What to upgrade next?

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WXBY

Commendable
Jun 15, 2017
11
0
1,510
I want to get into more high-end gaming (GTX xx70) but I'm a teen, so I can't really make enough money quickly. I'm debating on whether I should upgrade my CPU or GPU first. However, I won't have enough for the CPU unless I wait until August, the current rumored launch date for Nvidia's Ampere/Turing cards. My current thought process is that if I pre-order the GPU, then I'll be able to get it for a reasonable price before the crypto miners snatch them up. I can't decide what to do first.

Current config:
-Intel Core i7 3770 (Ivy Bridge, 2012)
-EVGA Geforce GTX 750 Ti SC (Maxwell, 2014)
-ASRock Q77M VPRO
-32GB Corsair DDR3 (2100MHz?)
-128GB Crucial SATA SSD
-1TB WD Black 72kRPM HDD
-500GB HDD (Brand N/A)
-Windows 10 Pro
EDIT:
-Corsair RM 850x PSU

I plan on using my PC for 1440p60 (Possibly VR) Gaming and some light to mid-complexity video editing.
(I use a program called Hitfilm due to its low price, but it's unfortunately pretty inefficient.)
 
Solution
volkgren
Your best bet would be to save up as much money as you can for the GPU when you can get it, which will be somewhat of an unknown. So you will have to be on the lookout and ready with the money in hand.

You can use pretty much any GPU with your i7-3770; you might not get all of the performance out of some higher-end GPUs at 1080p. But CPU upgrades aren't the difficult thing to get your hands on, so I'd save up for the GPU so you will have the money. After you get your GPU, then you can look at CPU upgrades.

That's what I would do.

*Don't forget about a power supply.
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volkgren

volkgren

Judicious
Aug 13, 2017
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Your best bet would be to save up as much money as you can for the GPU when you can get it, which will be somewhat of an unknown. So you will have to be on the lookout and ready with the money in hand.

You can use pretty much any GPU with your i7-3770; you might not get all of the performance out of some higher-end GPUs at 1080p. But CPU upgrades aren't the difficult thing to get your hands on, so I'd save up for the GPU so you will have the money. After you get your GPU, then you can look at CPU upgrades.

That's what I would do.

*Don't forget about a power supply.
 
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Solution
W

WXBY

Commendable
Jun 15, 2017
11
0
1,510


Sorry, forgot to mention that I already have a PSU.
Thanks for the reply! That's kinda what I was thinking too. I just need the CPU for some light VFX/ Video editing.
 
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IInuyasha74

IInuyasha74

Splendid
May 1, 2013
6,333
18
27,965
Yea the GPU.

I have an i7-3770K. It didn't have any issue running a GTX 1060 or GTX 970 at full load. I'm not sure to what limit it would limit a GTX 1070 or GTX 1080, but I doubt it would hamper performance much unless the game you are playing is particularly CPU intensive. The CPU is aging, and eventually we will have to upgrade from these Ivy Bridge processors, but for now they still get the job done. So I'd shoot for a GPU now. Whenever you do the CPU upgrade, you will need to buy a new motherboard and RAM also, so I'd aim for that in the next year or two.
 
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photonboy

photonboy

Titan
Jun 20, 2006
21,567
13
85,015
1) I agree, the CPU is fairly good. You may be able to adjust the BIOS so that's 3.9GHz on all four cores which may get you a small boost.

I have an i7-3770K at 4.4GHz paired with a GTX1080 and very few games have much CPU bottleneck.

2) Graphics Cards are waaay overpriced so I'd just wait. Unfortunately we have no idea if it will be a month or six until pricing stabilizes (I saw a GTX1060 for $600 that was $250USD last year!!

pre-order the GPU before crypto-miners snatch them up?

Uh... that's not how it works. You really don't think miners would be pre-ordering if possible?

Until prices drop a similar "Turing" card will cost as much or more as existing Pascal of same performance. NVidia's very likely to push things back until crypto sorts itself out anyway.

*Plus there will be a lot of USED CARDS selling for cheap when mining stops being profitable. Since a GTX1060 6GB was $250 they might be used for $150.

3) so here's relative performance:
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_1080_Ti_Gaming_X/30.html

Summary:
My advice is simply WAIT for prices to drop. Keep the current system for another couple years.
 
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photonboy

photonboy

Titan
Jun 20, 2006
21,567
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85,015
https://hitfilmtips.wordpress.com/2012/02/09/tip-understand-how-hitfilm-uses-your-hardware/

So it will use a better CPU as well as a better GPU. Both do different things.

But... where is the TIME spent rendering? Can you work on a project then walk away? If it takes say EIGHT HOURS and you leave it overnight then does having it take FOUR HOURS with a better CPU matter?

Remember to change the CPU you build a completely new PC. That includes replacing the:

a) motherboard
b) CPU
c) possibly CPU cooler
d) DDR4 memory needed likely (for recent CPU's)
 
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