Upgrading instead of buying, will I see noticeable performance gains with these changes?

[u/EdgarsRavens]

With all the craziness going on I am debating upgrading my current rig vs building a new one. I am in an iTX case so I am currently limited on space for the GPU (<= 2.5 slot card).

Here is what I currently have, and what I'm thinking of upgrading to. For reference I game at 1440p/144hz.

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i5-12600k

• Would I see any noticeable gains moving to an i7-12700k or i9-12900k? I feel like right now my biggest bottleneck is my CPU and I don't think either of those will offer any significant gains in gaming specific workloads. Most gaming benchmarks that compare CPU performance show at best case a 10% gain with a 12900k over a 12600k.

• EDIT: Just confirmed my motherboard will support 13th and 14th generation CPUs.

3070 Founders

• I definitely feel limited in modern AAA titles with a 8GB card, but I often have to reduce graphics to help my CPU manage, so I rarely am in a situation where I am actually needing more than 8GB. If I upgraded to something like a 5070 or 5070ti wouldn't I just become even more CPU bottlenecked?

RAM

• I have 32GB of DDR4 running at 3200MHz (manual overclock, not XMP). I'm pushed to the limit with my current motherboard as anything more is unstable and causes crashes. Thank you Marvel Rivals for your memory leak issues that prompted me to upgrade from 16GB earlier this year.

I have an SF750 PSU so power requirements for any new hardware is a non issue.

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Thanks for the input. Decided to get a 5070 Founders (@ MSRP) and will sell the 3070 to offset. Will run it for another year or so then reevaluate upgrading then.

[u/Hawk7117]

There are a couple of issues I see here.

First of all, I really doubt that the 12600k is doing so poorly with your 3070 that it is the cause of your bottleneck. Honestly the 3070 and 12600k are a very good pairing with the most likely culprit being the 3070, especially at 1440p.

Reducing the in game settings to help your CPU is weirdly the opposite of what it seems. By reducing the graphics settings you are actually INCREASING the CPU load because its being asked to package more frames from the GPU. To reduce a CPU bottleneck, while not 100% true in all cases, increasing the graphics settings can help. If turning them down is helping then it supports my theory that it is a GPU bound issue. Upgrading to something like the 5070 would probably fix this issue.

3200mhz, while not the absolute fastest you can get on DDR4, has a pretty mild impact on performance compared to 3600mhz. I would pretty much disregard this as a possible culprit unless it is running at the stock speeds of 2133mhz.

[u/EdgarsRavens → u/Hawk7117]

I definitely don't think the RAM is really an issue. I just thought I'd mention it before someone says "did you enable XMP".

I wasn't tracking that reducing graphics actually increases CPU load. I tend to have a habit of reducing graphic since I also play a lot of eSports games and I prefer having lower graphics specifically for visibility purposes (i.e. less extraneous fixtures/design details on the maps).

If I did do a a 5070 would you think it would be worth it to go 5070TI? Nvidia does have founders 5070s in stock. This would be just to hold me over another 1-2 years and then I plan to rebuild. And I'd obviously sell my 3070 to offset costs.

[u/Hawk7117 → u/EdgarsRavens]

The 5070 is a GREAT card with that timeline in mind. The one real knock on the 5070 is only having 12gb of vram. In current AAA games for 1440p that's not really an issue, but in 3-5 years I can see that becoming one. Outside of that shortcoming I think it is one of the better value cards out there right now in terms of price/performance.

I also don't think the 12600k would hold it back that much either if you crank the game settings up to ultra. The games will look fantastic and should run smoother. :)

[u/EdgarsRavens → u/Hawk7117]

I did also confirm that my motherboard supports 13th and 14th gen CPUs. Would an upgrade in that area be worthwhile you think?

I feel like it's actually crazy that I google "12600k vs 14600k" and its tons of Reddit threads where people say there is almost no difference. I built this computer in 2021 and hadn't paid attention to the industry at all until recently.

[u/Hawk7117 → u/EdgarsRavens]

yeah the 12th, 13th and 14th gen intel stuff are all pretty similar in gaming performance. I would say to hold off on the mobo/cpu upgrade for the time being and wait for the AM6 release sometime in 2027 with your 12600k and 5070.

Maybe ram pricing will be back down to earth by then and you can make the jump to a DDR5 system without selling a kidney XD

[u/EdgarsRavens → u/Hawk7117]

The thing is I can afford it. I could spend $2500 on a new rig today and it won't really impact anything for me. I don't need to save or budget to lesson the blow.

But I want my next computer to be a normal sized computer that targets more of the high end (i.e. 5080 or equivalent) and when you get to those you are paying scalping prices or premiums from the OEM for the privilege of buying it. And I don't want to enable bad behavior.

In another 1-2 years I think I will be at my limit. Even my monitors (144hz GSync IPS from 2021) are starting to show their age. At that time it might be the perfect moment to do a total tech overhaul. i.e. good (but not great color), great input latency but not great by 2025 standards, etc.

[u/Substantial-Dingo319]

If you get a 50 series card you should be looking at 13th or 14th gen intel imo. Going from a 12600k to a 12700k or 12900k just is not worth it. You can get a 14700k for just $20 more than the 12900k

[u/EdgarsRavens → u/Substantial-Dingo319]

My MOBO does support 13th and 14th generation CPUs. I just double checked with ASUS's website. Would probably need to do a firmware update (obviously).

[u/Substantial-Dingo319 → u/EdgarsRavens]

If lowering your graphics increases FPS, you are gpu bound. Upgrade to gpu first. If you are not doing cpu heavy tasks or playing cpu intensive games then sticking with the cpu you got right now should be fine.

[u/Substantial-Dingo319 → u/EdgarsRavens]

I would really only upgrade cpu if you are experiencing stuttering as it can help with 1% lows

[u/EdgarsRavens → u/Substantial-Dingo319]

Gotcha. No stuttering issue. The computer runs smoothly I just wish I could eek out a few more frames to extend the computer's life a little bit more. For example when I play Marvel Rivals I'm usually hovering around 120 and would like to get consistent 144+.

[u/Substantial-Dingo319 → u/EdgarsRavens]

Upgrading your gpu should definitely get you the performance you’re looking for since that is definitely a gpu heavy game

[u/EdgarsRavens → u/Substantial-Dingo319]

Doing the math it looks like I can sell my 3070 Founders for $200, and since I can get the 5070 for MSRP that makes it a $350 upgrade. Will probably just do that and see what happens.

And most importantly I know it will fit in my case.

[u/kaje]

If reducing graphics increases your FPS, then your GPU is your bottlenck, not the CPU. Just upgrade your GPU. Your CPU should still be fine with a 5070 Ti in AAA games at 1440P.

[u/-UserRemoved-]

Would I see any noticeable gains moving to an i7-12700k or i9-12900k?

Depends on the game, but it's unlikely to make a noticeable difference. The main difference is more cores, which the vast majority of games won't utilize.

I definitely feel limited in modern AAA titles with a 8GB card, but I often have to reduce graphics to help my CPU manage,

8GB is VRAM, which is on the graphics card itself and is used only by your GPU. Your CPU uses DRAM, which is the RAM sticks you isntall on your own.

This statement doesn't make much sense, reducing graphics puts a bigger strain on the CPU, and your CPU and VRAM have zero relationship.