[SOLVED] Best price/performance upgrade for old parts?

[Nakroma]

Hey, so I'm currently looking to upgrade my PC, mainly looking for 2 things: A better CPU to get more performance in the CPU bottlenecked games I play and increase RAM because I work with large databases and projects and 8GB is just a little tight currently.

My current build:

• be quiet! System Power 7 450W
• Radeon RX570 Expedition OC 4GB
• Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz
• B85M Pro4
• 1 SATA SSD and 1 SATA HDD
• Some random DDR3 4GB RAM sticks

Here are the updates I have in mind, my budget is not that tight (probably dont want to go over 400$ though), however I'm looking for the biggest upgrade for the smallest price:

• Upgrade Motherboard to B450M Pro4
• Upgrade CPU to AMD Ryzen 5 1600 (AF)
• Upgrade RAM to 16GB G.Skill RipJaws V DDR4-3200

Are there better upgrade options available or is that a good path?

 

[logainofhades]

What is your budget? That is definitely a nice upgrade though.

 

[Nakroma]

What is your budget? That is definitely a nice upgrade though.

It kind of depends, I'd like to stay in the 200-300$ range, altough if for example there was this giant upgrade for 50$ more that would be also fine, thats what I meant with not that tight
Currently looking at the B450 Pro4 instead, because I'm not sure if my 7 year old case can actually fit mATX

 

[logainofhades]

Any ATX case should be able to support M-ATX. In general M-ATX is just shorter. For straight up gaming, the 3300x is a faster CPU. There might be a suitable B550 board, out there, also.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3300X 3.8 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Best Buy)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $329.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-18 16:46 EDT-0400

I like the looks of this one, but haven't looked into any reviews yet. Should be plenty, for a 3300x though.

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/39...pro-micro-atx-am4-motherboard-b550m-aorus-pro

 

[ocer9999]

For less than 400$ you can def get a pretty decent upgrade.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3300X 3.8 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming 4 ATX AM4 Motherboard ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL16 Memory ($58.49 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX500 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($57.00 @ Newegg)
Total: $355.47
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-19 03:31 EDT-0400

 

[Nakroma]

Alright, thanks for the suggestions! Since it seems to be more recommended more often I'll go with the 3300X (thought having more cores on the 1600 would make me more future proof, no?). Are there any major differences between the Tomahawk and the B550? I'd probably just go with the cheapest then

 

[logainofhades]

The 3300x has a big IPC advantage, and as all 4 cores are on a single CCX, it has less of latency issue, vs some other Ryzen chips. B550 gives you PCI-E gen 4.0 support, for graphics, and the M.2 NVME slot closest to the CPU. There should be less of an impact, for a potential 4th gen upgrade, in the future. While B450 is supposed to be able to get 4th gen support, I fear it won't be an easy task, for board makers to accomplish. With PCI-E 4.0, you will have access to faster ssd's and graphics, in the future, also. Gamer's Nexus has a few videos, using the 3300x. It is a really great CPU, for the money, if you can get it at its suggested retail. This is still under $400, and gives you 6 cores, and 3rd gen Ryzen.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($166.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B550M AORUS PRO Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($129.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $376.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-19 09:41 EDT-0400

 

[Nakroma]

Alright, thanks for all the suggestions! I now ended up with the Ryzen 5 3600, a MSI B450-A Pro MAX (wanted to stay a bit lower in terms of budget, also 32mb bios rom so hopefully future updates aren't that difficult) and 16GB G.Skill Aegis DDR4-3200 because I've got like, a really good deal for them.