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Changing GPU, do I need tu update any other hardware?
Hello all,
I am going to receive a new gpu as christmas present, probably rtx 4080 (was looking at 3070ti but I guess 4080 is a better option).
I was thinking that maybe my motherboard or cpu or psu, which have some years already, could be a bit of a bottleneck in performance, could someone tell me if that might be the case?
Motherboard: MSI Z370 Gaming Plus (MS-7B61)
CPU: Intel Core i5 8600K OC to 4200 Mhz
Power supply: 700W
16Gb DDR4 2133 RAM
Monitor: DELL ultrasharp U2515H IPS-LCD (I play at 2k, would probably think about trying 4k with the new gpu so I will look at 4k monitors sometime in the near future too haha).
Thanks in advance!
I am going to receive a new gpu as christmas present, probably rtx 4080 (was looking at 3070ti but I guess 4080 is a better option).
I was thinking that maybe my motherboard or cpu or psu, which have some years already, could be a bit of a bottleneck in performance, could someone tell me if that might be the case?
Motherboard: MSI Z370 Gaming Plus (MS-7B61)
CPU: Intel Core i5 8600K OC to 4200 Mhz
Power supply: 700W
16Gb DDR4 2133 RAM
Monitor: DELL ultrasharp U2515H IPS-LCD (I play at 2k, would probably think about trying 4k with the new gpu so I will look at 4k monitors sometime in the near future too haha).
Thanks in advance!
Comments
I'd recommend just switch to a new GPU without upgrading anything else as long as you keep your current monitor. Upgrading CPU or other components might be something you want to do in the future if you also get monitor that can do more than 60 Hz refresh rates, but with your current monitor other upgrades don't seem necessary.
EDIT: If the M.2 slot on your motherboard is free, you might also want to consider buying a new M.2 drive as additional fast storage space when you upgrade. M.2 drives have become a lot cheaper and faster since you bought your computer. But you've only got one M.2 slot on your motherboard, so this recommendation is only if that slot is still free
EDIT 2: Some RTX 4080 GPUs have PSU recommendation of 750W. But those numbers are calculated using a CPU that's using a lot more power than I5-8600K, so a 700W PSU is fine for you. Provided that it was at least decent PSU when you bought it, so that it can actually deliver the 700W that it promises, you're fine with that PSU even if you switch to RTX 4080. If your PSU was cheapest 700W PSU available then you might want to upgrade it on the logic that some of the cheapest PSUs can't actually deliver what they promise.
A lot depends on exactly what you get. If you have a good quality 700 W power supply, drop the CPU overclock, and get a GPU that you know will stay inside of 300 W, you'll be fine on power with plenty of headroom.
Motherboard would be fine then? thanks for helping!
Is your PSU older than the rest of your computer? It was a bit hard to find any info about it from Google, and what I found was about a PSU that's supposed to have been in sale in 2009. If your PSU is more than a decade old, then I'd recommend replacing it when you switch your GPU. A PSU that old isn't reliable any more, plus tech has changed enough that connecting an old quad 12W rail PSU with a lot of obsolete connectors into a new RTX 4080 GPU might be challenging.
That site says it only has two PCI-E power connectors. You'll need three to plug in an RTX 4080.
It might be okay with a new video card and it might not, but I wouldn't want to risk it in my own computer. If it ends up not being okay, it could fry other hardware.
Get a newer, better power supply and you don't have to worry about whether the power supply can handle the new video card.
I pretty much just look at price when chosing a monitor xD
That said, those will cost more, and are somewhat hard to find right now. I did find this one at a reasonable price and in stock, but I haven't researched to see if it's a decent PSU or not -- just an example:
https://www.newegg.com/msi-mpg-a850g-pcie5-850-w/p/N82E16817701017
Second, with respect to monitors:
The "Standard" is the LG C2 OLED - anyone that's gamed on one swears by them. They support 120Hz, 4K, VRR (Freesync / G-Sync compatible), HDR, and are OLED for the best color / contrast / viewing angles and response time you can possibly get. They have been on fire sale recently (the next gen is probably about to be announced at CES), as low as $700 in places.
The cons: It's OLED, so there is some risk of burn in, they only come in huge, huger, and hugest sizes (42" is the smallest one), and they are technically not a monitor, it's a TV that you can hook up via HDMI. Some people say text clarity suffers because of that.
A link, for example. I didn't go searching for best price or anything:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1696683-REG/lg_oled42c2pua_c2_42_oled_4k.html
Apart from that, it's a matter of setting a budget - monitors range widely in price and capabilities, and they scale upwards very fast. I've had good luck with Dell monitors so far, but even there it's a very wide margin on what you will pay and what you will get.
(That's as simple as it gets)