Planning on upgrading my gaming PC, but would like some help with parts
Planning on upgrading my gaming PC, but would like some help with parts
My current setup is pretty dated, but still doing alright for what I'm playing, although I'd like better framerates and a bit more "futureproofing" for when I start playing the more demanding games in my backlog.
Parts are:
- R5 2600x;
- 2060 Super;
- 16GB @ 3466 16-18-18-18-36;
- 1440p 144Hz monitor.
Currently playing The Witcher 3 Next Gen at medium details, DLSS set to quality and no RT. I get 50-80 fps, which isn't too bad, but I'm aiming for high details and 120+ fps.
The most resource intensive game I have in my backlog is probably TLoU (or RDR2, or CP2077), and I'd like to play those at high/120 fps too, not really interested in RT.
At the moment I'm looking to get a 7800XT.
Do you think I can get away wih just a GPU + PSU upgrade, or would the 2600x cause too great a bottleneck at target resolution/details/fps to ignore?
For the GPU I'm considering a 7800XT instead of a 6800XT mainly because of the lower power consumption and slightly higher performance. Also the 7800XT comes with a very neat backplate plus GPU support bracket.
Issue is I don't know if that justifies a ~15% price increase (price right now is $600 equivalent for the 6800XT and $690 equivalent for the 7800XT). I do like the looks of the 7800XT a bit more though lol so if current CPU and RAM can work with the new GPU at target resolution/details/fps, and there aren't huge drawbacks to getting the 7800X instead of the 6800XT, I'm willing to spend those extra $90 on the former.
What do you think?
Thanks in advance to anyone replying!
Your current PSU is important for figuring out if you need to upgrade. Maybe consider a Ryzen 5800X3D (if your motherboard supports it with a BIOS update) and a 6800 XT because I don't think the 2600 is gonna be pushing 100+ frames at 1440p in most newer titles (of course it depends on the title and settings). I don't think the 7800 XT makes much sense over the 6800 XT at that price.
Agree here. The 2600x is a major bottle neck and should be replaced.
Oh, I absolutely need a new PSU if I get a better GPU, current one is 550W!
Unfortunately I have a budget, and I really can't fit a R7 5800X3D in it without halving the spending for GPU+PSU, since the cheapest I can find it for is $300 converted. For that price I can get something like a XFX 6700XT, which is a nice boost in FPS (around 40-50% more compared to my card), but according to the benchmarks on Tom's Hardware, at 1440p Ultra details it averages around 100fps across many different games. Don't know if lowering details to High would allow it to get to 120+ FPS
A 5600 is $250 less than a 5800x3d, and is 65 watts instead of 100. You'll not come anywhere near justifying a $350 processor unless you're spending $1000 on the video card as well.
Get yourself a used 5600 for under $100 since everyone is upgrading to a 5800x3d. Then buy yourself whatever GPU you're comfortable getting with your remaining budget. 6700, 7700, and 7800 are all good, with the 7700 probably being the most future proof per dollar, and 6700 being the most FPS per dollar. The 7800 is in a weird spot. I think it's probably just there to convince people to get the 7900.
And don't forget to update the bios before putting the new CPU in :)
Your PSU should be fine. It is rated at up to it's listed draw. If you wanna be safe, aim for 10% lower. I have a 7900xt + 5800x3d with 2 NVME drives and an AIO. With a kill-a-watt in the wall while gaming, I measure 430 watts going to the power strip for the PC plus 2 monitors (which pull 50 on their own with the tower off). Online power calculators are extra conservative. Your PSU could run my rig.
I also have a good Freesync monitor, and I quite honestly can't tell the difference between 90fps and 144fps. If you're getting 80+FPS consistently, let Freesync take care of the rest and don't worry about it.
2600x is starting to get long in the tooth, but I'd hesitate to recommend an immediate upgrade since it would necessitate a new main board and that would kill the GPU budget. RDR2 and CP2077 are mostly GPU heavy, but I'm starting to see more CPU heavy workloads in the newest AAA games like Starfield.
I'd say if you're a patient gamer you can get away with a just GPU upgrade, but you will probably not see 1440p 144Hz @ highest settings in the most modern titles (CP2077 just upped reqs for the new DLC)
Yep, very patient, don't even remember the last time I played a game on launch day.
Fortunately my MoBo supports R7 5800x3d that I added to my shopping list, just needs the latest BIOS; I also found a 6800XT for much cheaper than the 7800XT I wanted to get, so the budget went up just a little and I can get GPU+CPU+PSU. Highest (e.g. Ultra) settings are not a priority, High is usually enough for me!
Yeah, I saw the new requirements for CP2077, they went up quite a bit!
Do you think I can get away wih just a GPU + PSU upgrade, or would the 2600x cause too great a bottleneck at target resolution/details/fps to ignore?
Absolutely; upgrades are about maximising frames per $ spent. Does it give you a significant boost while avoiding the cost of a new PC? I actually went with a GTX 1070 on an Intel i7 920 for a few years before I upgraded to a new PC with a 3700x. I got a 20% boost in FPS on average, but the old combination still worked well for the games I was playing.
Sounds like I'll have to get a new CPU anyway haha I have to choose whether to buy it now, and get an older GPU, or buy it sometime later and get a better GPU now, but "suffer" the bottleneck until then!
I know you all are gonna call me crazy but...
I would suggest you getting a SoundBlaster AE-5 Plus.
Dedicated sound cards do wonders for poorly optimized games. 🔊🎵🎮