Upgrade from an I7-3770K

[nine9s]

I have an almost 5 year old system. CPU is a an I7-3770K, stock speed. Sasmung SSD, 8gig memory. I currently have a GTX 970 video card in it.

I have not played many games in the last year or two. When I did, I could run most setting near max. I would like to start gaming on my TV at or near 4K.

I was thinking of building a new system around a GTX 1080 for 4K gaming.

I figured after 5 years, newer CPUs would be leaps and bounds more powerful, but after researching current CPUs, it does not seem the leap is that great, or I am I wrong??

So with a 1080 GTX, would the 3770K be a noticeable bottleneck? With a GTX 1080, the 3770K compared to a 7700K on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being (you could use all the same settings in games, with not much if any play difference), 5 being (the 7700K would allow a few higher settings in games, and would give a pretty noticeable difference in FPS) and 10 being (the 7700K would allow almost all settings to be higher, and the FPS increase would be drastically higher), where would you put it?

 

[frozentundra123456]

Why not try the current cpu with a GTX1080 and see how it performs? If it is not good enough, you could upgrade to a 7700K, or wait for Skylake X and get a six core version. Even with a 1080 though, I think you will be gpu limited in most games at 4k, so the cpu might not be that critical.

 

[imported_jjj]

Since you don't seem in a huge rush, wait 1-2 moths for Vega to see how it impacts perf and perf/$ for both Nvidia and AMD cards.
Nvidia's Pascal doesn't like new APIs much and they need to fix that in future generations so significant changes should be ahead with Volta, whenever that comes.
If you change GPUs every year, do w/e but if you plan to keep it for a while, waiting a bit is better.

 

[nine9s]

Since you don't seem in a huge rush, wait 1-2 moths for Vega to see how it impacts perf and perf/$ for both Nvidia and AMD cards.
Nvidia's Pascal doesn't like new APIs much and they need to fix that in future generations so significant changes should be ahead with Volta, whenever that comes.
If you change GPUs every year, do w/e but if you plan to keep it for a while, waiting a bit is better.

Thanks. As long as Vega is close in performance to the 1080 TI, I guess prices will drop 20%.

 

[imported_jjj]

Thanks. As long as Vega is close in performance to the 1080 TI, I guess prices will drop 20%.

hehe lets not hope for too much. We'll see what AMD has and if they also have Vega 11 ready. The GTX 1080 is not such a big die at 314mm2 so there is room for lower prices if Vega is good.

 

[nine9s]

On my original question it does not seem a CPU upgrade would do much/be worth the cost?

 

[imported_jjj]

Depends how willing you are to spend and what games you play. At the end of the day, you can buy the GPU first and upgrade the CPU if/when you feel the need to.
8GB of system DRAM might be a bit low.

 

[IEC]

On my original question it does not seem a CPU upgrade would do much/be worth the cost?

If you already have 4c/8t, another 4c/8t processor doesn't make sense outside of needing the highest single threaded performance for some reason (which you probably don't, given you are running 3770K @ stock). And while the tide is turning to where hex and octa cores are beating out quad cores in gaming, most games will run just fine currently on quad cores. 4K resolution is usually GPU bound, so you will benefit more from a faster GPU than anything else on a per-dollar basis.

1080 Ti if you can't wait and need best 4K single GPU performance now.
If you're patient, wait to see how the chips fall with Vega - if it's good, it will either be an option for you or at least make 1080/Ti more affordable. <-- this is the option I am waiting for before I decide 1080 Ti or Vega @ 4K60.

Given your infrequent CPU upgrades you want it to last for a long time. There are already games like Ashes of the Singularity which force lower detail levels on CPUs with fewer than six physical cores, and newer releases are scaling past quad cores. So the long-term outlook on quad cores for gaming is not so bright IMO. If you're patient, Intel's Skylake X and AMD's Zen 2 should be out within the next year, giving you more options should you need more CPU power then.

To recap:
GPU sometime this summer or earlier would be biggest difference and best perf/$ for 4K gaming needs
CPU down the road when you actually feel its limitations (unless you have the budget now, and want to spend)

If it's not in your budget... options you can do to gain some performance without changing CPU:
Upgrade to 16GB RAM
Overclock your CPU

 

[bbhaag]

I would OC your cpu and upgrade the gpu and see where you're at. You bought the K sku for a reason right?...Now use it.

 

[volgagerman]

I've been running a 3770K since 2012. I've recently sold my GTX980 SLI and "side-graded" to a single GTX1080 due to various issues with SLI no longer being supported by new games. I have a 1440p 144Hz monitor, so I at least have a recipe for CPU limitations - i.e. lower IPC + solid GPU + high refresh rate monitor. Originally I had my CPU overclocked to 4.3 GHz, but lately I've been seeing some instability with 1.35V so I've dropped it back down to 4GHz and lowered the voltage as well (not exactly the best 3770K!) I have noticed no difference in FPS in the games I play. The only game I own that might benefit from a faster CPU (7700K) is Battlefield 1. I do see a slight increase in FPS in single player mode when overclocking back to 4.3GHz, but it's only a few frames difference. I like to run Star Citizen at 4K or higher with DSR to get rid of the aliasing and that takes the CPU completely out of the equation. I've tried stock vs. OC (3.7 all cores vs. 4.3 all cores) at 4K in that game plus others and have noticed no change in FPS. Current GPUs can bottleneck on older CPUs at 1080p, less at 1440p, and not likely at 4K. If you decide to keep the 3770K for awhile, you might think about upgrading your RAM to 16GB. Newer games are starting to utilize beyond 8GB. I'm personally planning to ride this system into 2019 for one more GPU update (GV102) before finally retiring the old dog in 2022 and getting a full decade out of it! We'll see.

 

[ZGR]

It is a good time to go 4k. Your 3770k is no slouch in most games, especially when overclocked. I would ignore the GTX 1080 completely and look at the GTX 1080 ti as well as a cheap 4k gsync (they exist but are tough to find). If the 1080 ti is out of your budget, get a 1070. I've been gaming at 4k on a single 1070 for about half a year without issue and I love it.

The 1080 ti allows for a near-no compromise 4k experience whereas the 1070 means you gotta lower settings a bit.

If you are building a new system don't build another 4c/8t system. Quad cores are done. 6 cores are the new mainstream and 8 cores are definitely a safe bet.

 

[Magic Hate Ball]

It is a good time to go 4k. Your 3770k is no slouch in most games, especially when overclocked. I would ignore the GTX 1080 completely and look at the GTX 1080 ti as well as a cheap 4k gsync (they exist but are tough to find). If the 1080 ti is out of your budget, get a 1070. I've been gaming at 4k on a single 1070 for about half a year without issue and I love it.

The 1080 ti allows for a near-no compromise 4k experience whereas the 1070 means you gotta lower settings a bit.

If you are building a new system don't build another 4c/8t system. Quad cores are done. 6 cores are the new mainstream and 8 cores are definitely a safe bet.

If he's not in a rush I would wait for the imminent Vega launch before locking into the expensive G-Sync setup.

 

[nine9s]

Given your infrequent CPU upgrades you want it to last for a long time. There are already games like Ashes of the Singularity which force lower detail levels on CPUs with fewer than six physical cores, and newer releases are scaling past quad cores. So the long-term outlook on quad cores for gaming is not so bright IMO. If you're patient, Intel's Skylake X and AMD's Zen 2 should be out within the next year, giving you more options should you need more CPU power then.

To recap:
GPU sometime this summer or earlier would be biggest difference and best perf/$ for 4K gaming needs
CPU down the road when you actually feel its limitations (unless you have the budget now, and want to spend)

If it's not in your budget... options you can do to gain some performance without changing CPU:
Upgrade to 16GB RAM
Overclock your CPU

Thanks that is a great point on those threads.

Should I buy 16 GB of memory and replace what I have (i.e do they need to match) or just add 8?

 

[ZGR]

If he's not in a rush I would wait for the imminent Vega launch before locking into the expensive G-Sync setup.

I'm not advocating going factory refurbished, but that is exactly what I did with my 4k gsync. It was only $350! Not all gsync displays are expensive if you go factory refurbished.

I'm definitely going to buy my next gsync/freesync monitor factory refurbished as well as it saved a lot of money while retaining the hardware warranty.

The major downside to this is that I could have gotten a dud. This would have forced me to wait 2 weeks for a replacement.

The other downside is these refurbished sales come in waves. Monitors rise and fall in prices. If a retailer has excess stock of factory refurbished gsync/freesync 4k displays, there will be a sale; but only for a limited time. This requires a lot of work and patience to find.

 

[nine9s]

It is a good time to go 4k. Your 3770k is no slouch in most games, especially when overclocked. I would ignore the GTX 1080 completely and look at the GTX 1080 ti as well as a cheap 4k gsync


If you are building a new system don't build another 4c/8t system. Quad cores are done. 6 cores are the new mainstream and 8 cores are definitely a safe bet.

I will probably go 1080 TI - I'll wait to get after Vega is released.

On monitor, I want to start gaming on my TV.

 

[bbhaag]

Thanks that is a great point on those threads.

Should I buy 16 GB of memory and replace what I have (i.e do they need to match) or just add 8?

You should hold off on upgrading your ram until you are sure OC'ing and a new gpu aren't good enough. A new machine will use DDR4 ram and your current machine uses DDR3. They are not interchangeable so you will end up buying ram twice.

 

[StinkyPinky]

I would personally just keep using the 3700K, it's perfectly fine for gaming. Just buy a cooler and overclock it. Invest in a better GPU instead

 

[Shmee]

I would agree, best to see if a decent OC on the CPU and a new card is good enough.

 

[SirCanealot]

At 60fps my 3770k at 4.4ghz is barely any bottleneck. I've been tempted to upgrade it for a while, but there's literally no need :/
I've been working on and off for a while to get it stable at 4.6ghz, but I'll probably drop back to 4.4 for general use anyway.

I think I'd only really need an upgrade if I want to push past 60fps, but I'm likely to have my 2k/60hz monitor for a while to come.

 

[2is]

As an owner of a 3770k who does game with it fairly often, all you need is a powerful enough GPU. And if you do want/need more CPU performance, you've got several hundred MHz of untapped potential that you can exploit by over clocking. I've got mine comfortably cruising along at 4.3GHz