Question I purchased a Pre-Built PC to Upgrade my current build. Have I made a mistake?

LittleRedPC

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Feb 16, 2016
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The time has come again when Im looking to upgrade my PC....

I managed to pick up a PC (Prebuild) yesterday for about £630, The PC is a grade A ex display unit from a popular shop in the UK (Currys PC World). From what I could tell it was a great deal and all 10 or so of them sold out within an hour.. It's my first time buying a pre build as I usually buy myself, But seemed a good price without the hassle of having to build.. The PC also comes with a years warrenty.

Inside it features ;
Intel Core i7-13700F Processor
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti
16 GB DDR5 (4800 MHz)
1 TB SDD B760 Motherboard
WiFi 6E

My old build consists of ;
AMD Ryzen 7 1700X
GTX 1080 Ti
16GB DDR4
B450M Mortar
3TB of HDD & SSD (Which Ill transfer over).

Ive figured I can probably get about £350-400 for my 1080 Build when I sell it, So the total cost of the upgrade to the new PC Build would be about £230ish give or take a few quid!

So far I've had mixed opinions, One person has told me I'd of been better off buying a Ryzen 5700x3D, An additional 16GB of RAM and also putting money towards a new GPU, However I've had a discussion with friends who've said it's a cracking deal that's worth it just for the more modern parts which offer more flexibility..

Im fully aware that the 1080Ti To the 4060 isnt a huge upgrade, However Im thinking that the main thing is that the rest of the parts are more modern and upgradable whereas my current 1060 Rig is quite outdated now.

Im thinking that further down the line, When I can afford to do so i can sell the 4060 and upgrade to a 4070 also.

I can still cancel the order if my way of thinking is incorrect.

Would just like some opinions / thoughts?

Thanking you all for the help as per usual!
 
The time has come again when Im looking to upgrade my PC....

I managed to pick up a PC (Prebuild) yesterday for about £630, The PC is a grade A ex display unit from a popular shop in the UK (Currys PC World). From what I could tell it was a great deal and all 10 or so of them sold out within an hour.. It's my first time buying a pre build as I usually buy myself, But seemed a good price without the hassle of having to build..

Inside it features ;
Intel Core i7-13700F Processor
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti
16 GB DDR5 (4800 MHz)
1 TB SDD B760 Motherboard
WiFi 6E

My old build consists of ;
AMD Ryzen 7 1700X
GTX 1080 Ti
16GB DDR4
B450M Mortar
3TB of HDD & SSD (Which Ill transfer over).

Ive figured I can probably get about £350-400 for my 1080 Build when I sell it, So the total cost of the upgrade to the new PC Build would be about £230ish give or take a few quid!

So far I've had mixed opinions, One person has told me I'd of been better off buying a Ryzen 5700x3D, An additional 16GB of RAM and also putting money towards a new GPU, However I've had a discussion with friends who've said it's a cracking deal that's worth it just for the more modern parts which offer more flexibility..

Im fully aware that the 1080Ti To the 4060 isnt a huge upgrade, However Im thinking that the main thing is that the rest of the parts are more modern and upgradable whereas my current 1060 Rig is quite outdated now.

Im thinking that further down the line, When I can afford to do so i can sell the 4060 and upgrade to a 4070 also.

I can still cancel the order if my way of thinking is incorrect.

Would just like some opinions / thoughts?

Thanking you all for the help as per usual!
Depends on your situation.You could do better with your pricing options by doing it yourself. That is assuming you already have some PC hardware skills.. Don't do what so many have done. Blow a ton on of money on parts. Unfortunately have no idea what they are doing. Researching is boring but the real way to do things. Then comparative shopping using price picker. Pre-built you accept the high build price plus endure the manufacturer's special brand of bloatware.
 
One person has told me I'd of been better off buying a Ryzen 5700x3D
Your Core i7 is quite a lot better than that R7 chip, so, nothing to worry about that.
i7-13700F vs R7 5700X3D comparison: https://technical.city/en/cpu/Core-i7-13700F-vs-Ryzen-7-5700X3D

An additional 16GB of RAM
RAM amount depends on usage case. For office/web browsing and most games, 16 GB is still enough. 32 GB would make sense if you play latest AAA titles. But for actual productive work (e.g 3D rendering and the like), 32 GB would be too little.

and also putting money towards a new GPU
RTX 4060 Ti is good enough for 1080p usage. Better GPU would only make sense if you want more FPS in game and/or are running 1440p or 4K monitor. Else-ways, beefier GPU would be waste of money when you can't utilize the full power it offers and/or you don't need it.

It's like when your daily driver has 200HP engine but then some bloke comes around and says to you that you should really buy yourself 500HP car.
Well, without actual need for the extra 300HP, it is waste of money.

When I can afford to do so i can sell the 4060 and upgrade to a 4070 also.
Do note that the PSU inside the PC is what defines which GPU you can go for. Also, by the time you'd end up looking for a new GPU, RTX 50-series is most likely out.

Overall, i would not look for a new GPU unless there is an actual need. Just because you can have better GPU, doesn't mean that you have to spend money for a better one.
 
Depends on your situation.You could do better with your pricing options by doing it yourself. That is assuming you already have some PC hardware skills.. Don't do what so many have done. Blow a ton on of money on parts. Unfortunately have no idea what they are doing. Researching is boring but the real way to do things. Then comparative shopping using price picker. Pre-built you accept the high build price plus endure the manufacturer's special brand of bloatware.
PC part picking & researching parts I'm not great at. Actually, Useless. I am able and have in the past put together and troubleshooted problematic PC and components. In the past, I've relied on people on these forums to pick parts for me while I've just assembled the purchased parts to make the PC - Haha.
I understand that pre-builds come at a Premium, However this PC is far below original retail price. Infact, new, I don't think I'd be able to assemble this PC even if I wanted to. Hence the purchase.. Just a matter of if it's worth selling the old rig and taking the new for an extra £230-250.

Your Core i7 is quite a lot better than that R7 chip, so, nothing to worry about that.
i7-13700F vs R7 5700X3D comparison: https://technical.city/en/cpu/Core-i7-13700F-vs-Ryzen-7-5700X3D


RAM amount depends on usage case. For office/web browsing and most games, 16 GB is still enough. 32 GB would make sense if you play latest AAA titles. But for actual productive work (e.g 3D rendering and the like), 32 GB would be too little.


RTX 4060 Ti is good enough for 1080p usage. Better GPU would only make sense if you want more FPS in game and/or are running 1440p or 4K monitor. Else-ways, beefier GPU would be waste of money when you can't utilize the full power it offers and/or you don't need it.

It's like when your daily driver has 200HP engine but then some bloke comes around and says to you that you should really buy yourself 500HP car.
Well, without actual need for the extra 300HP, it is waste of money.


Do note that the PSU inside the PC is what defines which GPU you can go for. Also, by the time you'd end up looking for a new GPU, RTX 50-series is most likely out.

Overall, i would not look for a new GPU unless there is an actual need. Just because you can have better GPU, doesn't mean that you have to spend money for a better one.

I should have mentioned that this PC is for gaming and a bit of general use. No need for editing or such.

The reason I'm after an upgrade is I'm finding my 1080 Ti falling a little short in the last year or so. I play some unoptimized games which are GPU, CPU And RAM Intensive (Leaks) and am looking for a slightly smoother experience. While I'm aware that the 4060 is only about 20% better than the 1080, Still seems a decent enough upgrade, As well as a huge CPU Bump as well as having more flexible, Modern parts for the price of an extra £250 once I've sold the current 1080 Rig.

As far as I'm aware this build comes with a 500W PSU. Not enough for a 4070 but this could also be upgraded when the time is right?

Just unsure if my way of thinking is the correct way of thinking, or I should just upgrade the 1080 Rig which'd cost me a fair few bucks more.
 
While I'm aware that the 4060 is only about 20% better than the 1080
You listed RTX 4060 Ti and GTX 1080 Ti, but are now talking about RTX 4060 and GTX 1080. These two are different GPUs. Ti version is more powerful than non-Ti version.

RTX 4060 is ~20% better than GTX 1080, wile being essentially equal to GTX 1080 Ti.
RTX 4060 Ti is ~30% better than GTX 1080 Ti and ~60% better than GTX 1080.

As far as I'm aware this build comes with a 500W PSU.
Wattage alone doesn't tell much about PSU. Make and model (or part number) would tell far more, namely how good of a build quality PSU it really is.

E.g if i have an option between great quality 650W PSU and crap quality 1000W PSU, i'd pick great quality PSU any day of the week.
Since with great quality PSU, i can be certain that the PSU will last me easy 10 years and doesn't degrade my components over time. While with crap quality PSU, that's a ticking time bomb and there's no telling when it decides to go "boom" and fry everything it is connected to.

but this could also be upgraded when the time is right?
Yes, if given the PSU in there is ATX and not some proprietary design (e.g like Dell prebuilt PCs have them).

Just unsure if my way of thinking is the correct way of thinking, or I should just upgrade the 1080 Rig which'd cost me a fair few bucks more.
Your GTX 1080 Ti rig would need new CPU-MoBo-RAM combo as minimum. That would essentially be new PC. So, easier to buy new build than upgrading the one you have, while re-using other components. Especially when you don't have know-how or willingness to gut out the PC and replace individual components.
 
You listed RTX 4060 Ti and GTX 1080 Ti, but are now talking about RTX 4060 and GTX 1080. These two are different GPUs. Ti version is more powerful than non-Ti version.

RTX 4060 is ~20% better than GTX 1080, wile being essentially equal to GTX 1080 Ti.
RTX 4060 Ti is ~30% better than GTX 1080 Ti and ~60% better than GTX 1080.


Wattage alone doesn't tell much about PSU. Make and model (or part number) would tell far more, namely how good of a build quality PSU it really is.

E.g if i have an option between great quality 650W PSU and crap quality 1000W PSU, i'd pick great quality PSU any day of the week.
Since with great quality PSU, i can be certain that the PSU will last me easy 10 years and doesn't degrade my components over time. While with crap quality PSU, that's a ticking time bomb and there's no telling when it decides to go "boom" and fry everything it is connected to.


Yes, if given the PSU in there is ATX and not some proprietary design (e.g like Dell prebuilt PCs have them).


Your GTX 1080 Ti rig would need new CPU-MoBo-RAM combo as minimum. That would essentially be new PC. So, easier to buy new build than upgrading the one you have, while re-using other components. Especially when you don't have know-how or willingness to gut out the PC and replace individual components.
Firstly, Thanks for taking the time out to reply.

Apologies, I made a mistake on my last comment, Unsure how I managed that. We're talking TI as I initially stated. I have a 1080 TI Currently and the new build will have the 4060 TI. Certainly getting a bump in GPU power.

I have had a look online in regards to the PSU, But isn't easy to find out exactly what PSU is inside until I get it however from what I can see from one source it's the Acer DC.5001B.00A(?). If this is no good, I can always switch out the PSU I have in my current build which is a Corsair CX750M if that's a better option or just spend a few bob on a better PSU?

From the summary you're offering, It certainly seems the best bet to keep the 4060 TI Build I ordered when it arrives, Throw my HDD's in there and then sell my current 1080 TI Build as I initially thought I should do. Its certainly a better PC with more modern parts and the upcharge doesn't seem too bad for the upgrade I'm going to be receiving in return.

If you'd like the exact PC and Model it's the Orion 3000 PO3 - 650.
https://www.acer.com/gb-en/predator...es/predator-orion/orion-3000/pdp/DG.BK4EK.004
 
IMO, for the price on the floor model, the fact that you aren't really enthused about researching and building your own, and the warranty I don't call it a bad deal in itself. I wonder certain details as to how the warranty works and what could void it. Once you sell the old rig on and assuming the price range you mentioned it will be an even better deal. You have already touched on some of the weak points of having a prebuild so I think you went into it weighing the pros and cons.
 
PC part picking & researching parts I'm not great at. Actually, Useless. I am able and have in the past put together and troubleshooted problematic PC and components. In the past, I've relied on people on these forums to pick parts for me while I've just assembled the purchased parts to make the PC - Haha.
I understand that pre-builds come at a Premium, However this PC is far below original retail price. Infact, new, I don't think I'd be able to assemble this PC even if I wanted to. Hence the purchase.. Just a matter of if it's worth selling the old rig and taking the new for an extra £230-250.



I should have mentioned that this PC is for gaming and a bit of general use. No need for editing or such.

The reason I'm after an upgrade is I'm finding my 1080 Ti falling a little short in the last year or so. I play some unoptimized games which are GPU, CPU And RAM Intensive (Leaks) and am looking for a slightly smoother experience. While I'm aware that the 4060 is only about 20% better than the 1080, Still seems a decent enough upgrade, As well as a huge CPU Bump as well as having more flexible, Modern parts for the price of an extra £250 once I've sold the current 1080 Rig.

As far as I'm aware this build comes with a 500W PSU. Not enough for a 4070 but this could also be upgraded when the time is right?

Just unsure if my way of thinking is the correct way of thinking, or I should just upgrade the 1080 Rig which'd cost me a fair few bucks more.
I still have a working windows 10, 4790k ,1080ti and 32gigs of DDR3. Great machine in its day. Can't update to win.
You are thinking 2015 with a 500w supply. Power supplies have a updated ATX 3.0 standards. Dell is well know for selling proprietary hardware like power supplies that only work with Dell PC's.
Personally, if you have zero or very little experience with PC internals, find a friend who does or buy a prebuilt.
4060 is not much of a gaming card. RTX40xx video cards went out of production last November. Big time gap between 4000 exit and 5000 series entrance. Looking to upgrade my 3080ti. Try to find a 4070ti. Good luck.
 
Two points:
- I would not trust the PSU in prebuild, but your CXM isn't stellar either especially if it has few years usage; overall that's for sure weak point
- but more important part is CPU cooling, the link you provided mentions nothing on the matter and 13700 needs a quite serious cooling solution to bring its full potential (although a B760 mobo can be limiting factor as well here)
Will not comment on value as that depends on local prices a lot but overall this setup does not look balanced to me. And only one year warranty while most parts have 2+ years? That does not spark confidence either.
 
But isn't easy to find out exactly what PSU is inside until I get it however from what I can see from one source it's the Acer DC.5001B.00A(?).
Putting that into Google shows me OEM PSU, which is either Liteon or Chicony made. To know exactly what you have, you should need to temporarily remove the PSU from the PC and take a pic of the sticker on it, to see PSU's make/model and rail layout.

When removed, it should look similar to this:

DC-5001B-00A-original-Acer-Desktop-PC-power-supply-500-Watt-pId-77410888_2.jpg

Direct link if image doesn't load: https://www.ipc-computer.eu/largeim...p-PC-power-supply-500-Watt-pId-77410888_2.jpg

If it really is similar (or same) to this, then that is 4x +12V rail PSU and not a 500W unit. More like ~200W unit, since that's what +12V rail can do. And one can't just simply add up all individual +12V rails to increase total output wattage. Meaning, that the PSU is essentially crap quality.

You can upload the taken pic to the net, e.g www.imgur.com and share the image here.

If this is no good, I can always switch out the PSU I have in my current build which is a Corsair CX750M if that's a better option or just spend a few bob on a better PSU?
CXm is mediocre quality PSU. Good for powering office PCs without dedicated GPU, but for any PC with dedicated GPU (e.g gaming rig), that PSU doesn't have enough build quality.

Here, i'd look towards new PSU right away. Preferably ATX 3.0/3.1 version.
E.g best 850W units here: https://hwbusters.com/best_picks/best-atxv3-pcie5-ready-psus-picks-hardware-busters/4/

As i said above, PSU wattage is the one that defines which GPU you can go for.

E.g RTX 4090 needs 1200W PSU, preferably one with ATX 3.0 standard. 1500/1600W PSU would be preferred.
RTX 4080/4080 Super/3090/3090 Ti needs 1000W PSU.
RTX 3070/3080/3080 Ti needs 850W PSU.
RTX 4070 Ti/4070 Ti Super needs 750W PSU.
RTX 4070/4070 Super/4060 Ti/3060/3060 Ti needs 650W PSU.
RTX 4060 needs 550W PSU.

So, for your RTX 4060 Ti, i'd get 650W PSU (it gives nice wattage headroom). But if you plan to upgrade to e.g RTX 4070 Ti Super, then 750W PSU would do better.
Since RTX 50-series isn't out yet, we can't tell their power consumption and what PSU wattage would be proper for them.