4 Years Old System with OLDER Gpu UPGRADE

[Nebbiotto]

Hi,
I'm looking for kind help and suggestions on how (and when) to best upgrade a 9th gen intel system by changing the very old GPU (occasional gamer, time to put it to rest and upgrade).

Thank you very very much for any insight and support on GPU choice (and any other fix you feel should be necessary).

--- BUDGET \ TARGET ---
GPU is going to be bough in ITALY (EU) and we are trying to decide between currently available models (7800 XT variants, GTX 4070 Super, ARC 770) or WAITING A LITTLE.

--- SYSTEM SPECS ---

Motherboard:
Asus TUF Z390-Pro Gaming (Intel Z390 ATX, OptiMem II, Aura Sync RGB, DDR4 to 4266+ Mhz, 32Gbps M.2, Intel Optane, USB 3.1 Gen 2)

CPU:
Intel Core i5-9600k (6 cores, 3,7 Ghz 9Mb Cache Socket LGA 1151)

Cooler:
Noctua NH-U14S (140 mm, Brown)

RAM:
Corsair ‎CMK32GX4M2C3333C16 Vengeance LPX 2x16GB (XMP 2.0, DDR4, 3333 MHz, 1.35V, C16, 288-pin DIMM)

GPU:
Gygabyte GTX 970 Windforce 4Gb

PSU:
Corsair RM750x (Modular, ATX, 80 Plus Gold, 750 Watt)

SDD:
Samsung MZ-76E1T0B/EU860EVO (Internal SSD, 1 TB, 550 megabyte/s)

 

[meatwar]

My choice order price/performance:
7800XT (16GB... a little less power efficiency than RTX, but standard PCIe 12v plug)
ARC770 (...drivers, its getting better! I want this to evolve by Intel and get as a decent competitor against NVidia greed$)
RTX 4070 Super (Energy more efficient, IM not feeding the greed$ of this market unscrupulous MONSTER)

 

[Redwoodz]

What monitor will it be using? Resolution and refresh rate will dictate what you need.

 

[Nebbiotto]

What monitor will it be using? Resolution and refresh rate will dictate what you need.

A Samsung Smart TV 48" \ 60 Hz (long story but the PC is now also the beating heart of our living room for all things media related).

My choice order price/performance:
7800XT
ARC770
GTX 4070 Super

Do you feel any current component might be a bottleneck or have less synergy with the above GPUs ?

Thank you for the kind reply

 

[Redwoodz]

You know, for the first time ever I am actually going to rec an Intel gpu here. The A770 will work very well in a living room PC. Sure you can get better but will you ever need it? Probably not.

 

[jesdals]

I dont know about Italy but in Denmark a Intel Arc 770 cost the same as a AMD 7600XT I dont think I would bother with tinkering with it if I had to choose between the 2. If its just for minor gameing I think 7800XT and 4070ish is to much for a old setup like that

 

[Nebbiotto]

You know, for the first time ever I am actually going to rec an Intel gpu here. The A770 will work very well in a living room PC. Sure you can get better but will you ever need it? Probably not.

You feel it would be ok for Gaming?

I have the following waiting for some playtime:

Starfield
Total War: Warhammer 3
Baldur's Gate 3
Cyberpunk 2077

I dont know about Italy but in Denmark a Intel Arc 770 cost the same as a AMD 7600XT I dont think I would bother with tinkering with it if I had to choose between the 2. If its just for minor gameing I think 7800XT and 4070ish is to much for a old setup like that

I play on weekends but would like to play the latest titles if the rest of the setup allow it...

Do you think some other part would bottleneck the card if i got a 7800 XT or 4070 Super?

Thanks

 

[oxrufiioxo]

4070 S is the best all around option in that list good RT/upscaling/raster one major downside is 12GB of vram which is kinda meh for 2024 at 600+.
7800XT super solid raster only let down by very poor upscaling at anything but 4k in the quality mode and poor RT performance but that comes down to what games you actually want to use RT in if at all. Biggest + over the 4070 is the extra 4GB of vram although I am not sure at the resolutions these gpu target that will mater much.
ARC 770 is really a much lower class of gpu it has it's good points and for 300 ish usd is fine but there are other options around that price I would rather have.

To me it comes down to pricing for the 7800XT to interest me it really needs to be 100 usd+ cheaper and the arc is honestly too slow.

The one thing to keep in mind is that your cpu is pretty weak by 2024 standards frame generation and FSR3 can mitigate that somewhat but you will still feel the latency hit in some games. Even a R5 7600 would be a massive upgrade for gaming and give you double the threads there are also good options on the intel side but specifically for gaming it is hard to beat the 7600 at it's price.

Good video comparison.

At the end of the day it's your money people online will usually recommend what best fits their needs but how someone chooses to game is a very personal thing and it is best to look at professional data of the games you want to play look at pricing and then decide what makes the most sense for you.

 

[Macro Device]

You know, for the first time ever I am actually going to rec an Intel gpu here. The A770 will work very well in a living room PC. Sure you can get better but will you ever need it? Probably not.

Arc GPUs are notorious for refusing to work on older systems like this.

For AAA gaming, I'd recommend a 7800 XT because 9600K is weak by today's standards and AMD GPUs don't suffer from that as much as NV GPUs do.

For competitive gaming, I'd recommend swapping the 9600K out for something like 5700X at the very least. And then, a GPU upgrade.

 

[KedsDead]

Arc GPUs are notorious for refusing to work on older systems like this.

For AAA gaming, I'd recommend a 7800 XT because 9600K is weak by today's standards and AMD GPUs don't suffer from that as much as NV GPUs do.

For competitive gaming, I'd recommend swapping the 9600K out for something like 5700X at the very least. And then, a GPU upgrade.

The Arc would have been my first recommendations because of the CPU, but your right, they do tend to be picky about what system they run in. (from rumors I have heard).

With the 9600k, I wouldnt recommend the 7800xt unless you plan on upgrading the CPU in the near future.

You playing on a TV, I'd recommend playing at 1080p and using something like a 6600xt or a 3060ti until you can replace the whole rig, if a system upgrade isnt planned for the near future.

 

[jesdals]

You feel it would be ok for Gaming?

I have the following waiting for some playtime:

Starfield
Total War: Warhammer 3
Baldur's Gate 3
Cyberpunk 2077



I play on weekends but would like to play the latest titles if the rest of the setup allow it...

Do you think some other part would bottleneck the card if i got a 7800 XT or 4070 Super?

Thanks

I second that unless you plan to upgrade CPU/MOBO in the near future the 7800XT and 4070 Super is going to suffer from the capability of your 9600K. I have a Skylake 6400 cpu that I run with my old 6900XT and its held back by the 4 cores. On your CPU there is more cores but I would still consider the bigger GPUs overkill. The games you mention - Starfield and Cyberpunk would also demand a better cpu.