Question Looking for upgrade advice

[Azterix]

Thanks in advance for any opinions you have. My wife's computer which I built in 2017 is starting to show its age a bit. She games on 1440p ultrawide. Plays a lot of World of Warcraft and games like Baulers Gate and Starfield. Based on the current build (specs below), what do you think the best bang for the buck upgrades are. We are starting to get down to mid graphics setting or we lose frame rates. I am just looking for reasonable upgrades.

CPU - i7-7700k
Mother Board - Asus Tuf Z270 ATX LGA 1151
Memory 32GB G.Skill Trident z DDR4-3200 CL16
Storage - Samsung Evo 250GB SSD
Graphics Vard - Asus Strix GTX1080 TI 11GB
Case - NZXT S340 Elite
Power Supply - EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G3 750W 80+ Gold

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

built in 2017
So the PSU's 5 years old. You should look into a platform revamp, IMHO but at the very least, get a GPU upgrade.

Can you state your budget for your upgrade(s), your location and your preferred site for purchase? I see you changing the case as well since 2023 might not be a good thing for a case that was good for it's time not with hot hardware, mind you.

 

[CountMike]

Thanks in advance for any opinions you have. My wife's computer which I built in 2017 is starting to show its age a bit. She games on 1440p ultrawide. Plays a lot of World of Warcraft and games like Baulers Gate and Starfield. Based on the current build (specs below), what do you think the best bang for the buck upgrades are. We are starting to get down to mid graphics setting or we lose frame rates. I am just looking for reasonable upgrades.

CPU - i7-7700k
Mother Board - Asus Tuf Z270 ATX LGA 1151
Memory 32GB G.Skill Trident z DDR4-3200 CL16
Storage - Samsung Evo 250GB SSD
Graphics Vard - Asus Strix GTX1080 TI 11GB
Case - NZXT S340 Elite
Power Supply - EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G3 750W 80+ Gold

Frankly, whole new PC

 

[kira-faye]

Petty much have to do a full rebuild at this point, there's no significant upgrade that will work with your motherboard, CPU-wise, and the 7700K will strangle a modern GPU.

You could pick up a 5800X3D and X570 board from someone who recently upgraded to AM5 and reuse your RAM, but if budget will allow (probably another $150-200) I'd build AM5 (current AMD) so you have an upgrade path - no more chips will be released for AM4. That will require DDR5 RAM, though, so you can't really reuse anything. Case, I guess, but at that point I'd either keep this machine together as a backup or sell/donate it.

7800X3D is ideal, DDR5-6000 or better, a motherboard that fits budget and has the features you're looking for. I'd also recommend a new PSU, that unit will have derated at 6 years old. Will probably be fine for a while, but you don't want to risk new components on it.

So far as GPU, 7800XT or 7900XT on the AMD side, RTX 4070TI for Nvidia, I'd say those are the go-tos at 1440P right now. If those are too much, look in to last gen.

 

[Azterix]

Disappointing that there doesnt seem to be anything worth doing. I just built myself a new PC and was hoping to give hers a bump for a few more years. I was looking to spend under $500.

 

[kira-faye]

Disappointing that there doesnt seem to be anything worth doing. I just built myself a new PC and was hoping to give hers a bump for a few more years. I was looking to spend under $500.

$100 or so on a new PSU, and the rest on the fastest GPU you can find, with the understanding you won't be getting anywhere near the best it can do out of it, I guess.

Far from ideal, but probably the best you can do with that budget.

 

[Azterix]

$100 or so on a new PSU, and the rest on the fastest GPU you can find, with the understanding you won't be getting anywhere near the best it can do out of it, I guess.

Far from ideal, but probably the best you can do with that budget.

I appreciate it the input. I just don't feel like doing a completely new build. Maybe just run with it as is for a while.

 

[--SID--]

$100 or so on a new PSU,

Why do you want him to replace a high-end PSU with 10 year warranty after 6 years? That's wasting money.

 

[kira-faye]

Why do you want him to replace a high-end PSU with 10 year warranty after 6 years? That's wasting money.

Thought the G3s were kind of junky, but I'll be the first to admit I didn't look up the specific model.

 

[Why_Me]

Thanks in advance for any opinions you have. My wife's computer which I built in 2017 is starting to show its age a bit. She games on 1440p ultrawide. Plays a lot of World of Warcraft and games like Baulers Gate and Starfield. Based on the current build (specs below), what do you think the best bang for the buck upgrades are. We are starting to get down to mid graphics setting or we lose frame rates. I am just looking for reasonable upgrades.

CPU - i7-7700k
Mother Board - Asus Tuf Z270 ATX LGA 1151
Memory 32GB G.Skill Trident z DDR4-3200 CL16
Storage - Samsung Evo 250GB SSD
Graphics Vard - Asus Strix GTX1080 TI 11GB
Case - NZXT S340 Elite
Power Supply - EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G3 750W 80+ Gold

Reuse your RAM. The next upgrade would be your gpu.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *Intel Core i5-12600KF 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor ($194.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: *Deepcool AG620 67.88 CFM CPU Cooler ($41.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: *MSI MAG B760 TOMAHAWK WIFI DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($159.94 @ Amazon)
Total: $395.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-11-10 02:20 EST-0500

 

[Why_Me]

Less expensive upgrade.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *Intel Core i5-12400F 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor ($144.97 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: *Thermalright Assassin King SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler ($19.89 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: *Gigabyte B660M AORUS ELITE AX DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $294.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-11-10 02:24 EST-0500

 

[sonofjesse]

Complete rebuild. Prices are not too bad right now.

Go AM5 so you can upgrade the CPU in several years and get some more life out of her.

If you have an MC close be sure to get an AM5 bundle their to get the big discount/savings.