I've got an i5 11600k CPU running at 3.9 GHz with a slight overclock, paired with 64 GB of Kingston Fury RAM, a Gigabyte Z590 motherboard, and an MSI Gaming RTX 5070 Ti graphics card. I mainly use my setup for gaming and VR flight simulators. Since upgrading from a 3070 8GB to the 5070 Ti, I've noticed a huge boost in my flight sims and it's generally good for 1440p gaming. I'm considering a CPU upgrade to a 7800X3D, which would mean a new motherboard and RAM, costing around 1000 CAD. My main question is, how much is my current CPU holding me back? Is there a way to gauge its impact on my performance?
3 Answers
Check out CPU tier lists to understand where the i5 11600k sits. A jump to a better CPU could give you a significant performance boost, similar to what you’d see on higher-end GPUs like the 4090, so the performance differences could still hold relevance for your GPU.
There's still a lot of performance left on the table with your current setup. So, upgrading could definitely make a noticeable difference!
You might not be too far off from hitting the limits with your i5. Using Process Explorer can help you see where your bottlenecks are—it's usually the RAM, hard drive access, or CPU that's the culprit.
Wow, a 40% performance increase sounds promising! Makes me seriously consider upgrading too.