Question Need to upgrade my GPU, CPU and MOBO to avoid bottlenecks

[CoffeeStoreGuy]

Approximate Purchase Date: probably withing the next 2 months

Budget Range: 500$/Before rebates/Before shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, using the internet, watching movies.

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: CPU, MOBO, GPU, POSSIBLY RAM
Do you need to buy OS: No


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon.com, Bestbuy.com

Location: North America, Kentucky.

Parts Preferences: Don't have a preference.

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 and 2560x1080

Additional Comments: I dual boot linux and windows. I like both OS but I'm mainly keeping windows because I have to for certain programs and because most VR is awful on linux.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Some newer games drop a large amount of FPS mainly just Xdefiant. I don't mind playing on VERY low settings with render scale turned down and sharpening turned up, but even with all these performance tweaks on Xdefiant the game is stuttering an insane amount during gunfights. I think my 2060 and i5 8400 are starting to feel their age. I would like to get consistent frames above 144 and maybe 200 if possible. I don't mind low frames in singleplayer story games on ultra settings like cyberpunk, but I would like decent frames at most settings (mainly low) in competitive games like overwatch, xdefiant, multiversus.

I have done some research on parts, but there are so many parts and so many configurations I honestly don't know what would be a decent optimal setup, because everything I look up people say "There is going to be a huge bottleneck" and I'm kind of just at a loss at what to look for.

Here are my current specs: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hHs9KX

 

[Hellfire13]

Something like this maybe...

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12400F 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor ($109.95 @ B&H)
Motherboard: ASRock Z690M Phantom Gaming 4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ventus 2X 12G GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card ($285.00 @ Amazon)
Total: $494.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-06-07 20:58 EDT-0400

Maybe try to OC the current RAM.

 

[SyCoREAPER]

You basically need a new PC lol

Above is a solid suggestion for a build and I'll give a suggestion worth taking into account.

Don't build around what you already have, build around the three components you choose/get recommended as this thread progresses.

What you have now isn't bad at all but it will hinder what you can do. Sell your current PC, as components will probably net you more but take longer and put it towards the new PC.

 

[35below0]

This will do:
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-14500 2.6 GHz 14-Core Processor ($239.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z690 Pro RS ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($120.98 @ Newegg)
optional Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($61.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 (2024) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $502.94 / $440.95 w/o RAM
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-06-07 21:21 EDT-0400

Prepare a USB stick and Flash the mobo if it needs a BIOS update for a 14th gen CPU. It may not need this.
You'll need to have the motherboard connected to just a PSU. No CPU/RAM needed.

A new PSU is on the cards. This one is more wtts than you need but there are no good cheaper alternatives and this gives you a enough for future upgrades.

Speaking of upgrades, you can upgrade to an unlocked iy 14700K some day, but i think the 14500 is enough cores and power. Plus it has it's own cooler, and modern Ks don't have one.

A RTX 4060 would be a nice upgrade or wait until next Easter. Bumper crop of new GPUs then.

You don't need new memory but 16Gb is rapidly becoming too little.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

Instead of the 3060, you can also consider the 6750XT:

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/4R...eedster-qick-319-core-video-card-rx-675xyjfdp

 

[CoffeeStoreGuy]

This will do:
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-14500 2.6 GHz 14-Core Processor ($239.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z690 Pro RS ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($120.98 @ Newegg)
optional Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($61.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 (2024) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $502.94 / $440.95 w/o RAM
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-06-07 21:21 EDT-0400

Prepare a USB stick and Flash the mobo if it needs a BIOS update for a 14th gen CPU. It may not need this.
You'll need to have the motherboard connected to just a PSU. No CPU/RAM needed.

A new PSU is on the cards. This one is more wtts than you need but there are no good cheaper alternatives and this gives you a enough for future upgrades.

Speaking of upgrades, you can upgrade to an unlocked iy 14700K some day, but i think the 14500 is enough cores and power. Plus it has it's own cooler, and modern Ks don't have one.

A RTX 4060 would be a nice upgrade or wait until next Easter. Bumper crop of new GPUs then.

You don't need new memory but 16Gb is rapidly becoming too little.

This does actually seem like a very good option. I might replace the 3060 with the 6750XT like the other person suggested seems like a pretty good deal, and I have been wanting to switch from nVidia to amd.

 

[35below0]

This does actually seem like a very good option. I might replace the 3060 with the 6750XT like the other person suggested seems like a pretty good deal, and I have been wanting to switch from nVidia to amd.

The reason i often suggest the 4060 is because it consumes little power. Only 115w.

The 6750XT has 12 Gb VRAM but offers similar performance and draws 250w. Do the right thing, spend a little more money and grab a 7800XT. You get a ton of extra performance, 16Gb VRAM and it draws 263w.
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/bf...-rx-7800-xt-16-gb-video-card-rx7800xt-sl-16go
Or the slightly more expensive but even better 7900GRE
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/dY...eon-rx-7900-gre-16-gb-video-card-11325-04-20g

It's best if you wait and see how things develop with the new releases. nvidia and Intel will have a new lineup coming out this Christmas, but it's expected only high end nvidias will come out. By Easter next year the full nvidia 50xx series will be out + Intel's BattleMage GPUs ++ new Radeons, which are not expected this year.

Your 3060 is still a decent GPU. Upgrading to the current gen is a little bit of a sideways move since the performance increase isn't going to be huge. What about saving up for next gen?
Rumors are that nvidias will come with a large performance uplift. Certainly much greater than moving from 3060 to 4060/6750.

 

[Colif]

You can't avoid bottlenecks. All you do is play whack a mole with them. Kill one, another thing becomes the bottleneck. All you can do is try to avoid big ones.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

You have a 2560 X 1080 ultrawide.

the 6750XT should be fine for that resolution. If you plan on upgrading to a 3440 X 1440 ultrawide, the 7900 GRE would be a good choice.

 

[35below0]

You can't avoid bottlenecks. All you do is play whack a mole with them. Kill one, another thing becomes the bottleneck. All you can do is try to avoid big ones.

In addition to that, the balance is often application or game specific.
Say you had the perfect CPU+GPU combo for one game, along comes another game that needs CPU power more than GPU power, or vice versa. You improve performance with a more powerfull CPU or GPU, and you're once again "bottlenecked".

The only real bottlenecking that occurs is when one is far more outdated or cheap than the other.

And that's all just the CPU and GPU, we have ignored memory and latency, power delivery and power profiles, bus limitations, the monitor, it's spec, resolution, etc.
Something is always the weakest link. The question is whether this affects your performance or enjoyment, or if it's something you don't feel because the level of performance is far above a minimum where it would become a nuisance.

Every PC in the world is guaranteed "bottlenecked". It's impossible to have perfect balance in every use case.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

Or to make matters more simple, you dont need to worry about bottleneck if the CPU and GPU gives you more performance than your monitor output.

For example, the 6750XT can very well give you 120+ fps in most games at 2560 X 1080.

the same can be said for 12400F. Although for CPU side of things, resolution does not matter.

https://www.tomshardware.com/review...marks-rankings-2024-windows-10-and-windows-11

^ you can see the 12400 giving you 142 FPS at 1080p (here, lower resolution is better to gauge the CPU performance)

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html

^ 6750XT gives you 105 FPS in 1080p ultra. So the 12400F is bottlenecked by the 6750XT. But if you enable FSR or if you are fine with free sync, you would have no issues.

 

[CoffeeStoreGuy]

The reason i often suggest the 4060 is because it consumes little power. Only 115w.

The 6750XT has 12 Gb VRAM but offers similar performance and draws 250w. Do the right thing, spend a little more money and grab a 7800XT. You get a ton of extra performance, 16Gb VRAM and it draws 263w.
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/bf...-rx-7800-xt-16-gb-video-card-rx7800xt-sl-16go
Or the slightly more expensive but even better 7900GRE
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/dY...eon-rx-7900-gre-16-gb-video-card-11325-04-20g

It's best if you wait and see how things develop with the new releases. nvidia and Intel will have a new lineup coming out this Christmas, but it's expected only high end nvidias will come out. By Easter next year the full nvidia 50xx series will be out + Intel's BattleMage GPUs ++ new Radeons, which are not expected this year.

Your 3060 is still a decent GPU. Upgrading to the current gen is a little bit of a sideways move since the performance increase isn't going to be huge. What about saving up for next gen?
Rumors are that nvidias will come with a large performance uplift. Certainly much greater than moving from 3060 to 4060/6750.

Well shiiiiiiiiiii man. Reading about the gpus make me want to save up for them. I do like the idea of AV1 encoding. While I wanted an AMD card because compositors like wayland are more compatible with amd cards and a lot of software runs only on amd or better, AV1 could be good for VR streaming on windows. The new RDNA3 seems to be a great step for AMD. I think it's worth waiting longer for just to be able to afford it.

 

[Colif]

Or to make matters more simple, you dont need to worry about bottleneck if the CPU and GPU gives you more performance than your monitor output.

With that description, my biggest bottleneck is my monitor as almost everything runs at 200 in 1440p right now. I don't want a new monitor as its nice having a GPU/CPU that can handle it with ease. 4k doesn't interest me, I have had it before. Only reason I would upgrade monitor now is for HDR which I can wait for.

X Defiant really doesn't expect much

XDefiant Recommended Requirements​

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1600 @ 3.6 GHz, Intel i7-4790K @ 4.0 GHz, or better
• RAM: 16 GB
• VIDEO CARD: AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (8 GB), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB), or better
• DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 6 GB (8GB AMD)
• PIXEL SHADER: 6.0
• VERTEX SHADER: 6.0
• OS: Windows 10, Windows 11 (64-bit versions)
• FREE DISK SPACE: 35 GB

Better to save for a better GPU if you can wait. 4060 was a joke when it was released.

note on quote: there is no 32but version of win 11... its wrong lol.

 

[CoffeeStoreGuy]

With that description, my biggest bottleneck is my monitor as almost everything runs at 200 in 1440p right now. I don't want a new monitor as its nice having a GPU/CPU that can handle it with ease. 4k doesn't interest me, I have had it before. Only reason I would upgrade monitor now is for HDR which I can wait for.

X Defiant really doesn't expect much


Better to save for a better GPU if you can wait. 4060 was a joke when it was released.

note on quote: there is no 32but version of win 11... its wrong lol.

Joke when it released? Isn't it still a joke. I've looked at it and the only reason I'd considered it is because of DLSS 3.0. I think the 6750 xt outperforms the TI version of the card or at least for some of the benchmarks I looked at.