Upgrade it! What’s better—stay the same or improve?
Upgrade it! What’s better—stay the same or improve?
Hello everyone, I’m glad to report I didn’t purchase Intel’s 10,000 series CPUs this time, but I’m impressed by AMD’s 5000 line taking over the market with impressive numbers. I’m curious about whether it’s time for an upgrade or not. The basics are simple: I run a 7800X with a 1080 Ti and play RPG titles like Skyrim and Witcher 3, but mostly shooters such as CS and OW when I want to unwind. My main focus is on CS, which is quite CPU-intensive. I also play at 4:3 resolution, using a lower resolution than my native 1440p display. My question is, how do you determine if it’s the right moment to upgrade? Should I consider raw clock speeds or something like IPCs? In this case, I’d look at the newer AMD chips, especially since their IPCs are significantly better than most Intel options right now. Although my 7800X is running at 4.9GHz with a 1.35v cooling setup from Corsair, I noticed a slight boost in FPS after increasing the clock. I plan to upgrade my 1080Ti to a 3080 once it’s available (maybe soon). For now, I’m thinking about whether investing in a new platform makes sense given my current setup. I’m still learning overclocking, but I’ve managed to squeeze higher numbers on an all-core build without AVX extensions. Side note: my display is 1440p at 165Hz, and CS struggles to maintain 200fps at that resolution—especially in 4:3 mode. I use G-Sync, so I’m wondering if the issue might actually be a GPU limitation, even though I don’t play at full native resolution. I also have two 1440p monitors, often used for streaming or browsing while gaming. Hope this clears things up!
Do you feel satisfied with the performance you're experiencing right now? If yes, you're good to stay as is. If not, upgrading might be necessary. I can't directly confirm that for you. However, if you're struggling to maintain your desired frame rate at native resolution, it likely means an upgrade is needed. Unless you're comfortable with the current experience, you probably shouldn't upgrade now.
It seems you're trying to figure out whether your current setup needs a GPU or CPU upgrade. You've already noticed some limitations with 200 FPS and are considering a 240Hz 1440p monitor, but you're unsure which part of the system requires improvement. To decide, you'd want to test both options—see how each affects your frame rate—and compare the results. This way, you can determine whether upgrading the GPU or CPU would give you the performance you need.
You’re aware the game demands a lot from the CPU, and you noticed higher FPS after increasing its speed. Those clues suggest starting with a CPU upgrade. Check how much your CPU and GPU are using during gameplay. If your GPU is under 90% usage, you probably don’t need to replace it just yet—your performance isn’t being limited by graphics. A 1080 Ti card still works well at such low load, and at 1440p 240 Hz you might hit GPU limits depending on the CPU you’re using. Since you’re new to this title, consider checking benchmarks to find suitable hardware combinations.