I'm currently building a gaming computer from a mix of new and used parts I had lying around. My goal is to keep costs low, so I'm relying mostly on used components. I've hit a couple of snags during the process. Firstly, the motherboard I got doesn't have built-in Wi-Fi, but I should be okay as I'll connect it directly to my router via Ethernet. My bigger concern is with the CPU I've chosen. Here's the build I have so far:
- Antec case of dubious origin
- Corsair CX 600 PSU
- ASUS GeForce RTX 3070 GPU (8GB GDDR6)
- AMD Ryzen 5 5500 CPU (6 cores, 12 threads, 4.2GHz, 19MB cache)
- Three SSDs for a total of about 1TB storage (Samsung 840 Evo, Kingston SSD, and another Samsung non-Evo)
- G.Skill Trident Z Neo DDR4 16GB RAM
I just found out that my CPU doesn't support PCIe 4.0 and I'm wondering if that will impact my gaming performance, especially since I'm mostly playing older games but I do plan to try newer titles like Baldur's Gate 3, Star Trek Voyager, and more. I'm aiming for a resolution of 1440, but I'm fine with 1080 if needed. How much of an impact will not having PCIe 4.0 have on overall gaming performance?
4 Answers
If Wi-Fi is a must for you, you could always get a PCIe add-in card or a USB Wi-Fi adapter, but since you're close to the router, sticking with Ethernet is a smart choice!
The performance differences you might see between PCIe 3.0 and 4.0 with your components will be minimal. However, your Ryzen 5 5500 is generally viewed as a weaker CPU compared to the 5600, which might limit your experience a bit more than PCIe support would.
I guess that's why it was such a steal! Do you think it will bottleneck my GPU in any games?
Honestly, PCIe 4.0 isn't going to be a factor with the 3070. Also, using Ethernet instead of Wi-Fi is definitely the way to go for stability and speed.
Thanks! I appreciate the feedback.
You won't really notice a big difference between PCIe 4.0 and 3.0 for your SSDs and GPU with your setup. Your RTX 3070 won't be bottlenecked by PCIe 3.0, especially for gaming.
Perfect, thanks! That eases my mind a bit. I guess if I decide to upgrade, it will be either the SSD or the CPU down the road.
Only one PCIe slot, can you believe it? But I'm set on using Ethernet since that's where my router is.