[SOLVED] System upgrade, unsure which route to take (old i5 7600k with rtx3070?)

[Sadarak]

I'm looking into a pc upgrade with the new gen of rtx cards but have some specific needs and am unsure which direction would net me the best performance boost.

Current setup:
Gtx1070
Msi pro carbon h270
Core i5 7600k
16gb ddr4 2666 corsair ram
750watt corsair psu

Important bit:
The setup would be for 2 main purposes, to drive the 30" old reliable 2560x1600 dell monitor i have (these things are ageless)
And also to drive the occulus quest via virtual desktop

Question:

Assuming a budget of around £800 would it be better to:
Just get a rtx3080
Get a rtx 3070 and a minor cpu upgrade to mitigate cpu bottleneck

Would the cpu bottleneck kill any extra use from the rtx 3080? Is it even possible to get a cpu in a h270 motherboard that wouldn't heavily bottleneck either card?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Upgrading the CPU on that platform would largely be meaningless. All you can really add are hyperthreads, and those are not going to net you much performance, nor is the minor bump in clock speed from moving to a 7700k. It would be a waste of your money and time.

What you need, if you want any significant gains, is something like a 3070 AND a platform upgrade. CPU, motherboard AND memory. Sell your current CPU, motherboard and memory to offset the cost, or keep them for a second system, whatever.

It's probably going to be a month or two before there is widespread availability of the 30 series cards anyhow, especially the currently unreleased 3070, and by then the AMD Zen 3 CPUs should have probably been released which will likely be the best option for an upgrade at that time as they should be on par with current Intel generation, with more cores, for less money.

Currently you can do something like this, but with the upcoming 5000 series CPU parts it will be a much better upgrade with higher IPC and lower power consumption.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor ($219.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard ($126.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory ($138.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $485.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-23 15:26 EDT-0400


If you can live with your current memory that would obviously shave off another 138 bucks, but it's HIGHLY recommended that you use 3200mhz CL14 or 3600mhz CL16 memory with Zen 2 or 3.

 

[Sadarak]

Upgrading the CPU on that platform would largely be meaningless. All you can really add are hyperthreads, and those are not going to net you much performance, nor is the minor bump in clock speed from moving to a 7700k. It would be a waste of your money and time.

What you need, if you want any significant gains, is something like a 3070 AND a platform upgrade. CPU, motherboard AND memory. Sell your current CPU, motherboard and memory to offset the cost, or keep them for a second system, whatever.

It's probably going to be a month or two before there is widespread availability of the 30 series cards anyhow, especially the currently unreleased 3070, and by then the AMD Zen 3 CPUs should have probably been released which will likely be the best option for an upgrade at that time as they should be on par with current Intel generation, with more cores, for less money.

Currently you can do something like this, but with the upcoming 5000 series CPU parts it will be a much better upgrade with higher IPC and lower power consumption.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor ($219.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard ($126.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory ($138.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $485.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-23 15:26 EDT-0400


If you can live with your current memory that would obviously shave off another 138 bucks, but it's HIGHLY recommended that you use 3200mhz CL14 or 3600mhz CL16 memory with Zen 2 or 3.

Thanks for the advice. I'll be honest I had thought that it was likely to be the case that while thr cards would run on my current setup they would be hobbled to the point where it was pointless.

I suppose for the picks you made plus a 3070 is still under 1000. Shame ti not get the 3080 but to be fair on my setup occulus is only 72htz and monitor is 60 so not like my games need to run at crazy res or fps either.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Oh, believe me, with a 3070 that 2560x1600 resolution will not cause it to even break a sweat. Not even at ultra settings. And with the right CPU, would likely easily do 144+ FPS depending on the CPU model, game title and quality settings you choose. It will probably easily max out that oculus. These cards are the single biggest generational leap, ever, from what I've seen so far.