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...When wanting to game at 4K (and at times 1440p) with decent framerates, it doesn't always have to be the absolute latest CPU and GPU generation, IMO. To that end, below are some select comparisons for three AMD CPU generations - a 2950X, a 3950X and a 5950X, paired with 2x 2080 Tis, a 6900XT and a 3090. These three systems have different functions for my work and play, and all three are fully custom water-cooled.
I recently upgraded everything to 4K monitors/TVs (40 inch, 48 inch, 55 inch) and compared these setups - the 2950X / 2x 2080 Ti combo was built in late 2018, while the other two stem from 2021...I was a bit surprised how well the older 2950X combo held up. While it can clearly not compete with the latest gens in terms of absolute 'peak' numbers, it is often more than enough to afford reasonably smooth gameplay, even with ray tracing. As it is connected to a 4K 60 Hz tv, the minimum requirements re. the rest of the system are not as demanding as for example the setup that serves a 48 inch 120Hz OLED.
Please note that these are not meant as a hardcore benchmark comparison; GPU clocks used are game stable (rather than full bench mode) and temps remain low. The purpose is to see whether 'last gen' tech in terms of CPU and GPU can still deliver decent 4K (and 1440p). While not included below, the original test bench for the 3090 acquisition was actually an Intel i7 5960X 8c/16t Haswell-E setup from 2014...even that then-seven-year old system managed to break 15,000 with a stock air-cooled (now water-cooled) 3090. Generally speaking and from my subjective perspective, those wishing to game (mostly) at 4K and who have a decent 8c/16t processor with good 32GB of RAM are better off spending their money on a good GPU rather than the latest CPUs and mobos, especially with an eye on upcoming next-gen CPU releases. Single-core performance does of course also matter a lot in gaming, and in my opinion, a 8 core CPU which can manage at least a single thread score of 480 and up in CPUz should be good enough when paired with a GPU that will run 4K easy...after all, at the higher resolutions, CPU performance is relatively less of an issue.
Finally, a quick note on the 2080 Ti SLI/NVLink system include below....surely, folks will groan that 'SLI is dead', and support for it in new games has clearly been waning. Nevertheless, a surprisingly large number of games (DX11, even DX12 RTX/DLSS) I play still work very well in SLI/NVLink, especially at 4K. Wherever possible, I use an undocumented driver feature that allows for SLI-CFR ('checker board') which doesn't do micro-stutter, for example, though the relevant drivers are getting a bit long in the tooth...
With that in mind, here are the setups and select DX11 and DX12 bench results...
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ED.: ...Superposition 8K:
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I recently upgraded everything to 4K monitors/TVs (40 inch, 48 inch, 55 inch) and compared these setups - the 2950X / 2x 2080 Ti combo was built in late 2018, while the other two stem from 2021...I was a bit surprised how well the older 2950X combo held up. While it can clearly not compete with the latest gens in terms of absolute 'peak' numbers, it is often more than enough to afford reasonably smooth gameplay, even with ray tracing. As it is connected to a 4K 60 Hz tv, the minimum requirements re. the rest of the system are not as demanding as for example the setup that serves a 48 inch 120Hz OLED.
Please note that these are not meant as a hardcore benchmark comparison; GPU clocks used are game stable (rather than full bench mode) and temps remain low. The purpose is to see whether 'last gen' tech in terms of CPU and GPU can still deliver decent 4K (and 1440p). While not included below, the original test bench for the 3090 acquisition was actually an Intel i7 5960X 8c/16t Haswell-E setup from 2014...even that then-seven-year old system managed to break 15,000 with a stock air-cooled (now water-cooled) 3090. Generally speaking and from my subjective perspective, those wishing to game (mostly) at 4K and who have a decent 8c/16t processor with good 32GB of RAM are better off spending their money on a good GPU rather than the latest CPUs and mobos, especially with an eye on upcoming next-gen CPU releases. Single-core performance does of course also matter a lot in gaming, and in my opinion, a 8 core CPU which can manage at least a single thread score of 480 and up in CPUz should be good enough when paired with a GPU that will run 4K easy...after all, at the higher resolutions, CPU performance is relatively less of an issue.
Finally, a quick note on the 2080 Ti SLI/NVLink system include below....surely, folks will groan that 'SLI is dead', and support for it in new games has clearly been waning. Nevertheless, a surprisingly large number of games (DX11, even DX12 RTX/DLSS) I play still work very well in SLI/NVLink, especially at 4K. Wherever possible, I use an undocumented driver feature that allows for SLI-CFR ('checker board') which doesn't do micro-stutter, for example, though the relevant drivers are getting a bit long in the tooth...
With that in mind, here are the setups and select DX11 and DX12 bench results...
ED.: ...Superposition 8K:
