Looking to Upgrade

[yerokmi]

My current computer is about 10 years old. I've upgraded some parts over the years and I'm trying to figure out the best/cheapest way to upgrade my computer to be compatible with some of the newer games. Ideally I'd like a Graphics card with 8gb dedicated RAM and 16gb of overall system RAM for the computer.

I'm open to any suggestions about the best route to go to upgrade this.

Here's what I've got right now:
Processor
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80GHz
Number of Cores 4

Memory
RAM 4.0 GB

Video Card
Video Card NVIDIA GeForce GT 440
Dedicated Memory 1.0 GB

Operating System
Operating System Microsoft Windows 10 (build 17134), 64-bit

1 TB HDD

 

[zyh1987]

what psu do you have? Budget and location? assume you are in the USA.

And you can reuse your case and hdd, I added an ssd so that you os can be ported to ssd to improve system responsiveness.

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hjRdFt
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hjRdFt/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor ($178.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - B360M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($68.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: ADATA - XPG GAMMIX D10 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($157.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital - Black PCIe 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte - Radeon RX 580 8GB Gaming 8G Video Card ($269.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair - CX (2017) 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($38.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($89.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $884.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-07-11 15:59 EDT-0400

 

[zyh1987]

Correction, you already has an OS. So $800 ish

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/yNYx9J
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/yNYx9J/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor ($178.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - B360M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($68.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: ADATA - XPG GAMMIX D10 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($157.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital - Black PCIe 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte - Radeon RX 580 8GB Gaming 8G Video Card ($269.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair - CX (2017) 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($38.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $794.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-07-11 16:01 EDT-0400

 

[yerokmi]

what psu do you have? Budget and location? assume you are in the USA.

I have a 550W Power Supply. I'm located in the USA. I'm looking to keep my upgrades in the $400-$550 range if possible. If not, I will probably need to buy a part or two at a time until I have enough saved up.

 

[zyh1987]

If you are feeling comfortable using your old psu, I think you can do so. I got the same rx580, its good, able to run pubg on 2k with 60 + fps. At ultra aa pp texture, settings.

 

[geofelt]

The primary components for a gaming rig is the cpu and the gpu.
Both your current cpu and your gpu are no longer relevant.
Plan on a new cpu/motherboard/ddr4 upgrade along with a new graphics card.

What is your budget?

For planning purposes, a balanced gamer will budget 2x the cost of the cpu for the graphics cards.

If you favor fast action shooters, budget more for the graphics card.
Do not worry about the amount of vram that a card contains.
It will be appropriate to the power of the card.
And... AMD and Nvidia use vram differently. Base your decision not on specs but on performance tiers, particularly if you mostly play just one game.


Most games like sims, mmo and strategy games can rarely usefully use more than 2-3 cores.
It is more important that they be fast.

If you will play multiplayer games or do heavy multitasking, then more threads is a plus.

For the cpu, ryzen and intel 8th gen processors will be what you want.

Your 550w psu can handle a modern graphics card as good as a GTX1080. Keep it if it is running ok and is not junk quality.
Likely, you can reuse your case and hard drive.
But, today, always plan on a ssd of 240gb or better for the windows C drive.

On ram, consider carefully how much ram you will eventually need.
8gb is plenty for gaming and general work.
If you do heavy multitasking or run apps which can take advantage of much ram, that is a different matter.

Do not plan on adding ram later. Ram must be in a single kit to be supported.
Pay attention to compatibility if you look at ryzen processors.
Not all DDR4 ram kits will be compatible with ryzen.

Put together a proposed list for review.
You will get many opinions, and we all have our favorite brands.
Still, you will know that the parts are compatible.

 

[zyh1987]

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/BDMhjy
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/BDMhjy/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel - Core i3-8100 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($118.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI - H310M PRO-VH Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($55.87 @ Amazon)
Memory: Team - Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2800 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Patriot - Burst 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($28.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB SC GAMING Video Card ($269.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $553.33
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-07-11 16:26 EDT-0400

You get about roughly 80% of the previous build due to the slower cpu. Ram has been down graded, and other components has been downgraded.

 

[yerokmi]

Since even $680 is a bit too much over-budget for me at the moment, which upgrade(s) of those listed is going to make the biggest difference immediately? Is it better to upgrade my motherboard, CPU, and RAM first? Or should I update my GPU first?

In the short-term, I would like to play Final Fantasy 15. That requires a significantly better set-up than I have right now. Long-term, I would like to play VR games...many of which have a 16GB RAM requirement. I don't need the 16GB RAM now, but would like a set-up that could give me that eventually. I haven't been able to find a clear answer about whether a Radeon RX 580 is significantly better/worse than a GTX 1070, though the Radeon GPU is a lot cheaper.

 

[zyh1987]

rx580 is the same as 1060, 1070 is for sure faster, I can tell you that.

 

[yerokmi]

rx580 is the same as 1060, 1070 is for sure faster, I can tell you that.

Let's say I replace my graphics card with a 1070 this month and then replace the other stuff in a few months, will there be any difference in performance simply having the more powerful graphics card? Please excuse my ignorance.

 

[zyh1987]

i have tried to use a core2quad q9550 (it's slower than your 860, but should be quite similar as they are only 1 generation apart, i also overclock the cpu by 20% ). with 8gb ram, i have tried to pair it with a rx580.

here are my experience.

my cpu usage is constantly @ 90~100%, after upgrading the cpu to a r5 1600, 8gb ram. my fps in PUBG went from 30~60 fps very low to 100-120 fps with a mixed of ultra and very low settings. it's going to be better than your existing card on games that you play right now. however, running new game, will have issue due to low system memory. and slower cpu.