Build Advice CPU Upgrade / Budget 300 Euros ?

[mpasd94]

Hello all,

I need your advice on upgrading my CPU (and RAM if needed). Please tell if it is even worth upgrading or should I just save up for a new pc.

My specs:

• CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6500 CPU @ 3.20GHz 3.20 GHz
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
• RAM: HyperX DDR4-2133 CL14 288-Pin DIMM 8gb / Kingston KHX2133C13D4/8GX 8GB DIMM DDR4 2400MT/s
• Mobo: Gigabyte B150M-HD3-CF
• Storage: WDC WD10EZEX-75WN4A0 / Samsung SSD 860 EVO 500GB
• PSU: Too lazy to open my PC, will provide if needed
• OS: Windows 10 Pro
• Monitors: DELL S2721HGF

Approximate Purchase Date: 10-March 2024
Budget Range: 300 EUR
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming (mostly Guild Wars 2 and some older games), surfing the internet
Are you buying a monitor: No
Parts to Upgrade: CPU
Parts Preferences: AMD Ryzen (does not have to be AMD Ryzen, seems like the most budget solution)
Why Are You Upgrading: CPU is bottlenecking my GPU and I do not have the budget for a new PC.
Additional Comments: Please also check my RAM and tell me if I should upgrade it as well. Please tell if it is even worth upgrading or should I just save up for a new pc.
All advice much appreciated and many thanks in advance!!

 

[Lafong]

You say 300 Euros.

How long would you have to delay things if you wanted to spend 600 or 800?

Going AMD will require new motherboard and new CPU at a minimum.

If you keep that motherboard, you can't go very far in upgrading the Intel CPU.

PSU is a replacement candidate if 8 years old like your CPU.

8 GB of RAM is highly frowned on in 2024.

Normally, I'd say wait till you can rebuild the whole thing, but if you insist on doing something NOW, you might be able to get some improvement for 300 Euros with another video card. I don't game, so not sure about that.

Are you willing to buy used parts?

 

[mpasd94]

You say 300 Euros.

How long would you have to delay things if you wanted to spend 600 or 800?

Going AMD will require new motherboard and new CPU at a minimum.

If you keep that motherboard, you can't go very far in upgrading the Intel CPU.

PSU is a replacement candidate if 8 years old like your CPU.

8 GB of RAM is highly frowned on in 2024.

Normally, I'd say wait till you can rebuild the whole thing, but if you insist on doing something NOW, you might be able to get some improvement for 300 Euros with another video card. I don't game, so not sure about that.

Are you willing to buy used parts?

I would certainly have to wait a few more months, let's say 4-5 months to be able to spend 800 euros.

Yeah, PSU is as old as the CPU, so it should probably be changed then.

I have 16gb of RAM, 2x8.

At the moment my CPU is struggling at 100 percent usage while GPU is chilling at 20 to 30 percent. I just wanted to do something about that.

I would like to avoid buying used parts.

 

[Lafong]

Well, you could upgrade the CPU only.

Or maybe the CPU and PSU.

Say 100 for a good PSU and 200 for the strongest available CPU that is compatible with your current motherboard. I don't know about availability of older CPUs like you'd need. You may be forced into the used market....which would likely be OK IF, I say IF you have a reliable source. CPUs are extremely reliable, so the used market could be OK.

But then you have to consider the results. Maybe performance is better, but not as much better as hoped...and you are out 300 Euros and couldn't reuse that new CPU on a modern 2023/2024 motherboard.

Your CPU is over 8 years old. I think the strongest you could put in that motherboard would be something from the Intel 9000 series...which is about 5 years old.

If you want to buy something NOW, it might make more sense to buy parts NOW that could still be used 6 months from now when you have more money. Buy those parts now and buy a new motherboard and CPU in 6 months. But stuff like new PSU or new drives wouldn't help your current CPU utilization problem.

I'd say wait till you have more money, but you may not be able to wait that long.

 

[bill001g]

This is the fallacy people have when they buy computer equipment thinking they can "future" proof things. Unless you are going to upgrade your machine in say 2 years from when you first buy it will likely not be worth it. You quickly get into situations where you are pretty much replacing everything except the case.

A large problem is intel and amd stop actually producing the older cpu. The cost of the older chips is just as much and sometime more than much newer and more powerful chips.

In your case I think the largest cpu chip you can put in your machine is a i7-7700 but you need to check the details on your motherboard. You will likely need to flash the bios. Maybe you get 15% more but it is hard to say everything that compare these older cpu is very out of date.

It is all going to depend on what you can get a new chip for, be very careful many times the chips that are sold are used/refurbished. New chips someone would have to have had it sitting on a shelf for years.

In general I suspect your best option might be to look for a used motherboard that has the cpu and maybe even the memory. You might be able to find even a 10/11 series device.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

^ not really true. The AM4 platform came out in 2016? 2017? You can still get a new CPU in the 5700X3D and it performs good. If you have a 5700X3D, you dont need to upgrade your cpu for 3 more years. That puts it at 2027, 10 years!

This is a budget option with an upgrade path to i7 14700

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12400F 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor (€144.30 @ notebooksbilliger.de)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING B760-PLUS WIFI D4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (€156.90 @ Alza)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory (€72.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF A3 Snow 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€121.89 @ notebooksbilliger.de)
Total: €495.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-02-09 14:39 CET+0100


AM5 option for longevity:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 7600 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor (€185.00 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard (€193.78 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: Apacer Panther 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory (€114.90 @ Alza)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF A3 Snow 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€121.89 @ notebooksbilliger.de)
Total: €615.57
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-02-09 14:43 CET+0100

 

[geofelt]

Here is a list of the processors supported by your motherboard:
https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-B150M-HD3-rev-10/support#support-cpu

The strongest would be a I7-7700K which sells for $100 used on ebay.
It really is a decent upgrade that is simple to do.
Your existing ram is fine.

Past that, you are looking at a motherboard, ram and processor upgrade.
And, if your windows is oem, a new windows license also.

The graphics card is what drives the need for psu wattage mostly.
When it comes time to upgrade the GTX1060, then it is time to upgrade the psu.
And... be prepared to spend extra for a good quality and much stronger unit.

 

[helper800]

You could just do this and almost afford it now, worry about the PSU, RAM, and graphics card later. The next highest priority will be a PSU of at least 750w like the Corsair RMe or the Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 TT premium in the near future when you can afford it. Next priority would be a 2x16gb kit of 3600+MT/s cl18- RAM. Then comes the Graphics card and you can spend 300-2000 on that depending on future and current priorities and gaming resolution:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12600KF 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor (€205.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler (€38.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: ASRock Z690 PG Riptide ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (€158.89 @ Cyberport)
Total: €403.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-02-09 18:52 CET+0100

 

[Eximo]

Well, on the cheap side of things. Consider an i3, that is equivalent to an i7-7700, and gives you the potential to swap in an i5 or i7 at a later date.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i3-14100F 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor (€126.89 @ Alternate)
Motherboard: ASRock Z690 Phantom Gaming 4/D5 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (€137.38 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL28 Memory (€125.14 @ Galaxus)
Total: €389.41
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-02-09 19:21 CET+0100