Upgrading 2016 Build (1440p/144 Hz). What CPU and GPU to buy?

Marshall

I'm looking to continue with a 1440p/144 Hz gaming rig, but with better performance.
If upgrading my CPU and GPU, should I also purchase a new motherboard (+ a new power supply, etc.)?
My current build has an Intel i5 6600k cpu, MSI GTX 1070 GPU and Asus Z170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 motherboard.
Full specs here: https://pcpartpicker.com/b/2Xmqqs

TSTonyV

If you purchase a new CPU, you'll need to purchase a new motherboard with it. The latest Intel processors are not compatible with the Z170 boards unfortunately. 

What kind of budget do you have in mind? 

For 1440p gaming you'll be pretty more resources on your GPU. Depending on what games you're playing, my recommendation would vary a bit but in general you'll want to look at mid-high range or high end GPUs, e.g. 2060 Super, RX 5700/5700XT, 2070 Super, etc...

For the CPU, honestly even some of the budget options we have now would be an upgrade, like the Ryzen 3 3300X, but personally I'd look at either the Ryzen 5 3600 for a great value option or the i5-10600k for the best "all around gaming" CPU. 

Marshall

TSTonyV said:

If you purchase a new CPU, you'll need to purchase a new motherboard with it. The latest Intel processors are not compatible with the Z170 boards unfortunately. 

What kind of budget do you have in mind? 

For 1440p gaming you'll be pretty more resources on your GPU. Depending on what games you're playing, my recommendation would vary a bit but in general you'll want to look at mid-high range or high end GPUs, e.g. 2060 Super, RX 5700/5700XT, 2070 Super, etc...

For the CPU, honestly even some of the budget options we have now would be an upgrade, like the Ryzen 3 3300X, but personally I'd look at either the Ryzen 5 3600 for a great value option or the i5-10600k for the best "all around gaming" CPU. 

I don't have any interest in streaming, and my budget is flexible. So likely the i5-10600k CPU and 2070 GPU or higher. Will I need to purchase new, compatible RAM?
Would I be able to sell any of my components to MicroCenter (GPU, CPU or Motherboard)?

PowerSpec_MichaelB

Marshall said:

TSTonyV said:

If you purchase a new CPU, you'll need to purchase a new motherboard with it. The latest Intel processors are not compatible with the Z170 boards unfortunately. 

What kind of budget do you have in mind? 

For 1440p gaming you'll be pretty more resources on your GPU. Depending on what games you're playing, my recommendation would vary a bit but in general you'll want to look at mid-high range or high end GPUs, e.g. 2060 Super, RX 5700/5700XT, 2070 Super, etc...

For the CPU, honestly even some of the budget options we have now would be an upgrade, like the Ryzen 3 3300X, but personally I'd look at either the Ryzen 5 3600 for a great value option or the i5-10600k for the best "all around gaming" CPU. 

I don't have any interest in streaming, and my budget is flexible. So likely the i5-10600k CPU and 2070 GPU or higher. Will I need to purchase new, compatible RAM?
Would I be able to sell any of my components to MicroCenter (GPU, CPU or Motherboard)?

The RAM from your original build is still compatible, albeit it's just clocked a little low. Should still function just fine. As for selling components to Micro Center, unfortunately we do not offer any buyback or trade-in programs. You can try your luck with selling your components on local marketplaces, though I personally like to keep spare components as a backup in case something were to go wrong with my new components and I need something to use while waiting on an RMA or repair. I also like to give my older parts to family members as an upgrade, so you can explore those options as well.

I also agree with Tony's advice on using a Ryzen 5 3600 or i5 10600k. Both will handle 1440p 144hz gaming just fine. The one thing I would caution against is the purchase of an RX 5700/5700XT as your Dell S1716DG is a G-Sync monitor, and those GPU's do not support G-Sync. Right now, adaptive sync is probably one of the best features to come to monitors in the past decade so it's definitely going to be important to use a GPU that will allow you to take advantage of this technology. The RTX 2060 Super will honestly handle any competitive title out right now for 144hz 1440p gaming, so that would be my personal recommendation. If you want to play more demanding AAA titles at a higher refresh rate, a 2070 Super would be better, but it starts to reach the point of diminishing returns from a price:performance perspective. I'd advise looking up benchmarks for the games you want to play to see where they stack against one another, and base your purchase decision on those performance metrics.

Marshall

TSMichaelB said:

Marshall said:

TSTonyV said:

If you purchase a new CPU, you'll need to purchase a new motherboard with it. The latest Intel processors are not compatible with the Z170 boards unfortunately. 

What kind of budget do you have in mind? 

For 1440p gaming you'll be pretty more resources on your GPU. Depending on what games you're playing, my recommendation would vary a bit but in general you'll want to look at mid-high range or high end GPUs, e.g. 2060 Super, RX 5700/5700XT, 2070 Super, etc...

For the CPU, honestly even some of the budget options we have now would be an upgrade, like the Ryzen 3 3300X, but personally I'd look at either the Ryzen 5 3600 for a great value option or the i5-10600k for the best "all around gaming" CPU. 

I don't have any interest in streaming, and my budget is flexible. So likely the i5-10600k CPU and 2070 GPU or higher. Will I need to purchase new, compatible RAM?
Would I be able to sell any of my components to MicroCenter (GPU, CPU or Motherboard)?

The RAM from your original build is still compatible, albeit it's just clocked a little low. Should still function just fine. As for selling components to Micro Center, unfortunately we do not offer any buyback or trade-in programs. You can try your luck with selling your components on local marketplaces, though I personally like to keep spare components as a backup in case something were to go wrong with my new components and I need something to use while waiting on an RMA or repair. I also like to give my older parts to family members as an upgrade, so you can explore those options as well.

I also agree with Tony's advice on using a Ryzen 5 3600 or i5 10600k. Both will handle 1440p 144hz gaming just fine. The one thing I would caution against is the purchase of an RX 5700/5700XT as your Dell S1716DG is a G-Sync monitor, and those GPU's do not support G-Sync. Right now, adaptive sync is probably one of the best features to come to monitors in the past decade so it's definitely going to be important to use a GPU that will allow you to take advantage of this technology. The RTX 2060 Super will honestly handle any competitive title out right now for 144hz 1440p gaming, so that would be my personal recommendation. If you want to play more demanding AAA titles at a higher refresh rate, a 2070 Super would be better, but it starts to reach the point of diminishing returns from a price:performance perspective. I'd advise looking up benchmarks for the games you want to play to see where they stack against one another, and base your purchase decision on those performance metrics.

Thank you for the insight and reminder-- I will stick with a NVIDIA GPU + Gysync monitor. Sounds like i5-10600k CPU and RTX 2070 GPU is the way to go. Any recommendations for an updated motherboard and power supply?

TSTonyV

There are quite a few Z490 option out there, so it depends on what you really want to spend and what kind of features you want. I've heard good things about the MSI Z490-A Pro and Z490 Tomahawk, and I've generally been a fan of MSI products in the past personally speaking. 

Gamers Nexus did a good Z490 motherboard overview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iLS3poPn8o

As for power supply, EVGA Supernova and Seasonic FOCUS series power supplies are pretty much always quality. I personally have a Corsair RMX750 which has lasted me for several years as well. 

Marshall

TSTonyV said:

There are quite a few Z490 option out there, so it depends on what you really want to spend and what kind of features you want. I've heard good things about the MSI Z490-A Pro and Z490 Tomahawk, and I've generally been a fan of MSI products in the past personally speaking. 

Gamers Nexus did a good Z490 motherboard overview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iLS3poPn8o

As for power supply, EVGA Supernova and Seasonic FOCUS series power supplies are pretty much always quality. I personally have a Corsair RMX750 which has lasted me for several years as well. 

Before making the jump to replace the CPU and motherboard-- would I be able to start with just the RTX 2070 GPU, or will this cause bottlenecking issues with my current i5-6600k?

PowerSpec_MichaelB

Marshall said:

TSTonyV said:

There are quite a few Z490 option out there, so it depends on what you really want to spend and what kind of features you want. I've heard good things about the MSI Z490-A Pro and Z490 Tomahawk, and I've generally been a fan of MSI products in the past personally speaking. 

Gamers Nexus did a good Z490 motherboard overview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iLS3poPn8o

As for power supply, EVGA Supernova and Seasonic FOCUS series power supplies are pretty much always quality. I personally have a Corsair RMX750 which has lasted me for several years as well. 

Before making the jump to replace the CPU and motherboard-- would I be able to start with just the RTX 2070 GPU, or will this cause bottlenecking issues with my current i5-6600k?

It would depend on the game and framerate you are trying to achieve. As you move to higher resolutions such as 1440p, the performance impact shifts from the CPU to the GPU. This is especially true when you look at 4K gaming. With that being said, your CPU is still responsible for the drawcalls that it feeds your GPU, so if you plan to push higher refresh rates, even at a higher resolution, your CPU will still need to do some heavy lifting.

For competitive titles like Overwatch, Fortnite, League of Legends, CS:GO, etc you'll be perfectly fine with a 6600k at 1440p and shouldn't bottleneck the 2070 when factoring in your 144hz refresh rate. Those titles typically only require a couple fast threads and don't scale all that well with higher thread counts. Now for AAA titles that require more processing threads, you will absolutely be dealing with a bottleneck, and it won't be an extremely smooth gaming experience due to the larger dips in framerate, even with G-Sync. If you plan on playing the newest AAA titles, then the 10600k will definitely be a huge upgrade there. 

If your choice is between buying a new GPU right now or a new platform, I'd personally lean towards the new platform as your GTX 1070 is still a solid graphics card and will still do well at 1440p 144hz gaming, especially when you factor in G-Sync. The RTX 2070 Super will definitely give you a boost in framerates and allow you to crank up some of the graphical settings, but it won't be as dramatic of an improvement in my opinion. Sure, you get features like Raytracing, but right now Raytracing isn't in the best place in regards to FPS performance when enabled, so it kind of defeats the purpose of upgrading CPU's if you are bottlenecked by RT cores. I hope this makes sense.