Question Upgrading and switching from AMD to Intel. Need advice on whether or not to upgrade my GPU.

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coohwhip

coohwhip

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Apr 28, 2020
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A friend of mine is giving me their 11700k. I have an old 1700x and an MSI 2070 non super. I get pretty bad frame drops on games like Valorant, Csgo, MW2 etc. Overwatch runs well but that's about it. Will I be getting higher more consistent fps or do I need to upgrade my gpu as well?
 
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yea 1080p. 144hz. also what would be a good upgrade for the gpu? nothin too crazy. I'm basically upgrading everything else but I'm gonna wait a bit for the gpu
 
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You will be getting better mins and frame-consistency on the newer (and faster-in-gaming) 11700k vs. the 1700x. (regardless of your display-res)

Since the 5600X3D isn't out yet, and you're getting the 11700k(and mobo?) for free, I'd say keep the 2070.

Also, consider your storage:
Several years ago, I was struggling with similar issues across many games. It was my HDD setup, not the core-components that was central in the 'frame drop' problem. (I'd noticed the 'issues' persisted into my next build at the time. IIRC it was my C2D e4500->PhII X3 720; I didn't upgrade storage.)

I've also noticed more/less 'brief freezes' in games based on how 'modern' storage is setup.
Some examples I've experienced:
  • AMD CPU NVMe-RAID0 w/ Intel P1600Xs 'doesn't play nice together'; there's severe performance degradation.
  • I 'built up' a cheapy Acer Aspire laptop for a friend. (Only SATA on the M.2, and 1x 2.5" bay.) He (later) needed more storage space, so he threw an HDD in the 2.5in bay. It CRIPPLED the system's 'practical performance'.
  • Generally, I've had slower 'seat-o-pants'/'felt' responsiveness in my main rig since I added an old 2TB WD Black 2.5" HDD for my User Files.
In my experience, merely having an especially slow storage device installed, slows down the 'practical performance' of the build.
I don't have a 'proper' explanation, but you may want to consider the $$$ you would've spent on a GPU, and put it into all-NVMe* storage. (prices have dropped CONSIDERABLY)

*DRAM-equipped NVMe drives. Gen4 preferred, even if the prospective-board only supports Gen3; both mobo and NVMe drive are backwards/forwards compatible.
 
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LabRat 891 said:
You will be getting better mins and frame-consistency on the newer (and faster-in-gaming) 11700k vs. the 1700x. (regardless of your display-res)

Since the 5600X3D isn't out yet, and you're getting the 11700k(and mobo?) for free, I'd say keep the 2070.

Also, consider your storage:
Several years ago, I was struggling with similar issues across many games. It was my HDD setup, not the core-components that was central in the 'frame drop' problem. (I'd noticed the 'issues' persisted into my next build at the time. IIRC it was my C2D e4500->PhII X3 720; I didn't upgrade storage.)

I've also noticed more/less 'brief freezes' in games based on how 'modern' storage is setup.
Some examples I've experienced:
  • AMD CPU NVMe-RAID0 w/ Intel P1600Xs 'doesn't play nice together'; there's severe performance degradation.
  • I 'built up' a cheapy Acer Aspire laptop for a friend. (Only SATA on the M.2, and 1x 2.5" bay.) He (later) needed more storage space, so he threw an HDD in the 2.5in bay. It CRIPPLED the system's 'practical performance'.
  • Generally, I've had slower 'seat-o-pants'/'felt' responsiveness in my main rig since I added an old 2TB WD Black 2.5" HDD for my User Files.
In my experience, merely having an especially slow storage device installed, slows down the 'practical performance' of the build.
I don't have a 'proper' explanation, but you may want to consider the $$$ you would've spent on a GPU, and put it into all-NVMe* storage. (prices have dropped CONSIDERABLY)

*DRAM-equipped NVMe drives. Gen4 preferred, even if the prospective-board only supports Gen3; both mobo and NVMe drive are backwards/forwards compatible.
Click to expand...
yes thank you for this response. I had a really old ssd and 2 old WD HDDs. I've been able to tell that they've been effecting my loading times and causing stuttering. I already planned on getting 2 nvme m.2s so :) and yes I'm getting the mobo too. I'm excited to have more consistent fps! I'll also look into the 3000 series cards for a bit later.
 
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coohwhip said:
A friend of mine is giving me their 11700k. I have an old 1700x and an MSI 2070 non super. I get pretty bad frame drops on games like Valorant, Csgo, MW2 etc. Overwatch runs well but that's about it. Will I be getting higher more consistent fps or do I need to upgrade my gpu as well?
Click to expand...
The CPU gives you the max amount of FPS you can get in a given game until it gets limited by the video card you can always lower the settings to get higher FPS until you max out what the CPU can do.
 
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Try this simple test:
Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
This makes the graphics card loaf a bit.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

I am guessing cpu.
The 11700K is about twice as strong in single thread performance.
That is what games like CSGO need.

If looking for a graphics upgrade, check out your psu capability, 2070 needed about a 500w psu.
An upgrade may need more.

On the ssd upgrade, I have two thoughts:
1. Buy one single larger ssd vs. two smaller ones. Perhaps 2tb.
It will cost less and there is no performance impact.
One ssd leaves you with future attachment capabilities.

2. Do not get too impressed by glowing ssd benchmarks.
They are done with apps that push the SSD to it's maximum using queue lengths of 30 or so.
Most desktop users will do one or two things at a time, so they will see queue lengths of one or two.
What really counts is the response times, particularly for small random I/O. That is what the os does mostly.

These experts could not tell the difference:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DKLA7w9eeA
 
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geofelt said:
Try this simple test:
Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
This makes the graphics card loaf a bit.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

I am guessing cpu.
The 11700K is about twice as strong in single thread performance.
That is what games like CSGO need.

If looking for a graphics upgrade, check out your psu capability, 2070 needed about a 500w psu.
An upgrade may need more.

On the ssd upgrade, I have two thoughts:
1. Buy one single larger ssd vs. two smaller ones. Perhaps 2tb.
It will cost less and there is no performance impact.
One ssd leaves you with future attachment capabilities.

2. Do not get too impressed by glowing ssd benchmarks.
They are done with apps that push the SSD to it's maximum using queue lengths of 30 or so.
Most desktop users will do one or two things at a time, so they will see queue lengths of one or two.
What really counts is the response times, particularly for small random I/O. That is what the os does mostly.

These experts could not tell the difference:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DKLA7w9eeA
Click to expand...
I actually play with my res of 1600x900 for most fps games, lowest graphics, and then I'll add sharpening. I've tried even lower resolutions and didn't notice much so. I also don't know why I didn't think of getting 1 ssd xD glad I asked.
 
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