I'm excited to build a high-end gaming PC that targets a 1440p resolution—specifically for my ultra-wide OLED monitor. My current setup includes an i5 12400F, a GeForce RTX 4070, 32 GB of DDR4 RAM, a B660M Pro RS motherboard, an Arctic Freezer 36 cooler, and some decent NVME drives. While my current system runs well enough for most games at 1440p, I'm aiming for consistent 165 FPS, especially with newer titles like Monster Hunter: Wilds. I'd like your input on a few things: Should I upgrade to a new CPU and motherboard, possibly going for a Ryzen 7 9800X3D, or should I stick with what I have for now? Given the high prices of RAM, should I skip DDR5 and keep using my DDR4? Also, would an AIO cooler be a worthwhile investment for aesthetics and performance? My budget is around €2,500, and I'm based in Europe. Any thoughts?
3 Answers
If you can, consider selling your current CPU and upgrading to a 12600K or 12700K. This would improve your gaming performance considerably without a complete overhaul. As for your GPU, the RTX 4070 is solid but might be holding you back a bit at ultra-wide 1440p. A future upgrade to something like a 5070 Ti could prove beneficial too.
I would recommend waiting a bit on the upgrade until RAM prices drop. Once that happens, you should look at building an AM5 setup with either a 7800X3D or 9800X3D and 32 GB of 6000MHz DDR5 RAM. That combo should handle 1440p beautifully!
Your issue may be more about the GPU than the CPU. The 4070 is good, but at ultra-wide 1440p, it’s not quite enough for the higher frame rates. If you’re looking for something drastic, consider the RTX 5090 once it's out. Alternatively, a 9070 XT or 5080 could serve you well if you want to upgrade sooner. Just keep in mind that with a CPU upgrade, your current DDR4 RAM won't work with the 9800X3D, so you'll need to budget for that if you decide to jump to AMD.
That makes sense! I definitely don’t want to invest in new RAM right now, so sticking with Intel might be a better option for me. I guess I'll wait for the next NVIDIA release to see how things shake out.