I gave my old PC to my girlfriend and want to make it better for newer games at 1440p. Lower settings are fine, but I would like to eliminate the stuttering it currently has. The system has an MSI Z270 motherboard, an i5-7600K, 16GB of DDR4-3200 RAM, an EVGA RTX 2080 Super, a 750W EVGA Gold power supply, and an NZXT S340 case. Storage consists of an old hard drive and an older SSD, so I know those should probably be replaced or supplemented with a newer SSD. The graphics card, power supply, case, and RAM seem usable. What is the best budget upgrade path? The motherboard's LGA 1151 socket appears to top out at the i7-7700K, which may not be enough for demanding newer games. Should I replace the motherboard and CPU, or is a complete new build more sensible?
2 Answers
The i7-7700K is the practical top-end CPU for that Z270 board, and it probably is not worth paying much for one today. A used 7700K might help somewhat, but it is still only a four-core/eight-thread chip and may continue causing stutters in newer games. Your RTX 2080 Super, RAM, power supply, and case can all be reused. A used AM4 motherboard with a Ryzen 5 5600 or 5600X would be a much better value, especially if you can find the parts together for around $200–$250. You could also keep the existing RAM and add a 1TB NVMe SSD as the boot and game drive.
That clears up my confusion about the socket. I’ll focus on comparing a used AM4 motherboard and Ryzen 5 5600 rather than hunting for a 9600K.
For the least expensive route, keep the GPU, RAM, PSU, case, and probably the current SSD as secondary storage. Replace the motherboard and CPU with a basic B550 or A520 board and a Ryzen 5 5600/5600X, then install a reasonably priced NVMe SSD for Windows and the main games. Even a 512GB drive is fine if a 1TB model stretches the budget. That platform change should make the system feel substantially smoother than simply moving from the 7600K to a 7700K.
The 2080 Super should still be capable at 1440p, so upgrading the platform rather than rebuilding everything makes sense. The CPU matters for stutter and minimum frame rates even when playing at higher resolution.
A 9600K is not compatible with that motherboard. Although both CPUs are associated with LGA 1151, Intel's platform revisions make the 9600K incompatible without unusual modifications. The normal upgrade limit is the i7-7700K.