[SOLVED] GTX 1650 Upgrades?

[MikesBackForYou]

Hey everyone my name is Mike and I recently got an HP Pavilion gaming desktop that comes with a GTX 1650, Ryzen 5 3500, 8GB of RAM, and a 1TB hard drive.
The computer itself isn't bad, it's pretty decent. I can run most of my games on medium to high without many issues (ROBLOX, CS:GO, Planetside 2, etc.) but on higher end games it kind of struggles.
I know a little bit about computers, and definitely the 8GB of RAM probably has a part to do with it, I know the 1650 is more of an entry level GPU, and the lack of an SSD doesn't help either.
Can anyone suggest what upgrades I should do first, and maybe explain compatibility with my setup? What GPU can I slap inside this bad boy? Does any RAM stick work? Maybe any overclocking advice to squeeze some extra juice out of this thing?

Thankyou!

 

[Dj0gany]

For the GPU upgrades the first thing you need to check is your powersupply,you need stable and clear power coming to your precious graphics card,so what is the powersupply?
If you dont know the exact make/model,you can take a picture of it,upload to imgur.com and copy/paste the link here,and we will identify the unit for u and see if its efficient enough for your next graphics card.
As you said,8gb of ram can be a struggle,especially if its single channel.What is your exact motherboard and can you post the serial number of your ram (the white paper with numbers on it on the stick) since you need the exact same stick for having maximum chance of it to work together.
For the SSD you can decide your self.If you are happy with a hard drive stick to it,but you should look into buying atleast a 240gb SATA ssd since it will be a noticable upgrade.
The CPU is fine,for now.

 

[MikesBackForYou]

This here is the link to what you had asked for:

https://imgur.com/a/zc4btq0

View: https://imgur.com/a/zc4btq0

I tried to look up the numbers and such on the photo of the motherboard, couldn't find anything. From my basic understanding from reading the label is that the power supply is like 300 something? It says must not exceed 310 I believe..

 

[InvalidError]

With 310W combined total on 12V, you cannot go much beyond entry-level GPUs PSU-wise and limit your upgrade options to little more than the presumed RTX3050 or a hypothetical RX6500.

Only 8GB of RAM is definitely a huge issue especially when loading from HDD. You need enough RAM to eliminate swapping with enough spare to cache frequently accessed files so you don't end up waiting for the HDD for every little thing. Getting 16GB of RAM is the single biggest upgrade you can do right now.

 

[MikesBackForYou]

Is there any way to change out my power supply for one that has a little more power coming through it? If so, what would be a reasonable upgrade? I'm not looking at turning this into some insane $3000 sleeper machine, just something a little more than what it is.
And yes about your statement about 8GB of ram and my HDD, there are times where I wait quite a bit for apps to open etc.
I was using my fathers builds growing up (he's been building computers for like 20 years) and came up with some insane ones. I can definitely tell a difference between massive amounts of RAM on an SSD and 8GB on an HDD lol.

So are you saying I cannot do any GPU upgrades whatsoever? Or if I did I would just have to play it safe and only upgrade a minor amount?

 

[InvalidError]

So are you saying I cannot do any GPU upgrades whatsoever? Or if I did I would just have to play it safe and only upgrade a minor amount?

For now, even if you upgraded to an RTX3090, you would still have horrible performance in most contemporary AAA games due to having only 8GB of system RAM. Upgrading to 16GB (make sure it is dual-channel) should enable you to get all the performance the GTX1650 and Ryzen 3500 are capable of putting out.

Upgrading the GPU is pointless if it is only going to get hamstrung by insufficient RAM for the system to run smoothly.

 

[MikesBackForYou]

Ah, I see what you're saying.
So I should upgrade to 16GB first with a different set of RAM to increase my GPU and CPU efficiency?
How do I know which sticks of RAM are compatible? Or are they generally universal?

Is that also the reason why i'm seeing barely any performance increase after overclocking my GPU?

 

[Dj0gany]

Ah, I see what you're saying.
So I should upgrade to 16GB first with a different set of RAM to increase my GPU and CPU efficiency?
How do I know which sticks of RAM are compatible? Or are they generally universal?

i think you are better off going with something like this https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Veng...keywords=vengeance+16gb&qid=1609543610&sr=8-1 ,than searching for the same stick.

 

[MikesBackForYou]

Is there any reason for me to doubt that kit will be compatible with my motherboard?

 

[Dj0gany]

I dont think there will be problems.Just take the old stick out,and put the new ram in

 

[spentshells]

3600Mhz ram kit in dual channel and a 500Gb ssd would be a sound investment. The would come up to about 120 dollars.

SSD from hard drive makes so much difference. Really any of the DSSD's from that page are well wqorth the money

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=ssd+500gb&crid=Q0901O4ZUFEA&sprefix=ssd,aps,214&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_7_3

 

[MikesBackForYou]

Sounds good. I will be definitely looking into an SSD because I miss having one. You're right, huge difference; I haven't used a standard HDD in a very long time so I forgot how much different it was lol.
Now how do I check if i'm able to potentially use both an HDD and an SSD. I'm looking at getting back into recording so having both would be nice. I heard if you can't do that you'd need to invest into getting something called an eSATA and hooking up the drive you're wanting to use.

As for RAM, this here should work too?
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/corsai...Ir359b85md4oVDij07RoCARsQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Dj0gany]

Sounds good. I will be definitely looking into an SSD because I miss having one. You're right, huge difference; I haven't used a standard HDD in a very long time so I forgot how much different it was lol.
Now how do I check if i'm able to potentially use both an HDD and an SSD. I'm looking at getting back into recording so having both would be nice. I heard if you can't do that you'd need to invest into getting something called an eSATA and hooking up the drive you're wanting to use.

As for RAM, this here should work too?
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/corsai...Ir359b85md4oVDij07RoCARsQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

yes,that corsair bling bling ram should work as good as the other one a mentioned.

 

[MikesBackForYou]

yes,that corsair bling bling ram should work as good as the other one a mentioned.

Haha sounds good.