**Current specs:

CPU: Intel i5 10400F

GPU: RTX 3070

RAM: 32GB (2 x 16GB) 2666MHz DDR4

Motherboard: PRIME H410M-E

SSD: 480GB (Windows 11)

HDD: 2TB **

In short I’m stumped as to where I go upgrading my current rig. Various bottleneck sites suggest my CPU might not be able to keep up with the 3070 which might hinder FPS and performance, but I also know that for the most part this information cant be trusted.

Main reasons for wanting to upgrade include doing away with the extra dongles I have for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi which aren’t always reliable and futureproofing.

I’m currently hanging my nose over an MSI B760M GAMING PLUS WIFI Motherboard and i5-12400F processor. I could get both for just over £200 right now, but don’t really know if this would be worth it, or if investment would be better placed elsewhere. I’ve not considered GPU update because a) EXPENSIVE and b) current information seems to suggest that 40 series GPU do not have much bang for the buck.

So the question, what do people here think makes sense to do?

Thanks in advance!

  • theunknownmuncher@lemmy.world
    11·
    28 days ago

    Uhhh… nothing? You’re good already. Upgrade to an ethernet cable. Would have the most impact and would be cheaper than any other upgrade.

    • gingitsune182@lemmy.worldOP
      1·
      27 days ago

      Thanks for the feedback, unfortunately running ethernet around the house isnt an option for me. The Wifi is decent enough, I get 160Mb to the house and the dongle picks up 80-90% of it most of the time, its just occasionally flaky.

  • cybervseas@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    28 days ago

    I don’t know if it’s this simple but:

    If your computer is for gaming, play games you like at settings that you want, and see if CPU, GPU, or memory utilization reach 100%. Whichever it is, that would be your bottleneck.

    Edit: while your CPU is getting a little older, your RAM is also pretty slow. It’s hard to say if you need to upgrade the RAM alone. Because if you do, you might as well upgrade the CPU (and motherboard) at the same time.

    • Schmuppes@lemmy.today
      31·
      28 days ago

      GPU will often be at 100% load, but the CPU can be a bottleneck even if the displayed load is way below 100%.

        • Schmuppes@lemmy.today
          1·
          27 days ago

          Back then, I swapped my i5-6600k out for a Ryzen 3700X. Games like GTA V would never exceed 50% CPU usage, so I always thought the i5 was plenty. Once I got the 3700X, the frame pacing improved dramatically and the game felt so much smoother, even though I was frame-capped at 70 due to the monitor I was using. CPU usage often does not tell you half the story.

    • gingitsune182@lemmy.worldOP
      1·
      27 days ago

      I run at 1080p and mostly play big single player epics (GoW Ragnarok right now for example). 2k or higher support isnt needed right now as my monitors only support 1080p. Thanks for responding!

      • odium@programming.dev
        1·
        27 days ago

        I think memory speeds could be the bottleneck in this case. So as others have said, an upgrade of motherboard generation, and higher RAM speeds and CPU speeds would be good.

  • daddybutter@lemmy.world
    2·
    28 days ago

    Newer CPU with faster ram would be a nice boost in performance. That’s where I would start followed by a big NVME drive upgrade. 3070s still do great at and under 1440p and with AMD and Nvidia both launching new cards within the next couple months, it would make sense to put off a GPU upgrade for a bit if money is a concern. Also if you’re not using Nvidia specific stuff like NVENC or CUDA, AMD cards offer a lot of bang for the buck.

    • gingitsune182@lemmy.worldOP
      1·
      27 days ago

      Thanks mate! Yeah, I was considering making the jump over to AMD, but with the imminent launches around the corner, it makes sense to wait and see when it comes to the GPU world.

  • Fusty@lemmy.mlEnglish
    2·
    28 days ago

    X870-E board, whichever CPU you can afford, and DDR5 RAM. Everything else is good for quite awhile.

  • Strayce@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    53·
    28 days ago

    If you can afford to upgrade the main board, do it. Your current board tops out at PCI 3.0, the 3070 is PCI 4.0. Which means even if the CPU can keep up, the bus probably can’t. Bear in mind you’ll need new RAM too, the B760M takes DDR5.

  • gingitsune182@lemmy.worldOP
    1·
    22 days ago

    UPDATE - 03/12/2024: Thank you to all who commented, at the reasonable cost of under £300, ive upgraded to the i5-12400F, MSI B760M Board, and 32GB of Crucial DDR5 6000 RAM and I am seeing a significant increase across the board in load times and frame rates. Thank you to everyone for their advice!