I have an RTX 4070, a Core i7-12700K, and 32GB of DDR4-3200 memory, but I still need to buy a motherboard. I can get an inexpensive Z690 or B760 DDR4 board, or I could sell the 12700K and memory and switch to a Ryzen 7 7800X3D with an AM5 motherboard and DDR5. The AMD setup would cost considerably more, although its lower power consumption is appealing. I mainly play single-player AAA games at 1080p and 1440p, and I do not expect to replace the RTX 4070 anytime soon. Would the 7800X3D provide a significant real-world improvement with this graphics card, or should I simply keep the 12700K and buy a compatible DDR4 motherboard?
3 Answers
A 14600KF could be considered if you were buying a new CPU anyway, but it is not a compelling move from a 12700K for this use case. The 12700K has plenty of performance, so there is no reason to replace it merely to justify a new motherboard.
The 7800X3D is faster for CPU-limited gaming, particularly at 1080p with a high-refresh monitor, but the difference will usually be much smaller at 1440p where the RTX 4070 becomes the limiting factor. The upgrade makes more sense if you plan to install a substantially faster graphics card later, since AM5 also gives you a better future upgrade path.
Since you only need a motherboard, keeping the 12700K is probably the best value. Buy a reasonably priced DDR4 board and put the saved money toward a future GPU upgrade or something else. A 12700K is already more than capable of driving an RTX 4070 in 1080p and 1440p AAA games, and moving to the 7800X3D would require paying for the CPU, motherboard, and DDR5 for relatively modest gains in your situation.
That makes sense. If the 12700K is already enough, I would rather avoid replacing it just to move to a different platform.
I only bought the RTX 4070 last year, so I probably will not be replacing it for the foreseeable future.