Question Not worth a GPU upgrade?

[rumplestilts]

I have a Lenovo T7-34IMZ5 (Core i9-10900K @ 3.70GHz, 32GB RAM). It's running Win10 on the PCIe 1TB SSD with my photos on a separate SATA 2TB SSD. The GPU is an RTX 2080 Super. As this is a PCIe3 mobo, I'd expect any GPU upgrade to not provide any substantial improvement in performance (running various photo apps like Lightroom Classic and Luminar). In fact, my feeling is that a 2TB PCIe SSD (in the open available slot) as my data drive in place of the SATA SSD would provide the most bang for the buck.

I do no gaming at all. The only other GPU-centric app I use is Handbrake (set to the Nvidia encoding choice and I have no complaints). So what do you think I should do?

A) Leave it be until I'm ready to drop a couple of grand on a new system?

B) Upgrade the GPU (which I'd expect to cost $500 or so)?

C) Just upgrade the storage with a new PCIe SSD? I'd probably get a PCIe4 SSD so I can transfer it to my next system as the cost of PCIe3 and PCIe4 SSDs seem to be the same.

Thank you in advance for your generous advice.

 

[Flayed]

I have a Lenovo T7-34IMZ5 (Core i9-10900K @ 3.70GHz, 32GB RAM). It's running Win10 on the PCIe 1TB SSD with my photos on a separate SATA 2TB SSD. The GPU is an RTX 2080 Super. As this is a PCIe3 mobo, I'd expect any GPU upgrade to not provide any substantial improvement in performance (running various photo apps like Lightroom Classic and Luminar). In fact, my feeling is that a 2TB PCIe SSD (in the open available slot) as my data drive in place of the SATA SSD would provide the most bang for the buck.

I do no gaming at all. The only other GPU-centric app I use is Handbrake (set to the Nvidia encoding choice and I have no complaints). So what do you think I should do?

A) Leave it be until I'm ready to drop a couple of grand on a new system?

B) Upgrade the GPU (which I'd expect to cost $500 or so)?

C) Just upgrade the storage with a new PCIe SSD? I'd probably get a PCIe4 SSD so I can transfer it to my next system as the cost of PCIe3 and PCIe4 SSDs seem to be the same.

Thank you in advance for your generous advice.

You will need to upgrade your OS to Windows 11 before October as that is when WIndows 10 goes EOL. I don't know much about non gaming uses of GPUs but if your current one suits your needs then no need to upgrade. I don't think PCIe 3 is as limiting as you may think as it still provides plenty of bandwidth, unless you are considering getting a 3k 5090. Option C seems like a good choice.

 

[SkyNetRising]

As this is a PCIe3 mobo, I'd expect any GPU upgrade to not provide any substantial improvement in performance (running various photo apps like Lightroom Classic and Luminar).

For those applications RTX 2080 Super is already an overkill.
Do not expect gpu upgrade to do any improvements for those apps, if you already have RTX 2080 Super.
PCIE 3.0 doesn't cause any significant limitations there.

So what do you think I should do?
A) Leave it be until I'm ready to drop a couple of grand on a new system?
B) Upgrade the GPU (which I'd expect to cost $500 or so)?
C) Just upgrade the storage with a new PCIe SSD? I'd probably get a PCIe4 SSD so I can transfer it to my next system as the cost of PCIe3 and PCIe4 SSDs seem to be the same.

Upgrade storage, if you're running out of free space.
Or do nothing.

May be - upgrade to windows 11.

 

[rumplestilts]

Thank you both for your suggestions.

As my uses do not involve gaming, I figured a better GPU (only) would not have a significant impact. I added 16GBof RAM (to the 16GB already there) and that helped performance in both LR and Luminar. When I did a comparison of photo editing with photos on the SATA SSD vs photos on the PCIe NVMe SSD, I did see an improvement when the SATA SSD wasn't in the mix (even though my OS and apps are on the NVMe SSD, as well).

As nature abhors a vacuum, so a 2TB NVMe SSD will fill the open slot and I'll migrate my photo library to it. The SATA SSD will become a near-line data drive. (My Calibre library of ePubs is on that drive and the speed is fine for that.)

Yes, Win11 will replace Win10 on the Lenovo. I'll back it all up and do a clean install; will be a good time to decide whether all the apps I have are even worth re-installing.

I used to replace my machines every three years or so but the Lenovo seems to work like a champ. So, aside from the storage upgrade, maybe a bigger display would be fun.

Again, thanks for all the fish. 😀