[SOLVED] Possible Upgrade - RTX 3070, questions regards compatibility etc.

[Kyle18]

Hi,

Short backstory; I built a PC a couple years back and planned to run with the onboard graphics from the CPU whilst I saved for a GPU. However, I was sent the wrong CPU (without integrated graphics) and I ended up getting hold of a 2nd hand MSI Radeon R9 280x which I have been running with ever since. The time has now come for an upgrade...

With my current specs, I believe the R9 is the weak link and after doing some research the upcoming RTX 3070 seems appealing in both specs + price. However, I am no expert and I want to ensure this is a good purchase and upgrade which is compatible with the rest of my build. My current main concern is if I will benefit from the RTX 3070 whilst using the CPU and Motherboard which I have (maybe slightly outdated now?) Any thoughts/advice would be much appreciate.

Current specs (let me know if I missed anything important) are:

• GPU: MSI Radeon R9 280x
• CPU: Ryzen 5 1600
• Motherboard: ASUS Prime B35-PLUS
• RAM: Corsair 2x16GB Vengeance LPX DDR4 (2666MHz)
• Monitors: 2x Samsung C24F396 Full HD 24" Curved LED Monitor (1080p)
• PSU: Corsair VS650

I tend to use the PC for gaming. Currently I'm quite restricted in what I can play as it will struggle with most new titles, recently been trying to play some COD Warzone with friends but I'm lucky if I can hold a consistent 60FPS whilst on the lowest possible settings.

Thanks.

 

[Eric Baker]

Your CPU and GPU are enough for Warzone (Low setting) 79FPS in 1080p. No bottleneck. But I can not promise it with new/old drivers.

Ryzen 5 1600 and Radeon R9 280X build in General Tasks | Bottleneck Calculation | PC Builds

Bottleneck calculation for AMD Ryzen 5 1600 and AMD Radeon R9 280X for General Tasks. Containing solutions how to resolve bottleneck.

pc-builds.com

For the upcoming 3070 I can recommend at least 3600

 

[Kyle18]

Your CPU and GPU are enough for Warzone (Low setting) 79FPS in 1080p. No bottleneck. But I can not promise it with new/old drivers.

Ryzen 5 1600 and Radeon R9 280X build in General Tasks | Bottleneck Calculation | PC Builds

Bottleneck calculation for AMD Ryzen 5 1600 and AMD Radeon R9 280X for General Tasks. Containing solutions how to resolve bottleneck.

pc-builds.com

For the upcoming 3070 I can recommend at least 3600

Would it be worth getting the 3070 if I then had to wait a few months before upgrading the CPU?

Using those calculators (which are helpful thanks) it suggests that it is always the GPU which is restricting performance?

 

[sizzling]

Your monitor is 1080p 60Hz. I would say a 3070 is significantly over the top for this. I don’t know it will be released but the 3060 or whatever they call it would likely be a better choice. For a 3070 you could run a 1080p or 1440p at 144Hz or higher.

You cpu will prevent you getting as high fps compared to faster CPU’s but it will still give a good gaming experience.

 

[Eric Baker]

Would it be worth getting the 3070 if I then had to wait a few months before upgrading the CPU?

Better wait for a new CPU. 3070 will not give You any additional FPS boost with Ryzen 1600

 

[Kyle18]

Thanks for the responses.

The position I am in is one where I want to upgrade the components I have but I can't afford to essentially rebuild the whole PC. So I had hoped to upgrade 1 at a time, i.e. start with GPU, then maybe a CPU followed by a better monitor etc etc. Is this a bad idea from what you are both saying?

For instance, I could buy a lesser GPU which is still an upgrade from the current R9 but then a few month down the line when I have upgraded the other components then the better GPU might become more beneficial?

 

[Eric Baker]

Thanks for the responses.

The position I am in is one where I want to upgrade the components I have but I can't afford to essentially rebuild the whole PC. So I had hoped to upgrade 1 at a time, i.e. start with GPU, then maybe a CPU followed by a better monitor etc etc. Is this a bad idea from what you are both saying?

For instance, I could buy a lesser GPU which is still an upgrade from the current R9 but then a few month down the line when I have upgraded the other components then the better GPU might become more beneficial?

Thats not bad idea.
Just imagine that with new GPU you need more power, so You need new PSU too
But with Ryzen 1600 Your r9 is enough to load CPU for 100% and 3070 will not change it.
Instead, 3070 will work only for 30-40%.
If You want to buy a new CPU right now, no one can stop You , but if You will buy CPU + GPU later, they can become a little bit cheaper

 

[sizzling]

Do a test. Drop your resolution to 720p and see if your FPS increase. If your FPS increases you are not currently limited by your cpu. If your FPS stays about the same you are already cpu limited. I would expect a 1600 to deliver more than 60 FPS but I could be wrong.

 

[Kyle18]

Do a test. Drop your resolution to 720p and see if your FPS increase. If your FPS increases you are not currently limited by your cpu. If your FPS stays about the same you are already cpu limited. I would expect a 1600 to deliver more than 60 FPS but I could be wrong.

Tested this as you suggested, dropping to 720p increased FPS to around 100, and 1080p it is sitting about 60-70ish.

I have a performance monitor switched on which shows the CPU jumping to about 40-60% when in game (only tested with warzone). Is this related to what you are speaking about regarding CPU limits?

EDIT: also, does this suggest that currently performance is limited by the GPU rather than CPU?

 

[sizzling]

Tested this as you suggested, dropping to 720p increased FPS to around 100, and 1080p it is sitting about 60-70ish.

I have a performance monitor switched on which shows the CPU jumping to about 40-60% when in game (only tested with warzone). Is this related to what you are speaking about regarding CPU limits?

EDIT: also, does this suggest that currently performance is limited by the GPU rather than CPU?

As I thought the 1600 can do better than 60 FPS, this supports the main limitation at the moment is the gpu.

Monitoring total cpu usage is fairly meaningless, you need to monitor each core/thread individually. It only takes 1 at 100% to limit performance while total cpu usage shows much lower.

 

[Kyle18]

As I thought the 1600 can do better than 60 FPS, this supports the main limitation at the moment is the gpu.

Monitoring total cpu usage is fairly meaningless, you need to monitor each core/thread individually. It only takes 1 at 100% to limit performance while total cpu usage shows much lower.

So RTX 3070 it is (if I can get one at launch!) Then I will save up and upgrade the CPU at a later date appreciating that I won't benefit the full potential of a 3070 with the current setup but will at least see some improvement over what I currently have.

Thanks for your help

 

[sizzling]

So RTX 3070 it is (if I can get one at launch!) Then I will save up and upgrade the CPU at a later date appreciating that I won't benefit the full potential of a 3070 with the current setup but will at least see some improvement over what I currently have.

Thanks for your help

Seems like a good plan.

 

[johnsoner13]

Your CPU and GPU are enough for Warzone (Low setting) 79FPS in 1080p. No bottleneck. But I can not promise it with new/old drivers.

Ryzen 5 1600 and Radeon R9 280X build in General Tasks | Bottleneck Calculation | PC Builds

Bottleneck calculation for AMD Ryzen 5 1600 and AMD Radeon R9 280X for General Tasks. Containing solutions how to resolve bottleneck.

pc-builds.com

For the upcoming 3070 I can recommend at least 3600

Better wait for a new CPU. 3070 will not give You any additional FPS boost with Ryzen 1600

Sigh. Since you wanna be a child and hunt down my other unrelated posts and “revenge downvote” them, I guess I have to explain myself for downvoting your two silly comments here. First of all, don’t ever use bottleneck calculators, they are useless, mean nothing, and those that use them are indicated as tech illiterate.

Second, your statement that a 3070 as an upgrade over the R9 280x won’t yield any additional performance gains because of the ryzen 5 1600 is just flat out incorrect. It will be a very healthy performance boost over the R9 280x, even at 1080p, despite the somewhat weak CPU.

if you don’t know what youre talking about, educate yourself before going around spreading poor advice/false information and then getting offended that someone with more knowledge disagrees with you.

 

[johnsoner13]

but will at least see some improvement over what I currently have.

It will be more than “some” improvement, it should be a monumental increase in performance even though your CPU is a little weak