GPU Upgrade but Not Sure if Current PC Will Hold It Back

adrock on 06/08/2023 - 08:58

Hi - I built a PC a couple of years ago, but want to upgrade to play BG3 and Starfield on some reasonable settings. I was thinking a 6800xt or RTX4070 (leaning towards the 4070). I currently have a 5700XT. However, I have the below parts from Speccy.

I've tried to compare / click around but finding myself generally overwhelmed with all the information.

Do you think these videocards are overkill given the PC? If you had any other part upgrade recommendations feel free to share. I'd prefer to not upgrade the whole thing if possible.

Thanks!

    CPU
        AMD Ryzen 9 3900X   56 °C
        Matisse 7nm Technology
    RAM
        16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR4 @ 1064MHz (15-15-15-36)
    Motherboard
        ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) (AM4)    30 °C
    Graphics
        8176MB ATI AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (Unknown)
    Storage
        931GB Western Digital WDC WDS100T2B0A-00SM50 (SATA (SSD))   25 °C
        931GB Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB (SATA (SSD))  31 °C
    Optical Drives
        No optical disk drives detected
    Audio
        Yamaha NX-N500
Computing Computer Desktop Computer

Comments

  • oscargamer on 06/08/2023 - 09:05
    +6

    What's the actual RAM you have installed?

    It appears that you haven't turned on XMP in your bios settings. Please do. You should notice a difference.

    • adrock on 06/08/2023 - 11:57
      +1

      Thanks mate! Made the change.

  • Grunntt on 06/08/2023 - 10:01

    If the CPU becomes a limiting factor I'm pretty sure you can also upgrade it to a 5000 series on the X570 motherboard if needed.

  • Malik Nasser on 06/08/2023 - 10:12
    +1

    What resolution do you play at?
    The 5700 XT should still hold its own at lower resolutions.
    These games are only RPG's so you don't need crazy high FPS.

    • adrock on 06/08/2023 - 11:59
      +1

      Probably 1080p I guess.

      Thanks - that's good advice. Maybe I should give it a crack first with them and see how I go.

  • NuclearWessels on 06/08/2023 - 10:21
    +1

    3900X is still a very decent CPU - especially for gaming which can use more threads. I think it'll be fine.

    If you're concerned - https://pc-builds.com/bottleneck-calculator/result/0Ul1fl/1/…

    At 1440p it's a good match.

    • EightImmortals on 06/08/2023 - 13:10

      Thanks for the link. It tells me my 5600X is too slow to keep up with a 4070. :(

      • NuclearWessels on 06/08/2023 - 14:15
        +2

        I think it depends on the game really… if you're playing older games maybe it is bottlenecked as the 4070 will pump out frames. If you're playing new games on high/ultra it probably wont matter as much as the GPU load will be higher.

  • Caped Baldy on 06/08/2023 - 10:37

    It'll be fine

  • Kangal on 06/08/2023 - 14:48

    Yeah, agreed with others, that your setup is mostly good.

    RAM could use with some optimisations. It's a cheap time, so getting 4x8GB 3200MHz sticks with tight timings is probably a good choice.
    3900X has plenty of multi-threaded performance, it simply lacks on the single-core/latency side. If you wanted any sort of upgrade I would only look at the ($440-$510) 5800x3D or the 5950X ($680-$780), but that sort of depends how much you can sell your current Used CPU for ($250 ?).
    5700XT was pretty good back then for 1440p gaming, with time it's performance has drastically increased, right now it is a solid 1080p card. If you sold it Used GPU for ($230 ?), not sure where you would want to step up to. The new AMD rx7900 XT is a solid card, if the price is right around $999 bucks, and not the RRP. Otherwise the new RTX 4070Ti would be good for around the same $999 price, again not the $1200 RRP. The previous gen cards are flooded in the market right now, such as the RTX 3080Ti ($1100) or the RX 3950XT ($950), and you can find them in Used Market ($880 and $840 respectively).

    But it begs the question, should you instead sell your current system, and build a new one based on AM5 ?
    You're essentially upgrading your CPU for $200, RAM for around $100, and GPU for ($700)… basically all up for an extra AUD $1,000 to step up to the 5800x3D and RX-6950XT with better RAM. It's bleeding edge.

    Then again there's DDR5 and AM5 platform, which is nice for future reasons, but will cost a bit, so that all depends on your budget and wants.

    • [Deactivated] on 07/08/2023 - 14:34

      5950X is an overpriced meme, and its no better than a PBO-tweaked 5600/5700X for gaming. Its a niche CPU for workload that requires (or can actually make use) of 16C/32T, and it still carry a hefty price despite you being able to buy Intel's LGA1700 for better multi-threaded performance for cheaper.

      A 3950X should still be enough, especially if OP plays at 1440p, no need for a CPU upgrade. And as much as I like the 5800X3D, I don't think its worth the upgrade for most systems either, the benefits is mostly felt in CPU-heavy games like MMOs, Simulation/Sandbox and what not.

      • Kangal on 08/08/2023 - 00:08
        -1

        Well, I suggested the 5950X as it's a great CPU for production reasons. Anything faster will require a new motherboard from AMD or Intel. Whereas for Gaming Only, the 5800x3D holds up strong today.

        It's pointless to go for a 5600X or 3950X to be honest. Not worth the price differences coming from the 3900X CPU.

        Overall, I have a feeling he might be better of building a new system now, while the prices are low. Something like an AM5, 2x 16GB DDR5-6000, 1TB Samsung nVme, 4TB SSD, r7-7700 (upgrade for later), and a RX-6950XT. He should either hand-me-down his current system, or sell it to offset the costs.

        • [Deactivated] on 08/08/2023 - 07:49

          I meant like not upgrading his CPU at all, 3950X is a typo, I meant OP's original 3900X

  • [Deactivated] on 07/08/2023 - 14:33

    5700XT is about ball-park performance of a 6600XT, which is still a solid entry/low-mid end card nowadays. I'd feel it out first then see where your bottleneck lies. At higher resolution you're not likely to run into CPU bottleneck, and generally CPU is more important for esport and MMOs/etc… where the game is either CPU bound or you'd prefer stable frame rate at the cost of rendering quality. Only CPU upgrade I'd consider on AM4 at this point is a 5800X3D

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