Build Advice Upgrading PC

[vic243]

I have a 4-year-old rig that I am looking to upgrade to make exclusively my Gaming PC. I would prefer not to upgrade everything so I am looking for suggestions on what could give me the most bang for my buck. Here is my current setup from partspicker https://pcpartpicker.com/list/YqBkgt

I mostly play ARPGs and MMORPGs with a sprinkle of Mcrft here and there LOL

Thanks!

 

[Lutfij]

We're going to need a little more info. Please stylize your thread with info asked of in this thread;

*How to Ask for New Build or Upgrade Advice*

How to Ask for New Build or Upgrade Advice First off, respect where respect is due - this is an adaptation of the Animal's *How To Ask For New Build Advice* Sticky. I created this because there's a lot of posts nowadays asking for upgrade advice both on here and on the CPU forums, and I feel...

forums.tomshardware.com

and the community can chime in on worthwhile suggestions.

 

[punkncat]

It may help a bit if you give us a target performance level and budget. The above link asks for pretty much everything we would need.

It seems as if the current system is a solid 1080p performer.

You could BIOS update and move up to 11th gen. I don't really feel like the uplift would be worth the cost unless you stumbled on an insane deal.

Your power supply leaves a bit of wiggle room for a better graphics card, but think if you go too much higher you start running into CPU limitations.

You could use more storage capacity to hold game titles. Games are pretty big these days.

All in all I feel like you have a pretty solid rig, if a bit dated at this point.

 

[vic243]

Sure thing! Here goes

Approximate Purchase Date: 12/2020

Budget Range: Up to 1.5K

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, watching videos

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: Any needed

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com, amazon.com

Location: City, State/Region, Country - WI USA

Parts Preferences: Intel and Nvidia

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 2560 X1440 140Hz

Additional Comments: Games: ARPGS, MMORPGS, Sandbox

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Experiencing lag not related to network

This is the parts list of my current PC from partpicker
PCPartPicker

 

[vic243]

You could BIOS update and move up to 11th gen

Not familiar with this. Sounds like good advice so I am gonna have to go learn more about it

 

[punkncat]

IMO, if you have a $1500 budget you could pretty much do a whole new system.

Perhaps a base hardware update up to an AM5 platform with DDR5 and maybe a new (nice) graphics card?

 

[punkncat]

Not familiar with this. Sounds like good advice so I am gonna have to go learn more about it

The 4xx motherboard you have is out of box compatible with 10th gen Intel. It will have a BIOS update that would allow you to drop in an 11th gen.

Between your 10600K and the 11600K there is little to no reason to upgrade. IMO the cost of an 11700K or 11900K is not only going to give a great uplift but also be pricey since they are now more NOS than places trying to clear shelves. Given that aspect, I would probably go with a whole base system upgrade (mobo, CPU, RAM) than trying to hunt down the older CPU. You could go used but that is a whole other bag.

 

[stonecarver]

It seems as if the current system is a solid 1080p performer.

I agree punkncat solid as is. If you just have that itch to do anything maybe a new GPU but at the same time yours is still a decent card.

 

[vic243]

The 4xx motherboard you have is out of box compatible with 10th gen Intel. It will have a BIOS update that would allow you to drop in an 11th gen.

Between your 10600K and the 11600K there is little to no reason to upgrade. IMO the cost of an 11700K or 11900K is not only going to give a great uplift but also be pricey since they are now more NOS than places trying to clear shelves. Given that aspect, I would probably go with a whole base system upgrade (mobo, CPU, RAM) than trying to hunt down the older CPU. You could go used but that is a whole other bag.

Makes sense. I was trying to check for LGA1200 upgrades and really there was nothing worth it. The 11900K would almost double my multithreading performance so that sounds very nice

 

[punkncat]

Makes sense. I was trying to check for LGA1200 upgrades and really there was nothing worth it. The 11900K would almost double my multithreading performance so that sounds very nice

I still use an 11900K and it is a workhorse, if not very popular. Between it and an 11700K I would probably look for the i7 used. The only major difference is clock speed.

 

[Unolocogringo]

With the above processor upgrade a 4070 super/TI would match your monitor resolution without breaking the bank.
A 3060ti will struggle at your monitors resolution/refresh at high /or better settings.

 

[geofelt]

I suspect that your type of games are more cpu limited than graphics limited.
Try this simple test:
Run your games, but reduce the eye candy and resolution.
This lets the graphics card loaf a bit.
If your frame rate improves, it suggests that the graphics card would be the more important upgrade.
OTOH, if your performance remains much the same, a cpu upgrade is more productive.
Run the cpu-Z bench test on your 10600K and look at the single thread rating.
You should get something like 600:
http://valid.x86.fr/bench/t5vzcd
You have no good cpu upgrade with your current motherboard.

If a graphics upgrade is indicated, here is tom's gpu hierarchy chart:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html
If you upgrade, make it a big jump or you may be disappointed if you do not see magical results.

 

[punkncat]

With the above processor upgrade a 4070 super/TI would match your monitor resolution without breaking the bank.
A 3060ti will struggle at your monitors resolution/refresh at high /or better settings.

I agree. That CPU would stay happy for 2K gaming, I think.

It is worth mention that AMD cards for 2K and high VRAM are at great price points. The biggest 'loss' would be Ray Tracing from a gaming perspective. There are other aspects of NVIDIA cards regarding certain workload enviro that are desirable.

 

[vic243]

I suspect that your type of games are more cpu limited than graphics limited.
Try this simple test:
Run your games, but reduce the eye candy and resolution.
This lets the graphics card loaf a bit.
If your frame rate improves, it suggests that the graphics card would be the more important upgrade.
OTOH, if your performance remains much the same, a cpu upgrade is more productive.
Run the cpu-Z bench test on your 10600K and look at the single thread rating.
You should get something like 600:
http://valid.x86.fr/bench/t5vzcd
You have no good cpu upgrade with your current motherboard.

If a graphics upgrade is indicated, here is tom's gpu hierarchy chart:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html
If you upgrade, make it a big jump or you may be disappointed if you do not see magical results.

I ran the bench and got 510.5 on ST and 3806 on MT so I think I am right around the standard.

I did the test you recommended, and I think I will be better served with a full upgrade like @punkncat suggested. I tested playing POE2. and with High settings I was peaking at around 100 FPS with an avg of around 96, when I lowered the settings to medium, I went to peak at 130 and avg 125 FPS.

So, with this in mind I am going to build a whole new rig and keep this one for a small home dedicated server for when my kids come visit and want to play.

The question now is, what to get? I have never used AMD but I see glowing reviews like for the z790 and the X870E. I guess if I stick with Intel I need to look for a decent LGA1700 board since I am eyeing a 13900K.

I appreciate your guys' thoughts!

Edit: Forgot about the GPU, maybe an RTX4060?

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Something like this:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor ($478.98 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI PRO B650-S WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard ($129.99 @ MSI)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory ($92.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($169.86 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI VENTUS 2X OC GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12 GB Video Card ($449.00 @ Amazon)
Case: Lian Li LANCOOL 216 RGB ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: Corsair RM850e (2023) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($114.00 @ Amazon)
Total: $1534.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-12-10 12:43 EST-0500

 

[helper800]

I ran the bench and got 510.5 on ST and 3806 on MT so I think I am right around the standard.

I did the test you recommended, and I think I will be better served with a full upgrade like @punkncat suggested. I tested playing POE2. and with High settings I was peaking at around 100 FPS with an avg of around 96, when I lowered the settings to medium, I went to peak at 130 and avg 125 FPS.

So, with this in mind I am going to build a whole new rig and keep this one for a small home dedicated server for when my kids come visit and want to play.

The question now is, what to get? I have never used AMD but I see glowing reviews like for the z790 and the X870E. I guess if I stick with Intel I need to look for a decent LGA1700 board since I am eyeing a 13900K.

I appreciate your guys' thoughts!

Edit: Forgot about the GPU, maybe an RTX4060?

Personally this is what I would do. This gives you a full platform upgrade while maintaining most of your parts and getting meaningful CPU and graphics card upgrades without breaking the bank. I recommend against getting a 14900/13900 CPU for gaming because these are only marginally faster than something like a 14600/14700k CPU for gaming while doubling the cost. You can certainly spend more than the below, but this is the best bang for your buck you can get with the remaining parts. I recommend against investing more into a 10 or 11 series CPU.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-14600KF 3.5 GHz 14-Core Processor ($224.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair iCUE H100i RGB PRO XT 75 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (Purchased For $0.00)
Motherboard: ASRock Z690 Steel Legend ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Video Card: MSI VENTUS 2X OC GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12 GB Video Card ($449.00 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $0.00)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G3 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $0.00)
Monitor: Pixio PX329 31.5" 2560 x 1440 165 Hz Monitor (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $803.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-12-10 12:30 EST-0500

For a whole new platform with tons of future upgradability I recommend this white themed build, though it can be black for essentially the same price:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X 4.5 GHz 8-Core Processor ($259.97 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 140 77.8 CFM CPU Cooler ($49.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B650 Steel Legend WiFi ATX AM5 Motherboard ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory ($85.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial T500 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI VENTUS 2X OC GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12 GB Video Card ($449.00 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Focus 2 RGB ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 TT Premium 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1329.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-12-10 12:46 EST-0500

 

[vic243]

Personally this is what I would do. This gives you a full platform upgrade while maintaining most of your parts and getting meaningful CPU and graphics card upgrades without breaking the bank. I recommend against getting a 14900/13900 CPU for gaming because these are only marginally faster than something like a 14600/14700k CPU for gaming while doubling the cost. You can certainly spend more than the below, but this is the best bang for your buck you can get with the remaining parts. I recommend against investing more into a 10 or 11 series CPU.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-14600KF 3.5 GHz 14-Core Processor ($224.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair iCUE H100i RGB PRO XT 75 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (Purchased For $0.00)
Motherboard: ASRock Z690 Steel Legend ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Video Card: MSI VENTUS 2X OC GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12 GB Video Card ($449.00 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $0.00)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G3 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $0.00)
Monitor: Pixio PX329 31.5" 2560 x 1440 165 Hz Monitor (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $803.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-12-10 12:30 EST-0500

For a whole new platform with tons of future upgradability I recommend this white themed build, though it can be black for essentially the same price:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X 4.5 GHz 8-Core Processor ($259.97 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 140 77.8 CFM CPU Cooler ($49.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B650 Steel Legend WiFi ATX AM5 Motherboard ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory ($85.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial T500 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI VENTUS 2X OC GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12 GB Video Card ($449.00 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Focus 2 RGB ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 TT Premium 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1329.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-12-10 12:46 EST-0500

So I see that you and @Roland Of Gilead recommend AMD if I wanted to build a whole new rig. Is this a preference thing or are AMD superior to Intel now?

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

So I see that you and @Roland Of Gilead recommend AMD if I wanted to build a whole new rig. Is this a preference thing or are AMD superior to Intel now?

IMO, AMD are superior. But only just. For gaming the x3d parts, 100%. For productivity, you can argue any of the 13700/13900k/14700/14900k are often better because of the sheer number of cores available. You have to go up to the 7900/7950x/9900/9950x for equal or better productivity based CPUs for AMD.

Intel use the P/E core setup, but have recently dropped HT. AMD on the other hand use just 'P' cores, with no efficiency cores and include HT which provides more threads. But that will change somewhat with Zen5/Zen 5c. It's a good time to be buying. Lots of strong CPUs out there.

 

[helper800]

So I see that you and @Roland Of Gilead recommend AMD if I wanted to build a whole new rig. Is this a preference thing or are AMD superior to Intel now?

Intel's current socket is only going to be around for one generation of CPU, and they are not great for gaming. Intel's last gen CPUs are faster at gaming, but are on a dead end platform. AM5 is on its second generation of CPUs for the AM5 socket and is going to get at least one more generation of CPUs if not two. That, and because AMD is really close to Intel's best right now (95%) if you do not consider the best gaming CPU which is the AMD 9800X3D.

 

[mikemid]

there is almost no bottlenecking but why you choose i5? why it is not i7?

 

[ohio_buckeye]

You cab go i7, but the 14600k can be had for a bit less than the i7 but similar performance for gaming. So for gaming if you want to save money it’s worth considering.

 

[vic243]

if you do not consider the best gaming CPU which is the AMD 9800X3D.

And the price is not horrible. Hmmm. As far as building with an AMD platform, is it much different than with Intel? Am I better off just getting a pre-built rig and spend a little more or is it not a concern?

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Should be similar. I’d recommend checking some YouTube videos if you’re concerned about the cpu install and about tuning.

 

[helper800]

And the price is not horrible. Hmmm. As far as building with an AMD platform, is it much different than with Intel? Am I better off just getting a pre-built rig and spend a little more or is it not a concern?

Building an AMD and Intel PC is nearly identical.