[SOLVED] Is my 2010 PC worth upgrading at all?

[nascent]

I have an old beast, an Alienware Aurora from 2010 with a few upgrades over time (GPU, OS). What it is now:
CPU: Intel Core i7 X 980 (6 core, 3.3GHz)
RAM: 24GB DDR3 RAM
GPU: GTX 760
Boot drive: 300GB - SATA-II
Storage drive:
1TB RAID 1 (2x 1TB SATA-II) -- replaced 1 failed drive in 2018

IMO it's held up well for its age, the CPU/RAM still feels reasonable despite being almost 10 years (!) old, or maybe I'm being naive. But I would like a couple upgrades:
GPU: RTX 2060 (or better)
Boot drive: SSD of some kind, preferably 500GB or more, for faster boot time of OS and certain games (Battlefield, Squad)

Questions:

1. Is my ancient rig compatible with a new RTX card? I've had a hard time trying to figure out if the Alienware OEM motherboard is going to play nicely or not. BIOS says it's "Alienware A07"
2. The existing drives are SATA-II, again having a hard time figuring out if the mobo supports SATA-III but I'm guessing not... will I need a SATA-II SSD or can I safely use a SATA-III SSD?
3. If this was your PC, would you bother with these upgrades or just start over?

 

[NightHawkRMX]

1) Technically you could install an rtx 2060, but your cpu is very old and would limit the 2060. Your psu may also pose a limit for a new gpu. What psu model do you have.
2)A sata 3 ssd will work with that board, but it may be limited by the sata 2 interface. Id get a new sata 3 ssd such as a 860 evo or mx 500 for reliability and simplicity.
3)I would put a new ssd and maybe a newer non rtx card not limited by the cpu. If you have the funds to upgrade you could build a 9900k,2600, or 2700x system depending on budget.
That system must have been soooo insane back in 2010. Its still more powerfull than my entry level gaming pc from 2018.

 

[The_Prophecy]

If you can afford it, I would start new in this instance. I'm not sure trying to upgrade a system that old would really be worth the amount of money you would need to spend. To me it makes more sense to spend some more and build new. You'll have a lot more options available with regards to how to want to put the system together, and as remixislandmusic mentioned, you would be limited to what you could upgrade, and those components would then in turn be limited as to the benefit they could provide.

 

[nascent]

I think I have a 875W PSU. I can't actually see the sticker without removing it from the housing...

When you say the GPU will be limited by the CPU, are you referring to hitting a CPU bottleneck before maxing out the GPU? What "non RTX" would be a better paired GPU in this case, a GTX 1060?

Obviously if I need a new CPU it's time for a completely new build... whether I have the budget is an open question.

 

[The Paladin]

Time to upgrade to be honest you could push your GPU to a 1060 used but I would not get an RTX on that motherboard.
as for SSD you will see performance improivaments but 3GB/s is a far cray from the 6GB/s it could handle.
but cheap options.. 500GB Evo 860 @ frys with special code are 76 bucks.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

You cpu would bottleneck any newer gpu. You could contine to use it wit a new ssd and something like a gtx 1060 or 970. If you really want more performance i would just get an all new pc. What would be your budget?

 

[nascent]

My budget would probably be around 1k. I spent over 3k on this rig in 2010, lol, but that was before kids and mortgage.

 

[punkncat]

If you have an open pcie slot you could use a pci nvme and would make quite a difference. According to your upgrade time frame I would do that and a video card like a 2060, or so. Then, when you have a bit more in funds you can upgrade to a new system, swap in the m.2 from the pci adapter and GPU as the basis (already purchased) for the new mobo/cpu/ram/psu combo that you need.
I wouldn't count on really old HDD for reliability, but if they continue to operate for non critical storage you could bring them along for the time being.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor | $164.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard | Asus - ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard | $128.90 @ OutletPC
Memory | Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory | $109.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Crucial - MX500 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $134.85 @ OutletPC
Video Card | Zotac - GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB GAMING Video Card | $348.99 @ SuperBiiz
Case | NZXT - H500 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case | $69.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply | Corsair - RMx (2018) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $99.99 @ Amazon
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $1097.70
| Mail-in rebates | -$40.00
| Total | $1057.70
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-02-19 06:19 EST-0500 |