Another Gaming PC Advice Thread :)

[Digger]

I was going to tack my question in to the other thread but thought it a bit rude.


Currently running an i5-3570K (I know, but it serves just fine right now) with a 1660 Super & 16GB. Note mATX mobo & case which I want to keep

The only game i play semi-seriously is WoWs World of Warships at 1080p - with the above system this runs great.

BUT it may struggle at 4K for when I get my new TV I would like to play on the bigger screen at 4K

My question is if I keep the system above & only upgrade the GPU which GPU should I be aiming at? Budget is certainly a factor & don't really want to go above £500!

I am thinking 3060 3060Ti or 3070 - Also due to case size limitations it would have to be a 2 fan GPU & I am not overly fussed about RTX right now.

I think my PSU is 650W so may have to look at an upgrade there

Edited by Digger on Thursday 23 February 04:04

[willisit]

I ran an i7 3xxx for a decade and kept upgrading the GPU. There was a point of diminishing returns, which was probably about the RTX 2xxx series. I ran a 1080Ti which was quite capable at 4k for a long time, but then went to a 3060Ti (about the same performance but with the ray tracing).

I'm on a new rig now, but you could do worse than getting a more modern GPU, but beware CPU bottlenecking!

[Digger]

willisit said:

I ran an i7 3xxx for a decade and kept upgrading the GPU. There was a point of diminishing returns, which was probably about the RTX 2xxx series. I ran a 1080Ti which was quite capable at 4k for a long time, but then went to a 3060Ti (about the same performance but with the ray tracing).

I'm on a new rig now, but you could do worse than getting a more modern GPU, but beware CPU bottlenecking!

Yep I am curious at what stage in the upgrade path the CPU will become the limiting factor - with a game like WoWs can probably stretch this CPU more than expected - hopefully?

I'm thinking of initially trying a 2070 - 2080Ti range? Probably from CEX as you get a 2 year warranty.

[anonymous-user]

Digger said:

I was going to tack my question in to the other thread but thought it a bit rude.

BUT it may struggle at 4K for when I get my new TV I would like to play on the bigger screen at 4K

What is the refresh rate of your new TV? I connected up my gaming laptop to my 43 inch cheap Samsung recently and the TV would only refresh at 30 FPS. This had the knock on effect of making the game pretty much unplayable.

[Digger]

I don't have it yet but will almost certainly be an LG C2 55" - i think from reading the specs it will flit between 120Hz & 60Hz via PC HDMI although the cable length may be a limiting factor! Hopefully not 30fps!

[Digger]

Have a dump from a PDF

Supported Resolution : HDMI-PC
HDMI-PC Supported Mode
Resolution Horizontal Frequency (kHz) Vertical Frequency (Hz)
640 × 350 31.46 70.09
720 × 400 31.46 70.08
640 × 480 31.46 59.94
800 × 600 37.87 60.31
1024 × 768 48.36 60
159
1152 × 864 54.34 60.05
1360 × 768 47.71 60.01
1280 × 1024 63.98 60.02
1920 × 1080 67.5 60
1920 × 1080
(ULTRA HD, 8K models only)
134.86 119.88
135 120
2560 × 1080
(ULTRA HD, 8K models only)
66 60
131.74 120
2560 × 1440
(ULTRA HD, 8K models only)
182.99 119.99
3840 × 1080
(ULTRA HD, 8K models only)
66.62 60
137.25 120
3840 × 1600
(ULTRA HD, 8K models only)
99.41 60
3840 × 2160
(ULTRA HD, 8K models only)
53.94 23.97
54 24
56.25 25
67.43 29.97
3)
4) 5)
1)
5)
4)
160
67.5 30
112.5 50
134.86 59.94
135 60
3840 × 2160
(ULTRA HD, 8K models only)
225 100
269.73 119.88
270 120
4096 × 2160
(ULTRA HD, 8K models only)
53.94 23.97
54 24
56.25 25
67.43 29.97
67.5 30
112.5 50
134.86 59.94
135 60
4096 × 2160
(ULTRA HD, 8K models only)
225 100
269.73 119.88
1)
1)
161
270 120
7680 × 4320
(8K models only)
107.89 23.97
108 24
110 25
131.87 29.97
132 30
220 50
263.74 59.94
264 60
1) Supported when HDMI Deep Colour is set to 4K.
2) Supported when HDMI Deep Colour is set to 8K.
3) Supported when HDMI Deep Colour is set to Off.
4) Supported when Wide Aspect Ratio is set to 21:9.
5) Supported when Wide Aspect Ratio is set to 32:9.

[Jinx]

Digger said:

Yep I am curious at what stage in the upgrade path the CPU will become the limiting factor - with a game like WoWs can probably stretch this CPU more than expected - hopefully?

I'm thinking of initially trying a 2070 - 2080Ti range? Probably from CEX as you get a 2 year warranty.

The 3570K CPU is 4 cores 4 threads so will struggle with some current titles (e.g. cyberpunk 2077 with crowds set above minimum). I'd suggest picking up a second hand 3770 or 3770k (the 3770 can be had from CEX for £40) as the hyper-threading will alleviate some of the CPU bottle neck. As to GPUs - I'd not want to go higher than a 3060 or AMD 6700 (nVidia do have a higher CPU overhead especially at lower resolutions) as anything more powerful will be wasted.

[FourWheelDrift]

Joey Deacon said:

What is the refresh rate of your new TV? I connected up my gaming laptop to my 43 inch cheap Samsung recently and the TV would only refresh at 30 FPS. This had the knock on effect of making the game pretty much unplayable.

If it is a 60hz TV check there isn't a gaming mode on the TV that you need to use, also if in the game you can set desired frame rate set it to 60 and turn off any vsync in game.

[Digger]

FourWheelDrift said:

Joey Deacon said:

What is the refresh rate of your new TV? I connected up my gaming laptop to my 43 inch cheap Samsung recently and the TV would only refresh at 30 FPS. This had the knock on effect of making the game pretty much unplayable.

If it is a 60hz TV check there isn't a gaming mode on the TV that you need to use, also if in the game you can set desired frame rate set it to 60 and turn off any vsync in game.

There is a seemingly very good gaming mode on the TV so will have a play once I get it. It is a 120Hz TV

Edited by Digger on Wednesday 22 February 16:16

[Digger]

Jinx said:

Digger said:

Yep I am curious at what stage in the upgrade path the CPU will become the limiting factor - with a game like WoWs can probably stretch this CPU more than expected - hopefully?

I'm thinking of initially trying a 2070 - 2080Ti range? Probably from CEX as you get a 2 year warranty.

The 3570K CPU is 4 cores 4 threads so will struggle with some current titles (e.g. cyberpunk 2077 with crowds set above minimum). I'd suggest picking up a second hand 3770 or 3770k (the 3770 can be had from CEX for £40) as the hyper-threading will alleviate some of the CPU bottle neck. As to GPUs - I'd not want to go higher than a 3060 or AMD 6700 (nVidia do have a higher CPU overhead especially at lower resolutions) as anything more powerful will be wasted.

Now that you mention it I have had the 3570K from new & never bothered to try overclocking it, so obviously I may as well try a mild overclock as it's a K & see where we get to!

[Digger]

Regarding RAM speeds mine is low speed - will I notice any appreciable difference with faster speed RAM?

Will check the spec in a bit.

[ColinGreaves]

What is your case size for fitting the card as mATX motherboard? PSU power output so it can run the newer card, 650w will be fine, but is it ?

That would perhaps be best looked at before framerates.

Having said that I think something along the lines of the below will fit and not draw too much power and do the fps for the games you play

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-rog-strix-rad...


Well under the £500 limit.

LG C2 is FreeSync compatible as well of course.

Edited by ColinGreaves on Wednesday 22 February 22:05

[Digger]

Running an AIDA64 stress test having bumped up the multiplier from 34 to 40 so currently 4Ghz & seems stable although apparently 4.5Ghz is easily attainable but the case is small so airflow limited. Will leave at 4 assuming no issues.

[Digger]

ColinGreaves said:

What is your case size for fitting the card as mATX motherboard? PSU power output so it can run the newer card, 650w will be fine, but is it ?

That would perhaps be best looked at before framerates.

Having said that I think something along the lines of the below will fit and not draw too much power and do the fps for the games you play

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-rog-strix-rad...


Well under the £500 limit.

LG C2 is FreeSync compatible as well of course.

Thanks - not sure of exact clearance but i think ant 2 fan GPU "should" fit.

PS I am more of an Nvidia fanboy but just maybe I could turn to the dark side

Nigh on identical to this one is currently installed...

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigabyte-geforce-g...

Edited by Digger on Wednesday 22 February 22:14

[ColinGreaves]

Digger said:

ColinGreaves said:

What is your case size for fitting the card as mATX motherboard? PSU power output so it can run the newer card, 650w will be fine, but is it ?

That would perhaps be best looked at before framerates.

Having said that I think something along the lines of the below will fit and not draw too much power and do the fps for the games you play

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-rog-strix-rad...


Well under the £500 limit.

LG C2 is FreeSync compatible as well of course.

Thanks - not sure of exact clearance but i think ant 2 fan GPU "should" fit.

PS I am more of an Nvidia fanboy but just maybe I could turn to the dark side

Nigh on identical to this one is currently installed...

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigabyte-geforce-g...

Edited by Digger on Wednesday 22 February 22:14

Actually I am an nvidia person too, was running a 970 for ages and mutlple ones before that. I had bad experiences in the past with AMD drivers in 3d games but that seems to be fixed now.

However, having said that, I had two issues with my current AMD card, one on the fan control which is not brilliant and also on hardware acceleration in Google chrome, so perhaps stick to nvidia.

Problem is nVidia are still premium priced. Seems mad paying the extra for that. I guess it depends how much time you will actually spend playing games on your new LG C2 ?

Can you afford to wait for nvidia and AMD to bring out their latest mid range and lower cards to see how they are priced and how they effect the older market? Might be able to get a cheap 3070 then. Or course, you may be waiting forever and with the new screen arriving, your want to match it up to something appropriate.

[Digger]

Valid points.

For me I just find Intel/Nvidia combos just work. Yes there is a £ penalty, but you are right, given my scenario, no point spending excess when an incoming GPU refresh may drop prices for the exact cards that would suit me.

Do we know when the next Nvidia refresh cycle is due for mid-range cards?

Oh & to your more important yet veiled question - Am I impatient? . . . Yes I am but will try & hold off.

[Digger]

I'm still trying to work out which GPU would hypothetically (in the right system) get me close to double the speed of my 1660 Super, ignoring the current CPU for now.

Would a 2070 (Super) get me there?

[FourWheelDrift]

Digger said:

I'm still trying to work out which GPU would hypothetically (in the right system) get me close to double the speed of my 1660 Super, ignoring the current CPU for now.

Would a 2070 (Super) get me there?

Double 1660 Super performance would be a Radeon RX 6750 XT or RTX 3070.

See the relative performance chart on here - https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce-gtx-...

[Digger]

FourWheelDrift said:

Digger said:

I'm still trying to work out which GPU would hypothetically (in the right system) get me close to double the speed of my 1660 Super, ignoring the current CPU for now.

Would a 2070 (Super) get me there?

Double 1660 Super performance would be a Radeon RX 6750 XT or RTX 3070.

See the relative performance chart on here - https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce-gtx-...

Thanks for that FWD - a good link

[Digger]

Just dropping this link in here so i can find it again later . . . very useful link thanks FWD from another thread

https://pc-builds.com/fps-calculator/result/1iM17E...