4070 can do what you desire. With ~118 FPS in Forza:

Source: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-rtx-4070-review/4

Now, with RTX 4070, there is one caveat:

EVGA 550W G3 80+ Gold

RTX 4070 is 200W GPU. But latest GPUs also have transient power spikes. RTX 30-series had it worst, with spikes of 2-2.5 times of TDP. RTX 40-series has it less, but 1.5-2 times of TDP would be expected. Meaning that RTX 4070 being 200W GPU, can spike up to ~400W. Making your 550W PSU too weak.

What are GPU transient power spikes? A video to watch:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnRyyCsuHFQ


Making 650W PSU better suited, to run RTX 4070.

I want to keep the current case/mini ITX form factor, and just need to be sure the GPU will be compatible and fit in the ITX case.

There are easy 50+ variants of RTX 4070. Asus, MSI and Zotac has some smaller versions of RTX 4070 you can look towards.
Full list here (scroll down after the specs): https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce-rtx-4070.c3924

 

[Nigel Thornberry11]

Wow, thank you @Aeacus. Really appreciate the in depth response and your help. So as you mentioned, RTX 4070 sounds like the gpu to go for 👍

Up to RTX 4090.

In this case, RTX 4070 can do what you desire. With ~118 FPS in Forza:

Making 650W PSU better suited, to run RTX 4070.

Just to confirm, once I upgrade the PSU to 650W (or higher) to support the 4070, is the rest of my build okay? Or will other components need upgrading as well?
I was informed the CPU will bottleneck the performance of the 4070?

 

[Aeacus]

once I upgrade the PSU to 650W (or higher) to support the 4070

While your PC case does support ATX PSU just fine, i'd look towards SFX PSU since it's smaller and gives more free space in the basement.

And while choice regarding SFX PSUs are small, what is left, are good PSUs. Corsair SF-series and Seasonic Focus SGX/SPX series,
pcpp: https://pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/mPdxFT,nJrmP6,NJZ9TW,Jd7G3C/

is the rest of my build okay? Or will other components need upgrading as well?

IMO, rest of the hardware looks good.

I was informed the CPU will bottleneck the performance of the 4070?

It is nigh-impossible to get exact balance on CPU and GPU usage. Even when one specs CPU/GPU to one specific application (game) for balance (doable), but switch to different application (game) and the balance is gone.

With GPU upgrade, improvement is still there, since there aren't any modern games that only utilize CPU or GPU. Both are utilized, but depending on a game, either CPU or GPU is favored more.

For example:
CPU heavy game - Cities:Skylines. <- With this game, it doesn't matter how good of a GPU you have, you're still limited with the FPS your CPU can provide.
GPU heavy game - Crysis <- With this game, CPU is used little, while GPU is used heavily. Here it doesn't matter much what CPU you have, since FPS is limited what GPU can provide.

No matter how one looks at it, output will always be limited by what CPU or GPU can provide, thus, there is no such thing as "bottleneck".

 

[Avro Arrow]

If you're concerned about bottlenecking and you game at 1440p, I would recommend something more like the RX 6700 XT. It is considered to be one of the best cards of the last generation and is the most power-efficient card of the last generation. TechPowerUp recommends a 550W PSU for the RX 6700 XT.

Performance:
GTX 1080 Ti = 100%
RX 6700 XT = 121%
RTX 4070 = 167% (6700 XT+38%)

Cost:
RX 6700 XT = $300
RTX 4070 = $515 (6700+72%)

As you can see, dollar for dollar, the RX 6700 XT is a much better buy than the RX 4070. Now, to be fair, that's also because they're not in the same performance tier. However, paying 72% more money for only 38% more performance isn't a great choice to make, especially if you're worried about CPU bottlenecking. For $300, you can choose between a dual-fan and triple-fan card.

Both cards at at Newegg:
Dual Fan Model: ASRock Radeon RX 6700 XT Challenger D 12GB = $300
Triple-Fan Model: XFX Radeon RX 6700 XT Speedster SWFT309 CORE 12GB = $300

 

[Aeacus]

and is the most power-efficient card of the last generation.

I would not call RX 6700 XT as "power efficient". It is 230W GPU, 30W more than RTX 4070.
Also, Radeon GPUs are known to be power hungry in general, compared to Nvidia.

Performance wise, RX 6700 XT is equal to RTX 4060. While RTX 4060 is 115W GPU. That's half of what RX 6700 XT consumes. If anything, RX 6700 XT is extremely power hungry, consuming double of what RTX 4060 consumes, while offering equal performance to RTX 4060. On top of that, RTX 4060 is cheaper than RX 6700 XT, making RTX 4060 far better value GPU than RX 6700 XT.

TechPowerUp recommends a 550W PSU for the RX 6700 XT.

That's on paper, but have you also factored in GPU transient power spikes? 🤔 If not, then i suggest that you do that as well.
GPU transient power spikes aren't only Nvidia issue, but Radeon GPUs suffer from it too.

Hint: RX 6700 XT spikes easy 300+W. Making 550W PSU too less.

As you can see, dollar for dollar, the RX 6700 XT is a much better buy than the RX 4070.

The cheaper the GPU is - the better the value (price to performance ratio), since you'd get more performance with less money.

Though, for OP, the target is GPU performance and not value. If value would be the target, then looking at RX 580 would be the best, since this GPU is current value king.

 

[Nigel Thornberry11]

Appreciate the suggestions and help guys.
I've decided I will opt for the 4070 and upgrade PSU to at least 650-750W just to future proof any other upgrades down the track.
Hopefully the rest of my build holds up. Thanks again!