I currently have an RTX 3060 Ti and an Intel Core i5-13400F. I have about AUD $2,100 to spend on a gaming upgrade and am deciding between a base RTX 5080 for around AUD $2,000 or an RTX 5070 Ti paired with a stronger processor, such as the i7-14700K. I mainly play at 1440p, including AAA games and CPU-heavy titles like Minecraft with shaders. I already have an LGA1700 motherboard and would prefer not to replace the motherboard or move to a new RAM platform right now. Since I also want Nvidia features, what would provide the better overall upgrade?
3 Answers
Since you want to keep your current LGA1700 platform, a 5070 Ti paired with a sensible CPU upgrade could work, but I wouldn’t automatically jump to the 14700K. Consider a cheaper compatible chip if you can find one at a good price, and put the savings toward the GPU. A 5080 would give the highest GPU performance, but spending almost the entire budget on it leaves little room for a CPU upgrade and may offer worse value than a well-priced 5070 Ti build.
The i7-14700K is powerful, but it may not be the best use of the budget for a gaming-focused system when you already have an i5-13400F. At 1440p, the GPU generally matters more, especially with AAA games. If you do choose the 14700K, make sure your motherboard BIOS supports it and that you have a strong cooler and adequate power delivery, because it runs hot and draws considerably more power.
I’d prioritize the graphics card. An RTX 5070 Ti is usually a better-value choice than an RTX 5080 at inflated pricing, and your 13400F should still be capable at 1440p in most games. You can upgrade the CPU later if testing shows a real bottleneck. A Radeon RX 9070 XT is another strong option, but it won’t provide the Nvidia features you want.
That makes sense. I’m leaning toward Nvidia because of its features, so I’ll compare the 5070 Ti pricing before committing to the 5080.
The 14700K is still a very capable processor, but I’d only buy it if you regularly play CPU-limited games or do other demanding workloads. For a mostly gaming system, the graphics card upgrade should be more noticeable.