Folks,
I seem to want a new computer, this one is 2 years old.
12700k OC 5.1GHZ All core
4000CL18 ram.
4090 gpu
The Sanity check: Gleaned from watching tubers, many of which don’t bother to list their RAM setups, even if it’s DDR4 vs DDR5, it seems by swapping to a typical 7800x3d build I would yield 20-30 more FPS in a typical game.
So if the 12700k scored ~60 fps, the x3d would score ~85, which is something like ~41% uplift.
Is that realistic here?
Thank you!
The best smallest thing you could do with that is sell your 12700k for a 13900k. Even if you do that though the 13900k will still bottleneck your 4090 in quite a few instances, but all consumer CPUs do that right now.
The 13900k go for $550, which will be a lot less than 7800X3D + X670 Motherboard + 32 GB DDR5 which goes for $369 + $200 + $100 = $669.
An alternative you can do is buy a mid range GPU, something like a 7700 XT and sell your current system, build a completely new one (but keep the 4090). I think if you spend $300-$350 ish on a mid range GPU that computer could sell for $800-$900 netting you a ~$500 profit or so.
That is almost enough to offset your cost for the AM5 platform but then you will need to buy a new case, PSU and SSD, so the uprade will still cost you $300-$400 depending if you go for the $160 4TB Teamgroup MP34 as a boot drive or a 2TB $80 boot drive. Personally I would go with the 4TB boot drive, but that is up to you.
Nice response, and thank you. I know this is a rough topic to sort out.
I checked the 13900k out as an option as well. This video covers it pretty well, and it’s mostly a less than 5 or 10% gain for the money spent - resale of the 1200k. Overall, it’s likely cost-effective, but is it enough of a bump to warrant any more investment in this motherboard?
Youtube titled “i9 13900K vs i9 12900K vs i7 13700K vs i7 12700K vs i5 13600K vs i5 12600K | RTX 4090 24GB” covers it quite well.
Replacing the GPU and selling the entire build isn’t an option since I upgrade bits of my computer at a time. Usually, it’s mobo/ram/CPU every 2 years, and then the GPU on the off years. I try to keep a case as long as it’s not all scratched up, and the drives too, etc. I find this is the most economical route.
There would be one large benefit for getting the 13900k, being that it’s a productivity monster (not that I do a lot of that on this system), though it’s a more power-consuming product and I’m sitting on an ATX 2.0 800 Watt Platinum PSU. so I wasn’t sure how smart of a move it would be getting the 13900k + 4090 + 2 NMVE + 2 SSHD + 3 HDD + AIO and 9 fans. Just putting in the primary pieces on PC part picker and I’m hitting Estimated Wattage: 864W WOOOO, that’s scary.
As is, my 12700k is 5.1 all core, do you imagine a 7800x3d build would provide a 20-30% FPS boost? The idea would be to be pleasantly surprised now and upgrade to 8k series shortly after.
Also, if I do that, say choose to stream as I play, how badly would I impact my FPS. I know the 12700k isn’t impacted because of that.
I suppose what I should od is run some bench marks and just get my own numbers and compare to 7800x3d tubers.
From my perspective you already have a 4090, so anything less than a 7950X (or wait for 8950X) or 13900k (14900k) is pretty much silly, you will bottleneck that GPU no matter which way you look but the 13900k or above is bottlenecking the least.
For the 13900k we are talking roughly 15% better single core and 50% better multicore performance over the 12700k, this is expanded to something like 17-20% SC and 55% MC improvement for the 14900k. Given the price difference of $40, a 14900k feels like the way to go here, but if the diff was bigger, like $100, 13900k is better.
If you are going AM5 you are pretty much building a new system regardless (New RAM, new MB, new CPU, possibly new SSD with 4TB of storage), so investing some extra $$$ for case, PSU and mid range GPU to sell or inherit down the old one makes a ton of sense. Here is a good premium package suggestion for you, now bear with me:
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 9 7950X | $520.00 |
| CPU Cooler | Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE ARGB | $39.00 |
| Motherboard | MSI MAG X670E TOMAHAWK WIFI | $279.99 |
| Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws S5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 | $199.99 |
| Storage | TEAMGROUP MP34 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 | $171.99 |
| Video Card | PowerColor Fighter OC Radeon RX 7700 XT | $449.99 |
| Case | Corsair 4000D Airflow | $79.98 |
| Power Supply | SeaSonic FOCUS PLUS 850 Gold | $119.99 |
| Total | $1860.93 |
Yes, at a budget of $1850 that is a HECK of a lot of money for upgrades. BUT! This assumes that the 7700 XT is replaced by the 4090. It is a gen 3 drive in there, add $60 for the gen 4 drive (Teamgroup MP44), but there is nothing wrong with the gen 3 drive and hardly any benefit to go with the gen 4 drive today.
Now, let’s take your two year old computer and what the current new market value of that is. I will assume the same PSU, GPU, Case and will assume 32 GB RAM, Z690 and 1TB NVMe SSD:
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i7-12700K | $291.00 |
| CPU Cooler | Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE ARGB | $39.00 |
| Motherboard | MSI MAG Z690 TOMAHAWK WIFI | $229.99 |
| Memory | TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z 2x16 GB DDR4-4000 CL18 | $64.98 |
| Storage | TEAMGROUP MP34 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 | $46.99 |
| Video Card | PowerColor Fighter OC Radeon RX 7700 XT | $449.99 |
| Case | Corsair 4000D Airflow | $79.98 |
| Power Supply | SeaSonic FOCUS PLUS 850 Gold | $119.99 |
| Total | $1321.92 |
Now, with an original price of $1300… Selling it for $1000 is a deal, $800 is a steal. Take the revenue earned from your old system and put it to your new system, you have a $800 upgrade to a completely brand new system that runs a freaking 4090 with a 4TB freaking SSD boot drive.
Go with a NVMe 4TB. $10 cheaper and not limited to SATA speeds. 
That’s an amazing breakdown, I’m curious why you would strip out an old system and put in a GPU just to sell it versus just selling the parts that you replace for your build?
I enjoy my Lian li mesh 2 case, the most I ever spent on a case…I tend to inch my way up each upgrade, part by part.
Okay, I’m going to bump some numbers around…In Canada, the 14900k is nearly 800 bucks, and a 7800x3d build that preps me for AMD 8000 is 1100. The big difference here is that the rebuild means I can sell off 3 parts versus 1. I think the expenditure is pretty similar here.
Since I don’t have DDR5, and won’t be able to push the 14900k to its proper stature, I believe it’s time to rebuild my system for AMD 8000.
I appreciate the time you took to converse on this with me. It’s been wonderful.
Just the fact that it is easier to sell a single working computer but yes selling the parts individually, esp. Just the Mobo+RAM+CPU combo is a viable alternative. At the end of the day it is your HW, time and money. 
And yes I am operating on US pricing here, adapt to your market.
If you can wait one more year Intel will release Arrow Lake in Q3 2024, but yeah you are bottlenecked for now and AM5 currently has the best upgrade path. If you had gone for the 12900k at the start my advice would be different. At least the 4090 will hold for quite a while longer, at least until 2026.
You are welcome, happy computing!
The 4090 may draw well over 600 watts during a power spike. You’re probably going to want/need to upgrade your power supply to 1000+ watts or ATX 3.0 if you’re going for a power hungry CPU (the 7950X consumes 230 watts before throttling). Something that sips power like the 7800X3D would be alright. That 800 watt ATX 2.0 power supply is unlikely to be stable with a 4090 and 7950X. ATX 3.0 power supplies add capacitors to deal with spikes.
ya, the 12700k has been fine or at least I’ve not noticed any ill effect don’t he system from running it with a 4090.
regardless I do share your sentiment. i believe the 7800x3d and 8800x3d, once it arrives will let me save from buying PSU to continue to upgrade.
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