I'm looking to upgrade my 5-year-old PC that's running an i9-9900k, 16GB of Ripjaws RAM at 3200MHz, and an EVGA 3060 Ti on an Aorus Z390 motherboard. I've just ordered a 32GB kit of Ripjaws RAM at 3600MHz and I'm trying to decide on a good CPU and motherboard pair, since I haven't kept up with the latest tech news for a while. I'm also considering upgrading my GPU to a 5070 Ti. Any suggestions?
4 Answers
I’d also consider the Ryzen 5700X with a B550 motherboard. You can find the CPU for about $145 on eBay or even less in hardware swap groups, and new B550 boards are usually under $100.
Honestly, starting with new DDR4 RAM for a high-end build seems a bit off to me. Just saying!
If you're sticking with DDR4 and don't want to drop a ton on DDR5, you could look at high-end AM4 options like the Ryzen 5800X or a decent LGA1700 chip like the i5-13600K or 14600K. Just a heads up, if you go for LGA1700 on DDR4, performance might lag behind AM4 at the same tier, so you'd need to get a stronger LGA1700 chip to match. But the 14600K, cooler, and B760 board package would generally match up price-wise with the 5800X and a B550 board.
For a solid CPU upgrade, I recommend the Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with a B760 DDR4 motherboard. This combo should work well with your new RAM!
I think you might've meant the i5-14400F since it seems tougher to find under $200. The i5-14600K is currently priced around $164 at Walmart, and you're spot on about using a B760 DDR4 board.