Time to upgrade my 4790K???

[LennyLeonard]

Hello.

I have been running my Intel 4790K CPU (at base clock speed of 4ghz) for the past 5 years.

I am currently pairing it with a 1080 but am now planning on upgrading to a 3070 or 3080 towards the end of the year.

My question is: should I first upgrade my CPU or do you think it will handle the newer GPU??.

I obviously understand that it may well bottleneck the GPU to some degree, but should I wait and see how it performs or go out and buy a new CPU/mobo??.

My specs:

Asus z97-PRO Gamer mobo
Intel 4790K CPU
Nvidia 1080 GPU
32 GB RAM
Corsair 750W PSU

Thanks.

 

[Oussebon]

What monitor are you gaming on? (resolution and refresh rate)

What do you do besides gaming? What's the 32gb RAM for?

What games do you play and at what settings?

 

[LennyLeonard]

Oh sorry, probably should have included some of that information!!!.

Yeah, I use the PC primarily for gaming and just basic web browsing.

As for the monitor it is a 1440p 144Hz ASUS.

The 32GB of RAM was just overkill on my part. I was very new to PC building 5 yeas ago and decided that I needed 32GB.

 

[Oussebon]

Then your 4790k is fine.

Newer CPUs will give some improvement to performance, even at 1440p. However, if you're playing the games at high+ settings, that's going to be a pretty small difference for the most part.

Not worth the $500 or whatever for an upgraded platform at any rate.

That could change with nextgen games, but ofc new CPUs will be out later this year, and next year, and so on. So stick with your 4790k for a while until such a time as it becomes an issue.

It's not like you were running an FX series quad core or something. No alarm bells are ringing to prompt a preemptive upgrade!

 

[LennyLeonard]

Thanks for that.

I didn't really want to go through the whole new CPU/mobo process right now, but would have if needed.

I will now hold onto my 4790K and pair it with a 3070/3080 over Christmas and then maybe see about upgrading the rest of my PC later next year or possibly 2022.

I was just looking for assurances that my CPU wasn't completely out of the question in terms of pairing it with the next generation of GPU's and you've done that.

Thank you for your help.

 

[Planes.Fly]

Then your 4790k is fine.

Newer CPUs will give some improvement to performance, even at 1440p. However, if you're playing the games at high+ settings, that's going to be a pretty small difference for the most part.

Not worth the $500 or whatever for an upgraded platform at any rate.

That could change with nextgen games, but ofc new CPUs will be out later this year, and next year, and so on. So stick with your 4790k for a while until such a time as it becomes an issue.

It's not like you were running an FX series quad core or something. No alarm bells are ringing to prompt a preemptive upgrade!

Sorry but I think you are dead wrong, I also run a 4790K@4.7 all core and new titles are absolutely crushing all 8 threads at 1oo% load while the gpu sits and waits for work at 90% load and frame rates are sub-optimal and I run more resolution than OP at 3440x1440 (100hz monitor) with a OC'd 1080ti.

 

[Zoid]

Sorry but I think you are dead wrong, I also run a 4790K@4.7 all core and new titles are absolutely crushing all 8 threads at 1oo% load while the gpu sits and waits for work at 90% load and frame rates are sub-optimal and I run more resolution than OP at 3440x1440 (100hz monitor) with a OC'd 1080ti.

I think there are certainly some intensive titles where the 4790K is starting to show its age, and in titles with medium-high CPU requirements it might not be able to fully keep up with a 3070 or 3080.

That said...

My question is: should I first upgrade my CPU or do you think it will handle the newer GPU??.

@LennyLeonard My advice on your question would be to keep the 4790K for now and see how it does. It might end up feeling sluggish, and you might want to upgrade it, but it might also be fine for another year! I would only upgrade it once it is definitively not giving you the performance you require.

 

[Oussebon]

Sorry but I think you are dead wrong, I also run a 4790K@4.7 all core and new titles are absolutely crushing all 8 threads at 1oo% load while the gpu sits and waits for work at 90% load and frame rates are sub-optimal and I run more resolution than OP at 3440x1440 (100hz monitor) with a OC'd 1080ti.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9HV9V5nzOc


YMMV.

Point being performance won't be crippled in all titles. And the OP should wait and see before speculatively opening their wallets.

 

[LennyLeonard]

Thanks for both of your input.

Over the past couple of days I have been monitoring my CPU performance and it does indeed reach 100% (across all cores) utilisation on many games, which maybe isn't a sign that I need to rush out and buy an entire new PC straight away, but does point towards me needing to maybe prepare for an upgrade in the next 6-12 months.

My GPU is also getting a full 100% workload though so the CPU can't be throttling it at this moment in time.

But seeing as AMD will be announcing pricing/performance for Zen 3 in a few weeks time it seems prudent to at least wait and see if it will be worth me jumping in any time soon.

I have decided to buy a 3070 or 3080 (availability pending) this year and then try and eek out as much time on my 4790K as possible. So maybe around spring time 2021 I will invest in Zen 3 or (playing the waiting game again) see what Intel come back with on their 11th gen CPU's.

Thanks for the Gamers Nexus link!!!. I regularly watch their material but happened to miss this one!!!. Typical. It answered most of my questions.

 

[Oussebon]

If you decide you do want to upgrade the CPU relatively soon for increased performance, and you decide to go with Zen 3, then there's an argument for not waiting until Spring.

If only because then you start profiting from the extra performance this year. It may well cost about the same close to launch as a few months down the line. Assuming buying this year is affordable ofc. There might even be some small savings around Black Friday too.

Let us know how it all goes anyway

 

[LennyLeonard]

Thank you.

Yeah, it is definitely affordable for me to upgrade to Zen 3 this year, so maybe that would be a good option??.

I am also open to going with Intel if AMD don't offer the major performance boost we are all hoping for. Whether that would be waiting on 11th gen or just plumping for the recently released 10th gen series would just depend on how impatient I get I suppose!!!.

All-in-all it seems like a great time to be in the market for a new CPU. If AMD and Intel keep trying to one-up each other then it is only to us as the consumers benefit isn't it??.

 

[Zoid]

I am also open to going with Intel if AMD don't offer the major performance boost we are all hoping for. Whether that would be waiting on 11th gen or just plumping for the recently released 10th gen series would just depend on how impatient I get I suppose!!!.

All-in-all it seems like a great time to be in the market for a new CPU. If AMD and Intel keep trying to one-up each other then it is only to us as the consumers benefit isn't it??.

Absolutely. The competition we're seeing between Intel and AMD can only be good for consumers!

At this particular moment in time, Intel's 10th gen CPUs are the measurably better pick in most gaming scenarios, but it's definitely worth seeing what happens with Zen 3.

Most of the Ryzen line still has a competitive advantage in productivity tasks and price/performance ratio, and AM4 is the better modern platform at the moment for my money. If Zen 3 closes the gaming gap then Intel will be put on the back foot again.

Yeah, it is definitely affordable for me to upgrade to Zen 3 this year, so maybe that would be a good option??.

It may well be. Of course any pricing predictions are subject to turning out dead wrong, but I'd expect Black Friday and Christmas deals to be just as good if not better than pricing we'll see in early 2021, unless Intel makes a pricing move that AMD will have to answer.

This speculation is based off of previous trends but just a best guess. With continued pandemic effects on top of all the other factors it's really hard to know.