I need some help (much confusion)

[HispanicOger]

Hi fellow carbs!

So I recently sold my bicycle to upgrade my gaming rig but I'm unsure on what I should buy or upgrade so I was hoping someone might give me some insight.

My budget Is around R12 000.

Here are my specs:

i3 8100
Asus Tuf b360 Pro gaming motherboard
16gb Ballistix ddr4 RGB Ram 3200mhz
Asus ROG Strix 1070 8gb
Corsair 650w PSU
128gb m.2
128ssd
4tb hdd

I believe my CPU is bottlenecking my GPU and definitely want to upgrade the CPU.

Here as some choices, I ran by:

So i could by an RTX 2070 second hand and then buy an i7 9700k or,

I was thinking my best option should be to buy a 1080ti and an i7 9700k since the 1080ti still outperforms the RTX 2070 and seeing the i7 9700k is a beast of a CPU

or I could buy an upgrade kit to a 10th gen i7 CPU with an ROG strix motherboard and keep my graphics card until I save up for a new one.

What do you guys think I should do?

 

[Phokkit]

You should have sold the rig and kept the bike...now you are infected with the CUD

 

[Phokkit]

If you are not planning to overclock get a non K CPU and have extra on the GPU...what screen do you have?

 

[Areola Grande]

I wouldn't spend a ton on the CPU and then buy an old, out-of-warranty GPU. The 3600 is only marginally slower than the 3950X with a 3080, so CPU bottleneck is hardly a thing when you get into decent CPU ranges. It can matter, but won't matter much with the GPUs you're looking at. Rather get a newer GPU, maybe some of that sexy ray-tracing goodness and a 9700K or AMD setup. You only need a CPJ and motherboard, the rest of the rig is good.

 

[HispanicOger]

If you are not planning to overclock get a non K CPU and have extra on the GPU...what screen do you have?

I have an Alienware 240hz forgot to mention

 

[Gavin]

9700k will be overkill for b360 you will need a z370/390. Cheap Z390 is 3k, 9700k is 5k+

You won't get a 1080ti/2070 super for 4k, unless you sell your mb, cpu and gpu maybe 5k there

 

[Phokkit]

I have an Alienware 240hz forgot to mention

Honestly just upgrade your CPU and mobo for now..wait till Nvidia finds some stock of the 30XX gen cards and see what the market does.. currently buying a 1080ti is a waste of monies as people are still covid mad so they are vastly overpriced

 

[ovisser1]

I'll be the odd one out.

I would personally say the GPU you have is fine - unless you are noticing stuttering while gaming.
I would start by upgrading CPU like you said, then adding more SSD storage space.

Storage might not make a big difference in games, but its a good quality of life upgrade.

 

[HispanicOger]

I wouldn't spend a ton on the CPU and then buy an old, out-of-warranty GPU. The 3600 is only marginally slower than the 3950X with a 3080, so CPU bottleneck is hardly a thing when you get into decent CPU ranges. It can matter, but won't matter much with the GPUs you're looking at. Rather get a newer GPU, maybe some of that sexy ray-tracing goodness and a 9700K or AMD setup. You only need a CPJ and motherboard, the rest of the rig is good.

Thank you for the advice. So in short buying the 10th gen CPU isn't necessary and I should get my hands on a 9700k with a better GPU like the RTX 2070 (since this is still in my budget) I believe the Asus Tuf b360 pro gaming motherboard is decent enough as well

 

[Jinzaroth]

GPU: 1080ti off carb (Look at the 6 - 7k range)
CPU: 3600x or 3700x
MB: A decent B450/550

Sorted.

 

[Shampoo1014]

Personally, if I was in your situation I would keep pretty much everything but the following:
- Upgrade CPU to 9600/9700
- Upgrade M.2 to an NVME for C Drive.
- Upgrade GPU to a 1080ti or 2080 if you want RT.

With a 240hz monitor, your GPU is going to be your priority to push those frames. It also all depends on what games you play and how competitively you play them and whether you would actually use those frames.
You might struggle to get a 2080 and a new CPU in that budget though. I would upgrade the CPU and NVME first and then wait until the 3000 series becomes more popular and available so you can scoop up deals from those wanting to upgrade.

 

[Areola Grande]

Thank you for the advice. So in short buying the 10th gen CPU isn't necessary and I should get my hands on a 9700k with a better GPU like the RTX 2070 (since this is still in my budget) I believe the Asus Tuf b360 pro gaming motherboard is decent enough as well

If you had the budget I'd say get a 10th gen but I don't believe your motherboards supports it (could be wrong - TUF B360-PRO GAMING | Motherboards | ASUS Global) so you'd need a new mobo as well.

I have a 1070 as well and I definitely want to upgrade. I'd do some manner of CPU and motherboard, then slap the rest on the GPU.

 

[HispanicOger]

9700k will be overkill for b360 you will need a z370/390. Cheap Z390 is 3k, 9700k is 5k+

You won't get a 1080ti/2070 super for 4k, unless you sell your mb, cpu and gpu maybe 5k there

Thanks Gavin was betting on getting about 5k. Since i have to replace my Motherboard maybe buying a 10th gen upgrade kit isn't the worst way to go and then buying a better graphics card after i put some cash wth and sell my old things

 

[Areola Grande]

You can get a 3600X and B550 motherboard from Wootware for R8k shipped.

That leaves you R4k. Then sell existing motherboard, CPU and 1070 for maybe R5k and you have R9k for a GPU.

 

[HispanicOger]

So then I would make a final decision of upgrading my mobo and CPU then sell my old parts and save some money to buy a 3000 series GPU.

 

[Areola Grande]

Good plan.

 

[HispanicOger]

You can get a 3600X and B550 motherboard from Wootware for R8k shipped.

That leaves you R4k. Then sell existing motherboard, CPU and 1070 for maybe R5k and you have R9k for a GPU.

I'm gonna go with an idea like this!! Upgrade the Mobo and CPU, sell my old parts and buy a new GPU at the end

 

[HispanicOger]

You guys are all awesome thanks for the advice!!!

 

[LouisABC]

What monitor do you have. If you are still gaming 1080p, that gpu should be more than fine. Cpu upgrade and proper storage speeds is your best bet then.