Need guidance, upgrade a desktop which is currently using 7700k generation CPU
Posted by antidote___@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 3 comments
Hi guys, i reopened my PC after 5 years, this got shelved as i was busy with my job as a business consultant.
The one i build was a gaming setup that rocked the following stats:
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Cpu: intel 7700k
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Mobo: msi gaming z270 gaming m5
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Graphic - Msi gtx geforce 1070
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RAM: Corsair vengeance 16 gb (8×2) ddr4 3200
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STORAGE: 2 TB SEAGATE AND ONE SSD 500GB do not recall the exact specs
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Liquid coller with 2 fan roof mounted setup
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Cabinet: Phanteks Enthoo Evolv X glass mid tower
Now 2 questions - do i need a upgrade. And what should the upgrade look like
The reason for unboxing the setup after 4 years of inactivity is - i am now a data scientist so may gaming days are far gone i will may be play some dota 2 /counterstike from time to time but focus is on builing a machine capable of running classical AI Models on large datasets and then also doing side projects where i learn to build agents using LLMS
Ihavedonehomework@reddit
Honestly if you want to run AI models locally you basically need to rebuild everything except the case and storage drives.
The most important part here is getting an Nvidia GPU because you absolutely need CUDA support. You should aim for at least 16GB of VRAM. For a budget option look at the 5060 Ti 16GB. If you can spend more you should check out a used RTX 3090 or 4080 or a new 5070 Ti.
Your liquid cooler is probably dead by now since their lifespan is usually 3 to 5 years so that needs to be replaced too. Also a power supply from 2017 does not inspire much confidence for modern hardware so get a good ATX 3.1 unit around 750 or 850 watts.
For the CPU and RAM you have two ways to go. If you want to keep using your DDR4 you can grab an LGA 1700 board with a 14600K or 14700K. In that case just buy another identical 16GB kit so you have 32GB in total.
If you are open to moving to DDR5 then AM5 is the way. You could look at a 9700X or 7800X3D or 9800X3D. For the RAM you should get two sticks of 16GB running at 6000 with timings at 36 or lower.
What kind of budget do you have in mind for all these new parts?
antidote___@reddit (OP)
Thank you for the response.
Yes, I can move to DDR5,
Power supply i have was - SEASONIC 750W POWER SUPPLY 80+ GOLD
Also i lost track of all the advancements, so 2 naive questions and please bear with me:
Question 1: Can I use AMD + NVIDIA combo
Question 2: Also, I have heard AMD is now better than Intel - i see you recommending Intel processors - just want to hear your POV on this (purely on curiosity and not trying to poke holes)
Question 3: Can same mother board host AMD / Intel processors?
Ihavedonehomework@reddit
Your Seasonic PSU is a really high quality unit but since it is from around 2017 it might struggle with the crazy power spikes of modern GPUs. You could try using it but honestly a new ATX 3.1 unit is much safer to protect your new parts.
1. AMD and Nvidia work perfectly fine together. For AI workloads the CPU does not matter that much anyway. The absolute most important thing for you is the GPU VRAM capacity and its memory bandwidth.
2. I only suggested Intel as a budget option just in case you wanted to save money and reuse your old DDR4 RAM. AMD is definitely the better choice right now mainly because they keep the same motherboard socket for several CPU generations so you can easily upgrade your processor years later. Intel on the other hand changes their sockets every one or two generations which forces you to buy a whole new motherboard. Intel also completely messed up the microcode on their 13th and 14th gen CPUs recently which caused a massive amount of them to degrade and literally burn themselves out. So since you are fine with moving to DDR5 you should absolutely just go with AMD.