[SOLVED] Would like advice on whether i should upgrade my intel i9 7900x with a new 10th or 11th gen cpu and motherboard what are the benefits?

kwikvinny

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My current computer i just recently got a new case and new distro plate and reservoir with two 360mm radiators and a cpu water block but i transfered everything else over to the new case.

New:
  • Lian Li o11 XL ROG case
  • Singularity Distro plate and reservoir which replaces the front glass panel
  • D5 pump
  • two EKWB 360mm radiators with 6 new Lian Li rgb fans
  • 8.8" sensor panel screen displaying my speeds and temps of all my hardware and its mounted to my bottom radiator
  • Barrowch cpu water block with digital temp display
  • 16mm od hard tubing connecting all liquid cooling hardware
Existing:
  • Intel i9 7900x cpu
  • Asus Geforce GTX 1080 8gb rog strix oc edition
  • Corsair RM850 power supply
  • Asus X299 Mark 2 motherboard
  • Two sticks of corsair vengeance rgb 16gb 3200mhz RAM
  • 1tb Samsung 970 pro evo m.2 ssd
  • Seagate Barracuda 1TB - 7200RPM 3.5" HDD (1TB HDD)

Im either looking to upgrade to a ....
  • ASRock Z490 AQUA LGA 1200 Intel Z490 motherboard
  • Intel i9 10900
  • Asus RTX 3080
  • with liquid cooling done with hard tubing and a water block on cpu and gpu
or

  • ASUS ROG Maximus XIII Extreme Glacial
  • Intel i9 11900k
  • Asus RTX 3080
or should i just keep what i got until something better comes out? What are the benefits of upgrading to each?

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Solution
The Aqua mobo would be the perfect fit, but they said it's a limited production run, which might not be available anymore, 1000 produced...
The 11900K will give a mild single thread to light multi thread boost. If you need heavy multi-threading. There is no appreciable benefit of any CPU listed over your current CPU.

I’d wait until Intel gets to 10nm or better yet. Uses TSMC for 5nm. But that’s a couple years off. Maybe 7nm Meteor Lake. If they actually hit their target.

If you want something now. Intel isn’t offering much over what you have. As their desktop chips are still 14nm. You’ll need a Ryzen 5900x/5950x for an all around gain.

If you want Intel then the 11900k. For PCIe 4.0, single thread gains and new architecture. But it doesn’t hold a candle to Ryzen on the high end.
 
This sounds like you have an ‘itch’ to upgrade rather than finding your current system lacking. If your current system is actually meeting all your needs you are unlikely to see a worthwhile improvement from an upgrade. Is there something specific you want the pc to do better?
 

kwikvinny

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This sounds like you have an ‘itch’ to upgrade rather than finding your current system lacking. If your current system is actually meeting all your needs you are unlikely to see a worthwhile improvement from an upgrade. Is there something specific you want the pc to do better?
i just want the machine to be the latest in every area to be honest. its not lacking in performance other than my gpu is getting kind of old i think.
 

kwikvinny

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Is this only a gaming machine, or do you use some sort of professional software also ?
its more of a hobby kind of thing. I just want the machine to have the latest hardware in all the key area's. Most of all the thing thats bothering me is the gpu. I feel like most of all that is showing its age and is lacking in performance more so than my cpu or motherboard. But i really do want to just upgrade all three cpu, gpu and motherboard. i want to go from the intel i9 7900x to the intel i9 11900k and the motherboard from the Asus x299 mark 2 to the Asus Maximus xiii extreme glacial and the gpu from the Asus geforce gtx 1080 8gb rog strix oc to the asus rtx 3080. plus all new hard tubing in the liquid cooling system cooling all three.
 

kwikvinny

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The 11900K will give a mild single thread to light multi thread boost. If you need heavy multi-threading. There is no appreciable benefit of any CPU listed over your current CPU.

I’d wait until Intel gets to 10nm or better yet. Uses TSMC for 5nm. But that’s a couple years off. Maybe 7nm Meteor Lake. If they actually hit their target.

If you want something now. Intel isn’t offering much over what you have. As their desktop chips are still 14nm. You’ll need a Ryzen 5900x/5950x for an all around gain.

If you want Intel then the 11900k. For PCIe 4.0, single thread gains and new architecture. But it doesn’t hold a candle to Ryzen on the high end.


Ive always went with intel but if i were to go with AMD what motherboard is comparable to the Asus Maximus xiii extreme glacial? Its kind of one of a kind as far as i could tell with the built in water cooling and the oled diagnostic screen plus all the new connections available with usb, wifi etc... So is there a AMD motherboard that is comparable?
 
Ive always went with intel but if i were to go with AMD what motherboard is comparable to the Asus Maximus xiii extreme glacial? Its kind of one of a kind as far as i could tell with the built in water cooling and the oled diagnostic screen plus all the new connections available with usb, wifi etc... So is there a AMD motherboard that is comparable?

There's the ASRock X570 Aqua. Unless you're going to be running liquid nitrogen through it. I don't think you'll get that 11900K close to a 5950x in multi threaded tasks using a regular motherboard and cooling.

While those motherboards look neat and all. I'd spend the extra money on an AMD Threadripper. As it'll smoke the 11900K and 5950x in heavily multi-threaded tasks with a regular AIO Cooler. Plus has more memory channels, higher max RAM and way more PCIe 4.0 lanes.
 
I'd stand pat...and continue to get your money's worth another year.

The 7900X is hardly a slouch at anything, and neither is the GTX1080 ( if playing at 1080P)

(You could choose between an AM5 rig and whatever Intel has out sometime next year...; maybe new GPUs will not be 2.5X overpriced...)
 
i just want the machine to be the latest in every area to be honest. its not lacking in performance other than my gpu is getting kind of old i think.
Nothing wrong with that but it makes the upgrade based on personal choice. If the pc isn’t lacking in a specific scenario or you don’t have a specific improvement in mind we cannot really recommend a cpu. There is nothing to say if a 11700k/11900k or 5900X/5950X would be better for you.
 
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kwikvinny

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I'd stand pat...and continue to get your money's worth another year.

The 7900X is hardly a slouch at anything, and neither is the GTX1080 ( if playing at 1080P)

(You could choose between an AM5 rig and whatever Intel has out sometime next year...; maybe new GPUs will not be 2.5X overpriced...)
The Asus GTX 1080 has been good to me but i currently have two 34" curved 4k monitors with a desk mount holding them side by side. One of them is 120hz and the other is 160hz so my gpu isnt up to the challenge any more unfortunately. I really would rather not pay triple the price but i also dont want to wait years to experience the high resolution my monitors are capable of. So i might just say oh well and buy the gpu. Especially if i do the upgrade to the new motherboard and cpu the gpu has to go with it so i get the total package.
 

kwikvinny

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There's the ASRock X570 Aqua. Unless you're going to be running liquid nitrogen through it. I don't think you'll get that 11900K close to a 5950x in multi threaded tasks using a regular motherboard and cooling.

While those motherboards look neat and all. I'd spend the extra money on an AMD Threadripper. As it'll smoke the 11900K and 5950x in heavily multi-threaded tasks with a regular AIO Cooler. Plus has more memory channels, higher max RAM and way more PCIe 4.0 lanes.
ive had the i9 7900x and have never used it to its potential with the multi tasking with all them cores so im not to concerned with that id rather have a higher speed with less cores. Ive always gone with intel and i already have the setup for a liquid cooled custom loop with a distro plate and reservoir so no matter what im going with a liquid cooling system.
 

kwikvinny

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Nothing wrong with that but it makes the upgrade based on personal choice. If the pc isn’t lacking in a specific scenario or you don’t have a specific improvement in mind we cannot really recommend a cpu. There is nothing to say if a 11700k/11900k or 5900X/5950X would be better for you.
i know the amd is the faster and better choice im just trying to get all the info i can to push me over the edge to go with the amd after going with intel for many years.
 

kwikvinny

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Nothing wrong with that but it makes the upgrade based on personal choice. If the pc isn’t lacking in a specific scenario or you don’t have a specific improvement in mind we cannot really recommend a cpu. There is nothing to say if a 11700k/11900k or 5900X/5950X would be better for you.

i gotta say one of the main things that is holding me back is that there are 2 intel motherboards that offer liquid cooling built in to the motherboard and also have oled displays showing motherboard diagnostics and they look amazing. I have not seen a amd motherboard thats even close to comparing. The two motherboards im talking about is the Asus Maximus xiii Extreme Glacial and the ASRock Z490 AQUA. If you know of any amd motherboards like these please let me know.
 
My advice would be to save your money unless there is an immediate need to upgrade platforms. Intel is stuck on process node so doesn't really have much to grow into, AMD would require an entire platform rebuild and you might not want that. The GPU is the only thing that really could be upgraded and those are prohibitively expensive right now. Sometime in 2022 Intel is supposed to have 7nm CPU's which would be the first real competitive product in awhile, this will also probably require a new motherboard and memory.
 

kwikvinny

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My advice would be to save your money unless there is an immediate need to upgrade platforms. Intel is stuck on process node so doesn't really have much to grow into, AMD would require an entire platform rebuild and you might not want that. The GPU is the only thing that really could be upgraded and those are prohibitively expensive right now. Sometime in 2022 Intel is supposed to have 7nm CPU's which would be the first real competitive product in awhile, this will also probably require a new motherboard and memory.


My plan has been to upgrade everything in stages. I started off with the changing the case and changing from air cooled to water cooled with a distro plate and reservoir and two 360mm radiators. On the 2nd stage i was gonna upgrade the motherboard, cpu and gpu. I really like the asus maximus xiii extreme glacial motherboard and if i get a 11th gen cpu that will be plenty of power for me in face the i9 7900x i have is plenty but i just want to make a hobby / show piece thats all. im in no rush though but i really want to upgrade my gpu asap so it looks like i have to spend a fortune to do so. I really like how my pc looks and runs right now so im in no rush i guess.
 

kwikvinny

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My advice would be to save your money unless there is an immediate need to upgrade platforms. Intel is stuck on process node so doesn't really have much to grow into, AMD would require an entire platform rebuild and you might not want that. The GPU is the only thing that really could be upgraded and those are prohibitively expensive right now. Sometime in 2022 Intel is supposed to have 7nm CPU's which would be the first real competitive product in awhile, this will also probably require a new motherboard and memory.
yea thats what i keep hearing as far as the cpu. I really want to upgrade the gpu though because i have two 34" curved 4k monitors and my gpu doesnt give them the resolution that they can handle. i know the prices are crazy but when will they go down? i really dont want to wait a year for the prices to drop.
 

kwikvinny

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Nothing wrong with that but it makes the upgrade based on personal choice. If the pc isn’t lacking in a specific scenario or you don’t have a specific improvement in mind we cannot really recommend a cpu. There is nothing to say if a 11700k/11900k or 5900X/5950X would be better for you.


Yea after all my research i have found that if i really wanted to upgrade to the faster and better cpu i should go with the AMD but the intel i9 max boost clock goes all the way up to 5.3ghz and amd is only 4.9ghz. I really just want to upgrade gpu for now and after looking into it the price isnt going to drop any time soon so i either pay the high price or wait over a year. Im all set with waiting that long so im gonna just have to take the hit and buy it.
 

kwikvinny

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The Aqua mobo would be the perfect fit, but they said it's a limited production run, which might not be available anymore, 1000 produced...


I still see them available at the spot i grab some of my pc hardware at. The Asus Maximus XIII Extreme Glacial is just as nice i think and actually may be even nicer but its also more expensive and can support 10th and 11th gen intel cpu's. Been thinking about it and the current intel cpu wouldnt be too much of a upgrade from the i9 7900x i currently have which is overclocked to 4.6ghz and has 10 cores. The aqua has built in liquid cooling but i have a distro plate/reservoir with a custom hard piped loop with two EKWB 360mm radiators cooling my cpu with a water block on the cpu with a digital temp display. The aqua and the glacial both have oled diagnostic screens but i have sensor screen in mine thats 8.8" so i think the only thing i really could use right now is to upgrade my gpu but its going to cost a fortune obviously.