Lewis_18 :
Im wondering on if i should upgrade my current PC or if i should buy a new one completely.
The Specs of my current PC are
[CPU] AMD FX(tm) 4130 3.8GHz
[Motherboard] GA-78LMT-USB3
[GPU] AMD R7 370 4GB
[Ram] 8GB
[PSU] Not sure what the power is exactly, Says 230V on it though.
[Storage] 1TB HDD
I am mainly use this PC for gaming and general College work, which consists of 3D Modelling and Graphics Design.
Depends on what you want to do with the PC, & what you're having issues with. Given the current CPU & GPU, I'm guessing that 1080p/144Hz or 1440p/60Hz, let alone 4K, gaming is
not something you're even remotely close to considering.
Now, of course, moving on to a brand-new AMD Ryzen/Intel Coffee Lake system will give you
the best performance possible...but again, the question is going to be whether or not you
need the absolute best performance. For example, if you're not playing modern AAA titles on a 1440p/4K monitor, then you're not looking for "best" performance...you're looking for "good enough" or "budget" performance.
And this is where budget comes into play. If you only have a few hundred dollars available, you'd have to cut corners on your "new" system build -- i.e. pairing an R7 370 with a brand-new Ryzen or Coffee Lake CPU (especially if you have to settle for 8GB of DDR4 RAM) is going to limit how much improvement you'll really see.
So, let's take a look at what you have right now, to see what upgrade options you might have:
■ RAM: You're probably OK on RAM, unless you only have a single 8GB stick in there. If you do, I would highly recommend swapping it out for an 8GB kit (with two 4GB sticks); if your budget can handle it, you might even consider getting a 16GB kit (two 8GB sticks), but you probably won't need it. Still, an 8GB kit will run you about $50-80 USD, a 16GB kit twice that, for DDR3-1600 RAM.
■ CPU: You will hear a lot of people talking about the FX CPUs/Socket AM3+ systems being a "dead platform". Note that this has nothing to do with the relative performance of the system -- Intel's Haswell/Socket LGA 1150 platform, for example, is also a "dead" platform, as is their relatively brand-new Skylake/Kaby Lake platform. All "dead" refers to is that, depending on the current CPU in your system, you will have zero (or almost zero) CPU upgrade choices unless you completely replace everything (motherboard, CPU, RAM). In your case, you have a lot of CPUs supported by your motherboard (https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-78LMT-USB3-rev-41#support-cpu). Your current FX-4130, a 2C/4T [2 cores/4 threads] CPU, is ranked 5th-tier (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-hierarchy,4312.html), roughly equal to the very old Core 2 Quads or 1st-generation Core i5 CPUs from Intel. If you notice on that list, however, your system supports all of the regular FX CPUs, including the FX-8350 & 8370. Both of those CPUs are much faster at stock & Turbo speeds than your current CPU, they bump you up to a 4C/8T CPU, & they bump you up to a 2nd-tier CPU, roughly equal to Intel's 3rd-generation Ivy Bridge Core i5 CPUs. Those are still decent CPUs, by the way. And while you might be limited in some games, with your current GPU you'll actually have a very good pairing (you might even still see yourself limited on the GPU side). Note in my signature that I'm currently using the FX-8320 in my system; it was originally paired with the R9 270 (prior version of the R7 370 you have), & currently paired with the R9 380. I'm also running on a 1600x900 resolution monitor, so in most games that I have (Fallout 4, BF4, Overwatch, Halo:CE, StarCraft II), I'm easily able to hit 60FPS with either the highest quality levels or maybe 1 level down. A new CPU will run you about $120-150 USD.
■ GPU: Your current GPU is an "OK" mid-range GPU. It's not great (7th-tier, http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html), but at that level it should provide plenty of power to handle 720p to 1600x900 resolutions or eSports titles easily, & (depending on the game) provide at least 40-60FPS at 1080p resolutions (although you may have to turn some details down on newer games); that's based on its tier placement, as its placement on the hierarchy puts it equal to the RX 560 & GTX 1050 cards, the current 720p/HD choices (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gpus,4380.html). Although there are a lot of better GPUs out there, for your setup I wouldn't recommend going much higher than the GTX 1060 or RX 580 (the current best choices for 1080p/UHD), as you don't need much more power than those GPUs (& they bump you up from a 7th-tier GPU to a 4th-tier GPU), & will run you from $240-300 USD (make sure if you get one it's the 6GB GTX 1060 or the 8GB RX 580). But it depends on whether you're being held back currently by your CPU; if you are, then a new GPU isn't going to help. If you do get a new GPU, however, you need to consider...
■ PSU: The PSU should have some sort of identifier plate on it, or at least a brand-name, that should show the rated wattage on it. If it's a prebuilt OEM system (HP, Compaq, Dell, etc.), then you should be able to find the rated wattage either on the plate or on the model's support site. Since you currently have an R7 370 (which is not a "low-power" GPU), you probably have at least 1 PCIe power connector available. However, if it's not a good quality PSU, doesn't have enough wattage, or doesn't have enough PCIe power connectors for a new GPU, then you'll need to consider replacing it as well. That being said, you should be able to find a nice 550-650W 80 Plus Bronze or Gold PSU for ~$100 USD or less, which would be more than enough -- for example, EVGA's SuperNOVA G2 is running about $70 (650W) to $75 (550W) right now.
■ Storage: I would strongly recommend getting an SSD for your system. The game performance won't really be affected, but your boot time will be drastically reduced. I love my Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD, & it's currently running about $90 USD.
■ What do you really need?: Although I have a number of suggestions here, I really think that the only upgrade you absolutely should consider is the CPU, with the SSD a close 2nd. Beyond that, only upgrade/replace the RAM if you aren't using dual sticks (or think you might need 16GB), & only upgrade the GPU if a) your PSU can handle it (or you plan on also replacing the PSU), or b) you plan on upgrading to a better monitor (i.e. higher resolution and/or refresh rate). That means you're only needing a budget of maybe $150-240 USD, with a top budget of maybe $475-625.
Now, again, before anyone else starts chiming in & saying you can get a new build cheaper...
you can't. The cheapest Coffee Lake I would recommend (i5-8400) is running about $200 (assuming it's in stock), but doesn't include the new motherboard or RAM. The cheapest Ryzen (R3 1200) is only $100, but again needs a new motherboard & RAM. Including a new mATX motherboard & 16GB of DDR4-3000 RAM, you're looking at around $300-320 USD for a Ryzen 3 1200 build or $470-480 for an i5-8400 build. And those prices do
not include the potential new GPU and PSU, let alone upgrading to an M.2 SSD (which will add another $30 or so to the cost I listed above). So a full new system with new CPU, motherboard, DDR4 RAM, GPU, PSU, & an M.2 SSD is going to run you in the $750-825 USD (Ryzen 3 1200) or $920-$1,000 USD (i5-8400) range...& doesn't include a new monitor (or 2) to truly take advantage of the power of that new system.
So...if you don't want to spend a lot of cash, you can make some quick upgrades to your system without breaking the bank. Or, plan on spending $1,000USD for performance that you may not even be able to experience.
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