Question Need opinions - upgrade GPU only or whole system

[trikpat]

Hello fellow Tom's,

I wanted to ask if I should just do away with my system and build a new or just buy a new GPU.

Right now my system is old but still works fine. I wanted to get back to playing some new games and I was wondering if my system can handle it.

My components are as as follows:
i7-3700
Asus GTX 670
8gb G.skill sniper ddr3
Corsair TX650W
And some generic gigabyte 1155 socket mobo I can't remember the model (original mobo broke a few years back and this is the only 1 I could find during that time)

Would getting a RTX 2070 be enough to make me run newer games? or Should I just dump this PC and setup a new one?

 

[cdrkf]

Hello fellow Tom's,

I wanted to ask if I should just do away with my system and build a new or just buy a new GPU.

Right now my system is old but still works fine. I wanted to get back to playing some new games and I was wondering if my system can handle it.

My components are as as follows:
i7-3700
Asus GTX 670
8gb G.skill sniper ddr3
Corsair TX650W
And some generic gigabyte 1155 socket mobo I can't remember the model (original mobo broke a few years back and this is the only 1 I could find during that time)

Would getting a RTX 2070 be enough to make me run newer games? or Should I just dump this PC and setup a new one?

A gpu upgrade would be fine if you want to run newer games.

That said, I think an RTX 2070 might be a bit overkill with that cpu (then again if you want to keep the gpu and upgrade the rest of the machine later it could be a good shout)....

I guess the main question is what games do you want to play, and at what settings?

If you are after high / ultra settings at 1080p then a good midrage card like the GTX 1660 or something like an RX 580 or Vega 56 would all be fine. Cards like the 2070 are only really needed if you really want RTX capability or if you are wanting to push 1440p or 4k resolutions.

 

[Richierich gamer]

I would recommend you to for a whole setup upgrade as your processor is not so good and the Ram is also from last generation.

 

[clutchc]

Am I right to assume you meant i7-3770? If so, the RTX 2070 is going to be overkill and would be bottlenecked by the CPU. I have a Dell Optiplex with i7-3770/GTX 1070 mini, and that is all the CPU can keep up with. Sometimes, not even that.

 

[trikpat]

Thanks for all your input guys I really appreciate it.

I really wanted to run newer games at hopefully ultra settings with high FPS ( target is 144hz).

I thought the GPU would be enough but apparently the my cpu is going to be a bottleneck.

So I think might just set aside a few more $$ to get my self a new setup.

Target build is this:
AMD 2700X
RTX 2070
16GB of Ram

 

[clutchc]

While a new build would be ideal, if you plan to game at high screen resolution as well as being on a high v. sync monitor, the gfx card will have more work to do and may not be as heavily bottle-necked by the Ivy Bridge 4C/8T CPU.

But the new build would be the preferred way to go, obviously. You may however, want to try the 2070 with the current system and see if it satisfies you, since you'll be using it in the new build when you decide to make the move.

 

[trikpat]

Well thats true I can slowly update it piece by piece starting with the GPU.

Question though - I have Corsair TX650W0 PSU,. Is it enough to supply power to RTX2070 + i7-3770 or RTX 2070 + 2700x?

 

[ocer9999]

Yes, that would be fine.

 

[clutchc]

+1^
Yes. Plenty. The RTX is about equal to your GTX 670 for power consumption.

 

[Abdur Rahim Wazir]

if you have fortune to spend then upgrade the whole system but why don you need to upgrade your system while GPU can actually perform well if slightly higher.

 

[King_V]

What is your monitor's resolution and refresh rate? And does it have FreeSync, GSync, or neither?

If you're running 1280x720, for example, then there's probably little point in upgrading the video card.

If you're runnning 3840x2160, then you'd need to go for one of the top tier cards.

Your 3rd gen Intel CPU is still pretty good.

Am I correct in assuming that your 8GB RAM is a matched pair of 4GB sticks? If so, it might be worthwhile to pick up another pair of 4GB sticks of the same brand and model, giving you 16GB RAM. Assuming your MB has 4 RAM slots, that is.

If it's a single 8GB stick, then your memory is running in single-channel mode, and getting another 8GB stick (same model, timings, etc if at all possible) will not only give you more memory, but have the added benefit of running in dual channel mode.

 

[Karadjgne]

The only issue is the games and the fps. 144fps is not easy for any cpu under normal circumstances, in your average cpu dependent game. With current AAA titles, it's even worse, they are so intensive or badly optimized (yes you Ubisoft!) that decent cpus are no longer enough.

Not only do you need thread count to prevent backlog, (you have that with the i7) but high IPC. If cpu can't prosses the instructions fast enough, fps fed to the gpu drops, and no matter what gpu you have, it can't make the cpu faster. Fps limits are all cpu, details and resolution is all gpu.

So here's what you'll get. A cpu that's good for a wide variety of games at 60ish fps or better, or 30ish is the most demanding. With a rtx2070, you'll get 60/30fps on ultra maxed with 4k DSR, 60/30 at high, medium or even low. Details won't be a factor.

The only ways you'll see 144fps is
1. using cpu simple games like cs:go, lol, minecraft, skyrim/Fallout 4 etc. And as graphically demanding as those games are, don't expect the rtx2070 to be much over 40%. Bumping up to more demanding games like GTA:V, Battlefield series, Witcher 3 etc will be closer to 60fps. Some brand new titles like ACO, Destiny 2, even Forza will drop that closer to 30ish.
Or
2. get a stronger cpu. Which means new platform and ram as well.

 

[doolittle]

Well thats true I can slowly update it piece by piece starting with the GPU.

Good plan, once you get your GPU upgrade nex-gen ryzens will be out late summer / early fall, should shake up pricing all-around if you can wait it out.

1 - gpu upgrade
2 - wait for next-gen Ryzen mid-year, re-evaluate cpu / board / mem pricing
3 - plan monitor upgrade

Pretty much what I did last year, 2600x / 16gb / 1070ti on #3 now - about to get either a 1080/144hz monitor on the cheap or wait it out a bit and splurge later this year for 1440/144hz (decisions lol)

Question though - I have Corsair TX650W0 PSU,. Is it enough to supply power to RTX2070 + i7-3770 or RTX 2070 + 2700x?

Agree the TX650 should not be any problem to last through your upgrades.

 

[trikpat]

What is your monitor's resolution and refresh rate? And does it have FreeSync, GSync, or neither?

If you're running 1280x720, for example, then there's probably little point in upgrading the video card.

If you're runnning 3840x2160, then you'd need to go for one of the top tier cards.

Your 3rd gen Intel CPU is still pretty good.

Am I correct in assuming that your 8GB RAM is a matched pair of 4GB sticks? If so, it might be worthwhile to pick up another pair of 4GB sticks of the same brand and model, giving you 16GB RAM. Assuming your MB has 4 RAM slots, that is.

If it's a single 8GB stick, then your memory is running in single-channel mode, and getting another 8GB stick (same model, timings, etc if at all possible) will not only give you more memory, but have the added benefit of running in dual channel mode.

My monitor right now is 1920x1080 with 144 refresh rate but doesnt have those freesync and gysnc.
(EDIT: Correction - I just checked again and confirmed it has FreeSync )

And I only have 2 slots on my mobo and yes 2x4GB sticks

And I was planning to play the latest Battlefield games too or F1 2018

-----

And Im looking for something a little future proof like the PC I have now which I bought around 2012 I think and its still running okay now in 2019.

 

[King_V]

Hmm, with 2x4gb and only 2 slots on the motherboard, I'd then say that trying to increase RAM on your existing system gets a little more expensive. That starts to cross the threshold of "should I put more money into components that I cannot transfer to a new system later?" (because the DDR4 RAM is the standard since about the 4th or 5th generation for Intel CPUs, and for all Ryzen CPUs/APUs).

That you have FreeSync is good, because the Nvidia 10xx and newer cards (16xx and 20xx) support it now.

I think it would be a good idea to try running some of the most demanding games you have with something like HWInfo running in the background. You want to get graphs over time of how high the CPU, GPU, and RAM utilization is.

Also, the results may well be different for different games. I can't say for Battlefield or F1 2018, particularly if you don't have them yet, because I'm personally unfamiliar with how optimized they are, or how demanding they are on the GPU vs the CPU.

This will give you a better idea of your system's weakest link(s).

I do think that, all other things unchanged, you will see a benefit to upgrading your video card, as according to the GPU hierarchy chart (scroll down past the "current models" section to get to the Legacy Chart), the GTX 670 has performance roughly equivalent to the GTX 1050Ti.

I'm not sure if you're looking to take advantage of your monitor's max refresh rate and actually get 144fps in all games at max details. If so, you're probably looking at RTX 2080 and 2080Ti territory. That's serious money.

If you'd be fine with lower frames than that (and the FreeSync will allow you to keep the smoothness going as the frame rates fluctuate), then take a look at the performance of various graphics cards tested when they did the GTX 1660Ti review. Specifically, that link takes you to the performance comparison page. Granted, this is using a system with a more powerful CPU and GPU - but it gives you a general ballpark of how much of a performance increase you can expect (your current card is DEFINITELY slower than the 1060 6GB, which is the slowest card shown in this test). The good thing is that, when you do upgrade to a more modern platform, the new video card can be transferred over.

However, while you probably can't take FULL advantage of a faster card on your current system, you should get a lot of the benefits of it.

 

[trikpat]

Thanks yeah I was thinking get te GPU first and maybe a few weeks or months down the line I'll invest in a new CPU.

I was looking to take advantage of the 144hz. Can a RTX 2070 not reach ultra in 1920x1080 at 144hz? Because 2080 is indeed a lot of money

 

[King_V]

I'm not sure on that. I suspect that it can't do so in all games.

I also suspect, though, that if you were to see a game at 100fps, and at 144fps, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.