# Is a CPU upgrade worth it now?



## Krex (Sep 3, 2020)

Hey guys,
My system is getting kind of old now and as i saw that the NVIDIA RTX3000 series is coming i was looking into buying a 3070,but here's the problem.
I started worrying that my CPU should go as well.
My specs are : I7 core 4790
                          970gtx Zotac amp extreme edition
                         16 gb ram ( i don't remember the frequency)
The motherboard came from a lenovo prebuilt so i don't know much about it.

Any kind of help or advice is appreciated and thanks in advance!


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## kapone32 (Sep 3, 2020)

Well outside of getting a new platform you are pretty limited in terms of what you can do. If you want budget a 3300X (not available) 3600/B550 would be where to start or 10600K/Z490 would be the base depending on where you live. If you want the  high end get the 10850K or 3900X/X570 or wait for the next Gen Ryzen CPU. As it stands AMD is more "future proof" than Intel for PCIe 4.


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## Toothless (Sep 3, 2020)

Wait for new Ryzen chips.to come out. I can tell you right now you won't be able to fully use a 3070 and up with a 4790.


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## dgianstefani (Sep 3, 2020)

You'll be fine with either intel 10th gen or Ryzen 3000.

Go with minimum 10700/3700.


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## arbiter (Sep 3, 2020)

kapone32 said:


> Well outside of getting a new platform you are pretty limited in terms of what you can do. If you want budget a 3300X (not available) 3600/B550 would be where to start or 10600K/Z490 would be the base depending on where you live. If you want the  high end get the 10850K or 3900X/X570 or wait for the next Gen Ryzen CPU. As it stands AMD is more "future proof" than Intel for PCIe 4.


I am sure there will be a test between 3 and 4 to see if nvidia 3000 series gpu's are hampered by 3 or do you really need for 4.


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## Solid State Soul ( SSS ) (Sep 4, 2020)

I'd say wait for intel 10nm desktop processors or AMD Zen 3 4000 Series


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## Krex (Sep 4, 2020)

Before seeing that the 3070 will be roughly 500$ i was planning on getting a 2070 on black friday. Would the better plan be to just buy a 2070 in order to postpone the CPU and Motherboard upgrades?


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## thebluebumblebee (Sep 4, 2020)

Before we go any further, what PSU do you have?


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## Deleted member 193596 (Sep 4, 2020)

a 10600k (overclocked) and a 10900k stock is almost identical in every game so far.

a 10600k might be on a decent sale right now since there was these intel gaming week (or something like that) were they had great deals on CPUs.


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## thebluebumblebee (Sep 4, 2020)

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But, OP, you really should wait for Zen3.  It should shake up prices even more.


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## Krex (Sep 4, 2020)

thebluebumblebee said:


> Before we go any further, what PSU do you have?


A zm700-gv


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## bug (Sep 4, 2020)

arbiter said:


> I am sure there will be a test between 3 and 4 to see if nvidia 3000 series gpu's are hampered by 3 or do you really need for 4.


Actually, if you look at the leaked 3080 benchmarks, the fineprint says at 4k the CPU is more or less irrelevant.
Of course, we're not talking 3080 here and Idk whether the OP games at 4k. But it feels like these GPUs can do well with less powerful CPUs.


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## Paganstomp (Sep 4, 2020)

You playing games, doing Youtube streaming, media creation?


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## Krex (Sep 4, 2020)

Paganstomp said:


> You playing games, doing Youtube streaming, media creation?


At the moment just playing games and editing stuff from time to time


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## Paganstomp (Sep 5, 2020)

Krex said:


> At the moment just playing games and editing stuff from time to time



Will you be running resolutions of 1080p, 2K or 4K? 

Reports that the RTX 3070 will have an 8-pin power socket. Your current power supply looks to support that.

Upgrade system RAM to 32 GB, if possible.

i7 4790 CPU should be OK for 1080 maybe even 2K. But Keep an eye on video game recommended system specs.

Use a SSD for the O/S and any online games. Blizzard says World of Warcraft Shadowlands must have a SSD.


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## ppn (Sep 5, 2020)

your 4790, should be good for RTX 4070-90, upto 60FPS, but only you can tell. the goalpost of CPU bottlenecking are moving, only you will know when it happens first hand.


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## xman2007 (Sep 5, 2020)

Paganstomp said:


> Will you be running resolutions of 1080p, 2K or 4K?
> 
> Reports that the RTX 3070 will have an 8-pin power socket. Your current power supply looks to support that.
> 
> ...


4 cores are not enough today let alone with a 2080 Ti class GPU and in a couple of years time, he needs a modern CPU with the bare minumum 6c/12t though 8 cores would be much better and with a 3070 I'd say go with nothing less than an intel 9/10 gen or Ryzen 3000/4000 when that drops. 1080p and 1440p are also more CPU reliant than higher resolutions so in fact it would have more of an impact at those resolutions..


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## ppn (Sep 5, 2020)

you can literally replace at no cost this 4/8 core with better, it still holds good value. maybe not wort it now because everything is about to get obsolete real fast.


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## John Naylor (Sep 5, 2020)

Forget cores, forget die size... the only thing that matters is how each CPU performs with the applications / games you use.  In 12 days you will know that answer when we see W1zzards test results.   Pundits  are still recommnding 24 core CPUs and professional GFX card for CAD despite the fact that AutoCAD is essentially a single threaded application and is fastest using GTX / RTX cards.  Yes, if you want to make pretty pictures and render those drawings, those big multi core CPUs and professional GFX card will bring great time savings, but if just doing what 98% of Architects / Engineers are doing its 2D and 3D cad ... still single threaded.

The problem right now, is many components are sky high ... PSUs for example are 2-3 times what they were back in winter.   If you are in US, don't forget the tariff impacts.  The < $200 Intel 10400 outperforms every AMD CPU on the market at this point in Gaming,  And while I am not expecting the apple cart to be upset here, it think that AMD gets close enough to force a cut in Intel prices.

After seeing AMDs 5600 XT, I had some hope for AMDs next Gen, but after getting a hint of what the 3xxx series is bringing, I don't see that kind of leap coming.  MoBo prcing is high ... and I would wait for later steppings.  Again if in US,  I'd also wait till a bit after the election as it may result in and end to the tariffs.

My son just moved from a 2600k to a 3800x keeping his 1070 .... it was noticeable, but he did not see the gains he expected.  But like everything else, it dpends on exactly what games or applications you are using.   More performance in things you don't do won't help you.


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## Paganstomp (Sep 6, 2020)

xman2007 said:


> 4 cores are not enough today let alone with a 2080 Ti class GPU and in a couple of years time, he needs a modern CPU with the bare minumum 6c/12t though 8 cores would be much better and with a 3070 I'd say go with nothing less than an intel 9/10 gen or Ryzen 3000/4000 when that drops. 1080p and 1440p are also more CPU reliant than higher resolutions so in fact it would have more of an impact at those resolutions..


.... he is asking.... I already know this crap.


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## Krex (Sep 6, 2020)

Paganstomp said:


> Will you be running resolutions of 1080p, 2K or 4K?
> 
> Reports that the RTX 3070 will have an 8-pin power socket. Your current power supply looks to support that.
> 
> ...


I already have a 250gigs ssd and i will run it at 1080p most likely. When it comes to storage upgrades i have no problems and eventually i'll upgrade the cpu and mobo as well. Thanks for the help!


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## xman2007 (Sep 6, 2020)

Paganstomp said:


> i7 4790 CPU should be OK for 1080 maybe even 2K. But Keep an eye on video game recommended system specs.


Mmmkay


Krex said:


> I already have a 250gigs ssd and i will run it at 1080p most likely. When it comes to storage upgrades i have no problems and eventually i'll upgrade the cpu and mobo as well. Thanks for the help!


Upgrade your platform before you think of going with an Ampere GPU, otherwise you'd be just as well sticking an 2070 in your current rig


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## R0H1T (Sep 6, 2020)

Get a cheap stopgap alternative, like the 3600 non X if you're planning to upgrade to an 8/12/16 core CPU down the line. Pretty sure zen3 chips will be more expensive at launch, you'll see loads of deals on existing zen2 chips in the upcoming months. If you do not want to upgrade after this, say for the next 5 years then zen3 8/12 cores is the best bet *IMO*. Wait for their launch & go about your next upgrade accordingly.


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## Lindatje (Sep 6, 2020)

Easy, Upgrade to AMD Ryzen 3000 or wait a little longer for the Ryzen 4000 serie.
Then take the fasted Ryzen CPU you can buy with your budget.


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## Fourstaff (Sep 6, 2020)

Get new graphics card -> is the performance good enough? Yes -> done! No -> upgrade CPU. It doesn't sound like you are in a rush to upgrade your processor.


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## Melvis (Sep 6, 2020)

Will the motherboard even support the new GPU? since its from a prebuilt?


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## yotano211 (Sep 7, 2020)

good luck finding a 3070, its going to sell out for months, even after Christmas.


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## bug (Sep 7, 2020)

yotano211 said:


> good luck finding a 3070, its going to sell out for months, even after Christmas.


That's what I'm afraid of, too. If these sell well (and they're good value for the money, despite their high prices), Nvidia will drag their feet releasing the 3060


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