Hey everyone! I'm looking to upgrade my PC as a little birthday present to myself. The last major upgrade I did was getting an RTX 3070 back in June 2021. I'm willing to spend around $400, maybe a bit more if it's worth it. Here are my full specs: CPU: i7-10700, Stock Intel cooler, MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Edge WiFi motherboard, Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO 32GB RAM (2x16GB) DDR4 3200MHz, ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3070 GPU, Thermaltake Smart 700W PSU, Lian Li LANCOOL 2 case with stock fans from 2020, 1TB HDD, 120GB ADATA SSD, and a Samsung 990 EVO PLUS 1TB NVMe. My monitors are the Asus VG278 and LG 27GL650F, both 1920x1080 at 144hz. What do you think I should upgrade?
2 Answers
It really depends on what you're looking for! If you want overall faster performance, consider upgrading to an i5-14600K along with a good cooler and a decent motherboard. The CPU + cooler would cost around $150, with the motherboard around $330. As for your GPU, you could look at something like a 5070 with 12GB, but that starts at $550. Here's a parts list I found: [link].
I play a lot of FPS games too. A CPU upgrade might really help you with loading times in the upcoming BF6 and BO7.
Your CPU is still solid, but the 8GB of VRAM in your GPU could be a limiting factor. An upgrade to a 9600XT with 16GB might be helpful—more VRAM means better performance, especially in newer games. But if you're not hitting VRAM limits, it might not be worth it just yet.
Yeah, I get that! I'm also looking at BF6 and BO7. Just thinking about how much VRAM I might need for those games!
I upgraded my CPU to the 14600K a while back and it's been amazing! Undervolt it a little, and you’ll see some great performance gains. You might want to check for used boards too; I got a decent one on Amazon for $94.