Should I use an RTX 5070 on my 7-year-old I7 7700k PC? (I know it’ll bottleneck)
Posted by GODDUMB@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 17 comments
Hi everyone,
I’ve been using the same PC for over 7 years. Here are the specs:
- CPU: i7-7700K
- GPU: GTX 1080 (ROG STRIX)
- PSU: Thermaltake 730W (used for 7+ years)
- Motherboard: ASUS Strix H270F (PCIe Gen 3)
- RAM: 16GB (2x8GB) 2400MHz
I’m planning to upgrade and have two options:
Option 1: Build a new PC with a Ryzen 5 7500F and a 5060 Ti 16GB.
Option 2: Buy an RTX 5070 now and use it on my current system temporarily. After 4–5 months (once I get paid), I’ll build a new PC around it.
I know the 5070 will bottleneck my CPU and motherboard a lot. I mostly use my PC for Blender, Premiere Pro, After Effects, and some light gaming here and there. Gaming isn’t my main focus.
My questions are:
- Will the 5070 even work properly on my old motherboard with PCIe Gen 3?
- What problems or issues might I face if I do this?
- Given that the 5070 is really expensive in my country right now, building a full new PC with it is not possible for me. But I think the 5070 is better value for money here compared to the 5060 Ti. So, should I just build a new PC with a 5060 Ti right now instead?
Any advice or experience would really help me decide. Thanks!
likkachi@reddit
personally i wouldnt trust the psu with a 5070, but thats me. i'd replace the psu and gpu now if you can find a gpu at MSRP
Aotto1321@reddit
Why not lol?
likkachi@reddit
age of the unit and the fact that it doesnt seem to be super well reviewed from when it was new
T-REX-780@reddit
Older gaming will be fine, but newer games like MH Wilds it will seriously bottleneck, you might experience inconsistent framerate and lags.
RedBoxSquare@reddit
PCIe Gen 3 is fine. Even the 5060 Ti 16GB works fine (x8 lanes) on Gen 3 as long as it is 16GB VRAM (won't run out of VRAM). The PCIe interface should not be the bottleneck when the GPU core is talking to its own VRAM.
A CPU bottleneck just means the CPU cannot compute fast enough to allow the GPU to render more frames. In a more extreme example, there will be minimal difference between a 5070 Ti vs a 5090 if you use your processor at 1080p because the extra GPU power cannot be put to use. You will just be wasting money on the extra you paid for the higher end card and have it sit idle in your computer, when it can sit in a bank account instead and be used to buy the 5090 a few years down the line at much lower used prices.
In other words, buy a 5060 Ti 16GB.
Beertruck85@reddit
Everyone addressed your question correctly...now ill add my 2 cents.
I had a very similar build to you and what I did was put a reasonably proced RTX 3070 in it to replace my 1080 and then built a new PC...I made that decision because I knew The I-7 7700K (which was awesome) would not be supported by Windows 11 so the clock was ticking.
I stripped my case down to the frame, reused my PSU, bought a reasonably priced CPU and AIO cooler and put a 3070 in it. At 1440p this build was budget friendly, got my computer into the Windows 11 system and im happily playing all of the games I like at high setting with raytracing and DLSS.
Just food for thought, atleast this way when its time to jump to 4K my CPU and motherboard will be no problem, ill just plug a new GPU in it...which likely won't even be 50series...but the hard part is behind me for atleast 5 years if not a lot longer since I got so much life out of the 7700K.
Also, I gifted the old motherboard, CPU and GPU to a friend, but if I did it again I'd turn it into a living room setup. (The friend never built anything with it).
Package_Objective@reddit
Buy the nice GPU now then upgrade the whole rig later. I would build atleast a ryzen 9600x system if you can.
Background_Yam9524@reddit
I agree with the "good GPU first, better PC later" plan.
Package_Objective@reddit
Alternatively wait till you can build a whole new system and hopefully you can buy an even better gpu, the 12gb on a 5070 kinda feels bad. Its a decently powerful card but the 5070 super I believe will have 18gbs.
Figarella@reddit
Zen 4 is really cheap dude, 7500f can be had on AliExpress for 130€ (about the same in dollars generally?), I understand there is ram and motherboard and stuff to buy while a GPU is just a drop in replacement
Maybe wait for the 5070 super and upgrade the whole build
lakimakromedia@reddit
If blender, why not 3090 :)
Nikadaemus@reddit
It will still rock, and be the center of a new build in the next few years
Might want to check out the TI coming out
e0nflux@reddit
If you play at 2k or 4k it won't bottleneck that much.
bugeater88@reddit
5070 wont bottleneck your system, your system will bottleneck the 5070. if i were you id just get grab the 5070 and upgrade the rest as soon as you can.
No_Guarantee7841@reddit
If you can wait, wait for 5070 super with higher vram.
SunPsychological1147@reddit
Hold the computer you got to just buy a whole new computer (unless you can get a close to msrp 5070 right now)
VersaceUpholstery@reddit
The 5070 will be fine on pcie 3.0 as long as you don’t hit the vram limit