I currently have an Intel i7-7700, 24GB of 2400MHz RAM, and a GTX 1050 Ti. I'm considering buying a Radeon 9070 XT now, then upgrading to an AM5 motherboard and Ryzen 5 9600X in a few months. I know the 9070 XT would be heavily limited by my current CPU, but my games are freezing and I'm stuck playing at 720p, even in competitive titles. I also enjoy demanding story-driven games such as Stellar Blade, Cyberpunk 2077, and NieR:Automata, so I want an upgrade that will remain useful for the next build. This would be my first time building a PC. I've already purchased an MSI 850W 80+ Gold power supply. Is buying the GPU first a sensible plan, or should I upgrade the platform first?
2 Answers
That’s a reasonable upgrade path. The 1050 Ti is simply too weak for many current games, and replacing it should immediately improve image quality and performance. Your 850W power supply should also be plenty for the planned graphics card, assuming the rest of the build is connected properly.
The 1050 Ti is the biggest problem in this system, so upgrading the GPU first makes sense if you’re planning the AM5 rebuild soon. A 9070 XT will be massively faster, although the i7-7700 will bottleneck it in many games until you replace the platform. Once you move to a 9600X, the card should be a much better match, especially at 1440p.
The 24GB came from the original system I was given. It started with an i5-7500 and 8GB of RAM, so I upgraded the CPU and added another 16GB.
Thanks, that helps confirm that buying the GPU first is a practical choice.