[SOLVED] GUA2400BST -- upgrade options

jacopley

Commendable
Nov 30, 2018
14
0
1,510
bought the Cyberpower GUA2400BST basic setup for our son a couple of Xmas' ago (specs listed here: https://techgage.com/article/a-look-at-cyberpowerpcs-gua2400bst-amd-vr-gaming-pc/). He has issues with Oculus Rift freezing up on him (PUBG and Destiny also freeze after only a couple of minutes of play). The only VR game that works consistently without issue is Beat Sabre.

So....we're wondering what 'upgrades' people would suggest. I did add another 8gb of RAM recently, but that didn't solve the problem. So now what? Yes I know it's a low-end gaming PC, and yes I know upgrades can get costly. So....that said, what would be the 'first' upgrade to consider here to help alleviate the issues with his games just freezing up / crashing on him? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
 
Solution
I would say that CPU is holding you back, but first thing is get a proper power supply. I would not be the least bit surprised that the crashes/freezing are from the junk PSU they put in those budget rigs. After that, a new CPU, motherboard, and ddr4 ram. That FX 8350 was already considered old/slow, when you bought that system.


A decent budget PSU, to get you started.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $59.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-30 16:49 EST-0500

Or spend more to get an even higher...

logainofhades

Titan
Moderator
I would say that CPU is holding you back, but first thing is get a proper power supply. I would not be the least bit surprised that the crashes/freezing are from the junk PSU they put in those budget rigs. After that, a new CPU, motherboard, and ddr4 ram. That FX 8350 was already considered old/slow, when you bought that system.


A decent budget PSU, to get you started.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $59.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-30 16:49 EST-0500

Or spend more to get an even higher quality one.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $79.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-30 16:50 EST-0500
 
Solution

jacopley

Commendable
Nov 30, 2018
14
0
1,510
awesome thanks! Will definitely start with the power supply and then go from there.

So regarding the CPU, does upgrading to a 'better' CPU require a new motherboard as well? What are your recommendations for a CPU (and motherboard, if necessary)?

Jeff
 

logainofhades

Titan
Moderator
Yes, at this point, you would need a new CPU, Ram, and Motherboard. It depends on how much you are willing to spend, but this is a good middle of the road configuration.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor ($170.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI - B450 Gaming Plus ATX AM4 Motherboard ($99.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill - Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $370.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-30 17:18 EST-0500
 

jacopley

Commendable
Nov 30, 2018
14
0
1,510
so about $450 all-in (includes new power supply). Not bad (bad compared to the original cost of the machine, but IMO, not as bad as I was imagining).

So the current graphics card: AMD Radeon RX 480 4GB. Sufficient?
 

jacopley

Commendable
Nov 30, 2018
14
0
1,510
anyone have any input here on whether or not the AMD Radeon RX 480 4GB is sufficient for VR gaming, etc? or could the graphics card also be part of the problem mentioned in the original post?
 

jacopley

Commendable
Nov 30, 2018
14
0
1,510
ok well......upgraded the power supply to EVGA Supernova G3 Gold 650 W, and upgraded to all of this:
CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor
Motherboard: MSI - B450 Gaming Plus ATX AM4 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill - Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory

Stupid Oculus STILL CRASHES....and now says it thinks the headset's HDMI isn't connected (which it is). Only way i've found to remedy that one is a complete reboot.

So now what? Video card AMD Radeon RX 480 4GB just not up to snuff? What Video card would be recommended were I to upgrade?
 

jacopley

Commendable
Nov 30, 2018
14
0
1,510
can't really try a different HDMI cable.....the error is referring to the cable that comes out of the Oculus Rift headset into the graphics card HDMI port. And no...I did not do a fresh windows install. I don't believe I was provided with the Windows 10 software. Can I do the "reset this PC" option from within Windows10 (under Update & Security / Recovery)? Will that accomplish the same thing (removing all old drivers and installing all required new drivers associated to new hardware)?
 

jacopley

Commendable
Nov 30, 2018
14
0
1,510
Yeah so I keep getting HDMI errors and I'm starting to think that it IS the video card. I don't want to spend an arm and a leg on a new one, so what are some reasonably priced options here? Radeon RX 580? 4gb or 8gb?