[SOLVED] Upgrade conundrum, insight needed

TweaknFreak

Honorable
Oct 23, 2015
39
0
10,540
Hey folks. I'll get straight to the point. The PC I use is only for gaming and media consumption. At the moment I only play one game regularly - CoD Warzone at 1080p 144hz. Rarely I play the free games that Epic Games store gives out or titles like Among Us, Fall Guys which are fun to play with friends. Specs are:
  • Intel i5 8600K @ 4.7GHz all core oc
  • ASRock Z370 Taichi
  • Corsair Vengeance 8x2 GB 3000MHz CL16
  • Gigabyte AORUS GTX 1080 Ti
  • Corsair HX750 Platinum PSU
  • Noctua NH-D15S with twin fan
  • LG 1080p 144Hz TN 24GL600
  • LG 4K 60Hz IPS 27UK650
In the recent months pc is really struggling to give fps above 110 even at low settings on 1080p. My build was never meant for 1080p 144Hz as I bought 8600K for casual games at 60Hz only. Given the current silicon shortage scenario, the upgrade paths I could think of:
  1. Get 9900K and use the same mobo. Try to sell 8600K.
  2. Get 5600X+B550 motherboard and sell 8600K+Taichi.
  3. Get better GPU(I highly doubt is gonna happen anytime soon this year)
I don't stay in the US, so selling stuff on second hand basis would be quite the trouble for me. As of now option 1 seems the easiest but option 2 seems like the better suited one. But I can't seem to pull myself together into buying another hexacore processor. My thoughts are that I can keep the 9900K for the coming 2-3 years at least and then jump to whatever platform gives me the best benefit. Since I know I have to get a new GPU next year, I want to hold on to my current Intel platform to minimize expenses.

Please help me folks with your insights and valuable suggestions. One thing though, I don't want to shift to consoles in order to game.

TL;DR - PC not giving enough fps at 1080p. Instead of GPU upgrade, want to upgrade CPU for better fps.
 
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Solution
You should confirm if your CPU is the problem. Decrease graphics settings in the titles you are having trouble running. If the FPS does go up, not the CPU.

Option one seems the most sensible, at least if you can get the 9900K at a reasonable price. Otherwise maybe look at 11600K/11700K.

Eximo

Titan
Ambassador
You should confirm if your CPU is the problem. Decrease graphics settings in the titles you are having trouble running. If the FPS does go up, not the CPU.

Option one seems the most sensible, at least if you can get the 9900K at a reasonable price. Otherwise maybe look at 11600K/11700K.
 
Solution

TweaknFreak

Honorable
Oct 23, 2015
39
0
10,540
You should confirm if your CPU is the problem. Decrease graphics settings in the titles you are having trouble running. If the FPS does go up, not the CPU.

Option one seems the most sensible, at least if you can get the 9900K at a reasonable price. Otherwise maybe look at 11600K/11700K.

Right now I'm playing at lowest settings possible. But one of my friend who plays with me has identical system specs except for the fact that he has a i7 8700K and he is able to get about the same frames on 1440p as I get on 1080p on the same in-game graphics settings. I can get the 9900KF at 30 dollars cheaper than the 300 dollar priced 9900K. Which one should I opt for in your opinion?
 

TweaknFreak

Honorable
Oct 23, 2015
39
0
10,540

Even if I do end up changing platforms entirely, I think I'd go with AMD at this point. I know it'll be expensive but I think the performance they have to offer is great. I'm trying to wait the GPU drought with minimal upgrades and then upgrade platforms if necessary.
 

InvalidError

Titan
Moderator
Right now I'm playing at lowest settings possible. But one of my friend who plays with me has identical system specs except for the fact that he has a i7 8700K and he is able to get about the same frames on 1440p as I get on 1080p on the same in-game graphics settings.
If lowering details and resolution does not improve frame rates, then your performance is limited by a single-threaded CPU bottleneck, which is why your friend is seeing the same frame rate at 1440 that you are seeing at 1080 despite having a slightly faster CPU with twice as many threads.

A mild overclock on the 8600k will get you most of the way to where the 9900k would be stock in Warzone for free,
 

TweaknFreak

Honorable
Oct 23, 2015
39
0
10,540
If lowering details and resolution does not improve frame rates, then your performance is limited by a single-threaded CPU bottleneck, which is why your friend is seeing the same frame rate at 1440 that you are seeing at 1080 despite having a slightly faster CPU with twice as many threads.

A mild overclock on the 8600k will get you most of the way to where the 9900k would be stock in Warzone for free,
Sorry I totally forgot to mention that I'm indeed running my CPU on 4.7GHz all core overclock.

But do you think additional threads and marginal IPC gains of 9900K would help me or am I just doomed on this platform?