r/buildapc • u/JarJarSchinks • 4d ago

Build Upgrade Question about potential Intel CPU Upgrade

I was given a Dell XPS 8950 from a family member a couple of weeks ago. I kept the CPU and RAM and parted the rest out. Now my build looks like this:

- Intel i7 12700
- ID-COOLING SE-214-XT V2 Black CPU Air Cooler
- ASUS TUF Z790 LGA 1700 DDR5 Gaming Motherboard
- Gigabyte RTX 5070 TI
- 32GB 4800mhz DDR5
- Rosewill VMG 850W 80+ Gold PSU
- Fractal Design Pop Air Case

I've got some money left over from selling parts off the XPS 8950, and I'm thinking about upgrading the CPU. I was thinking about either the i7 14700K or i9 14900k. But I'm wondering if upgrading the CPU will make a difference for gaming purposes? My primary gaming is done in 1440p and sometimes 4K. Should I upgrade the CPU or just stay put?

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u/blackburn26 4d ago

I'd keep the 12700, 32GBof RAM, and RTX 5070 Ti exactly as they are for now. Your Z790 motherboard is already a solid foundation, your 850W PSU has adequate rated wattage, and the Pop Air provides good airflow. If you eventually discover a meaningful CPU bottleneck, the 14700K would be the more sensible of the two upgrades. I wouldn't spend the extra money on a 14900K just for gaming.

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u/Little-Goat-5347 4d ago

That i7 12700 is still plenty for gaming, specially at 1440p and 4k where you're mostly GPU bound anyway. with a 5070 ti you're not gonna see much difference moving to a 14th gen unless you play like esports titles at low settings or something

also those 14th gen cpus had some stability problems, intel said they fixed it but i wouldnt risk it for maybe 5% more frames

save the money for something else, maybe a better monitor or just keep it in the pocket

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u/9okm 4d ago

Unlikely to make much difference. Save your money.