Question Need an Ugrade from GeForce® GTX 1660 Ti

[cnaudiffred]

USAGE: Gaming. Plays Call of Duty, Rainbow Six, etc. Not 100% sure what newer games played are.

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1660 Ti Graphics (6 GB GDDR6 dedicated) / 400 W internal power supply

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: Full System Specs Here: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06425046
or can just search " HP Pavilion Gaming Desktop 690-0073w "


This was just a budget buy in the beginning, but now it is time to upgrade and was just hoping to upgrade the existing setup rather than buy all new. From what I see the 1660Ti that is currently installed is probably max for me power supply. Would you suggest a new power supply before any upgrades? If so I will take that advice and upgrade the power supply then I can just research what graphics cards for the upgraded power supply. Now for the rest of the setup....does the rest of the setup also limit me on what power supply I can upgrade to? The main goal is to upgrade the graphics card, I will work on the rest after that, unless I need to upgrade other stuff as well. We have already added RAM to 16GB also. He is running everything from an external hard drive as well, I think a larger SSD would speed things up also as far as loading time at least. But anyways, like I said the end goal is the Graphics Card. Thank you in advance.

 

[Elezondo]

If you want to upgrade the video card you’re most likely going to need a new power supply. Unfortunately as an HP prebuilt It’s got one of those weird propriety motherboards and power supplies. Can you upgrade the power supply? Yes, but it’s going to be from a very limited selection of other HP sourced power supplies, off the shelf generic power supply won’t cut it.

 

[faalin]

From what i can find on the inter web it dosent look like you wont be able to upgrade. The PSU is proprietary so swapping it out to something larger wont work

 

[cnaudiffred]

So, it sounds like the easiest thing is to build his own setup (but I will look into these obscure HP Power supplies that you speak of first). I wouldn't think the current case would accept a Motherboard that I buy, but I could check to see if the screw holes line up with others. If that's the case then I could change out the motherboard then get a better PSU and GPU and then processor. Can I upgrade a motherboard and re-use my current processor or would I need to buy a whole new processor if I go that route? I will research the PSU's first though and see what's easiest if there are any good options for HP.

 

[logainofhades]

I would suggest a new system, and maybe sell that one, or use it as a secondary rig.

 

[Elezondo]

With the exception of motherboard and power supply you should be able to swap everything else over to a new case with a standard motherboard and power supply. With the HP board, the front I/O is built into the motherboard.

 

[Eximo]

Proprietary motherboard, chassis, and power supply. Certainly worth replacing if you are going to be getting into PC building.

The processor can certainly be re-used. You just need a 300 series motherboard from Intel. Z390, Z370, H370, B360/B365, H310 I think covers most of them. (Assuming i5 9th gen like they list)

PCPartPicker Part List

Motherboard: ASRock Z390 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Best Buy)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2021) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $304.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-11-29 15:04 EST-0500

Replacing a 1660Ti on the other hand, going to be very expensive.

RX3060, RTX2070 Super, RTX3060Ti, RTX3070, RTX3070Ti.

Power supply above is good until about an RTX3080Ti, even a 3090 with the limited power your CPU can draw.

 

[Elezondo]

One more thing about swapping to a new case, don’t swap the CPU cooler, get something better.

 

[cnaudiffred]

Thank you all here for the help and guidance. I think that about answers all my questions.

 

[Eximo]

Yes, the HP cooler may be reliant on the motherboard for its mounting mechanism. Something like a Vetroo V5 is a cheap $30 cooler that will work. Be Quiet! Pure Rock Slim 2, Deepcool Gammaxx 400 V2 are sub $30 and would also take care of an i5 quite well.

 

[cnaudiffred]

Yes, the HP cooler may be reliant on the motherboard for its mounting mechanism. Something like a Vetroo V5 is a cheap $30 cooler that will work. Be Quiet! Pure Rock Slim 2, Deepcool Gammaxx 400 V2 are sub $30 and would also take care of an i5 quite well.

Yes, the HP cooler may be reliant on the motherboard for its mounting mechanism. Something like a Vetroo V5 is a cheap $30 cooler that will work. Be Quiet! Pure Rock Slim 2, Deepcool Gammaxx 400 V2 are sub $30 and would also take care of an i5 quite well.

Yeh, since I was going to go with building it now, I was gonna change the cooler anyways, but also thought about upgrading the processor since i'm going this far already. Amazing, if I would have built from the beginning I could have saved a little money instead of going cheap, although it kept up with all the gaming for 2 years now.

 

[Eximo]

Yeh, since I was going to go with building it now, I was gonna change the cooler anyways, but also though about upgrading the processor since i'm going this far already. Amazing, if I would have built from the beginning I could have saved a little money instead of going cheap, although it kept up with all the gaming for 2 years now.

If you had bought parts back then, sure. After mid-year 2020, basically getting a GPU became a bit of a nightmare, so building it yourself has its disadvantages if you can't afford to wait in lines before stores open, pay special membership fees, buy non-optional bundles from Newegg, or pay 75-100% over retail for a GPU on ebay.

About the best way to get a graphics card is to buy a pre-built, but you can go to boutique builders and at least select some general parts, usually little choice on exactly what model GPU you are going to get, and there are significant wait times.

NZXT BLD service, Newegg's AZZA line (they also have a build service), People don't like CyberPowerPC and iBuyPower, however, when you aren't buying their off the shelf models you can pick pretty much anything, all stock parts.

About the only OEM PC I would still recommend, oddly, is the HP Omen line. They have one desktop that is basically all off the shelf parts either AMD or Intel. They are the highly customizeable ones. Just make sure to check the GPU they put in there. (I recommend getting the standard memory config and then upgrading that yourself later, opt for a larger NVMe SSD to start)

 

[cnaudiffred]

If you had bought parts back then, sure. After mid-year 2020, basically getting a GPU became a bit of a nightmare, so building it yourself has its disadvantages if you can't afford to wait in lines before stores open, pay special membership fees, buy non-optional bundles from Newegg, or pay 75-100% over retail for a GPU on ebay.

About the best way to get a graphics card is to buy a pre-built, but you can go to boutique builders and at least select some general parts, usually little choice on exactly what model GPU you are going to get, and there are significant wait times.

NZXT BLD service, Newegg's AZZA line (they also have a build service), People don't like CyberPowerPC and iBuyPower, however, when you aren't buying their off the shelf models you can pick pretty much anything, all stock parts.

About the only OEM PC I would still recommend, oddly, is the HP Omen line. They have one desktop that is basically all off the shelf parts either AMD or Intel. They are the highly customizeable ones. Just make sure to check the GPU they put in there. (I recommend getting the standard memory config and then upgrading that yourself later, opt for a larger NVMe SSD to start)

sounds like the perfect time for him to start his part time job.

 

[Eximo]

Yeah, upgrading from a mid-range gaming rig to anything at this point is straight into luxury territory.

 

[Why_Me]

Yeh, since I was going to go with building it now, I was gonna change the cooler anyways, but also thought about upgrading the processor since i'm going this far already. Amazing, if I would have built from the beginning I could have saved a little money instead of going cheap, although it kept up with all the gaming for 2 years now.

What's your budget?

 

[Bob.B]

USAGE: Gaming. Plays Call of Duty, Rainbow Six, etc. Not 100% sure what newer games played are.

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1660 Ti Graphics (6 GB GDDR6 dedicated) / 400 W internal power supply

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: Full System Specs Here: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06425046
or can just search " HP Pavilion Gaming Desktop 690-0073w "


This was just a budget buy in the beginning, but now it is time to upgrade and was just hoping to upgrade the existing setup rather than buy all new. From what I see the 1660Ti that is currently installed is probably max for me power supply. Would you suggest a new power supply before any upgrades? If so I will take that advice and upgrade the power supply then I can just research what graphics cards for the upgraded power supply. Now for the rest of the setup....does the rest of the setup also limit me on what power supply I can upgrade to? The main goal is to upgrade the graphics card, I will work on the rest after that, unless I need to upgrade other stuff as well. We have already added RAM to 16GB also. He is running everything from an external hard drive as well, I think a larger SSD would speed things up also as far as loading time at least. But anyways, like I said the end goal is the Graphics Card. Thank you in advance.

Couple of problems.
There may not be an upgrade path for the psu.
Now is a terrible time to buy a gpu.....prices are wacko.

So working with what you have run this with the browser closed and post a LINK to the results page.
PC Benchmark

 

[cnaudiffred]

What's your budget?

i'm comfortable with 1,200. But would feel waay better with 800-1,000 obviously.

 

[Eximo]

I'm afraid there is no GPU readily available that could replace a 1660Ti for a reasonable price, I think building from scratch is not going to happen. Though you could go quite high end on a replacement CPU/Motherboard/Storage/Chassis for future upgrades:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-11400 2.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Walmart)
CPU Cooler: Vetroo V5 52 CFM CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B560 Pro4 ATX LGA1200 Motherboard ($122.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case ($94.99 @ Best Buy)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2021) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $787.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-11-30 08:59 EST-0500

I did a few builds with iBuyPower and CyberPowerPC, to get an actual upgrade you are looking at around $2100, for an Intel 12th gen i5 + RTX3070, and not the best part selections.

HP seems to have a back order through February on anything substantial.

A little above your price range are systems that include an RTX2060, which is a minor upgrade from a 1660Ti.

It might make sense to try and track down a GPU first. Newegg Shuffle, waiting it out at a Best Buy (you have to now pay a membership fee to get high end GPUs and consoles), drive to your nearest Microcenter.

 

[Why_Me]

i'm comfortable with 1,200. But would feel waay better with 800-1,000 obviously.

I'd wait until the middle of January ... less than two months from now and read the reviews on the new Alder Lake cpu's along with the B660 boards. You'll probably be looking at $200 for a new i5 12400F and around $300 for a new i7 12700F. A new B660 board with decent VRM's will go for around $150 if I had to guess. Here's two links you want to check out.

https://www.techpowerup.com/289216/...cessors-arrive-mid-jan-possible-specs-surface

Intel Core i5-12400 Benchmarks Leak Out: Faster than the Ryzen 5 5600X and $100 Cheaper | Hardware Times

Intel’s Core i5-12400 and the rest of its non-K siblings are yet to hit the market, but going by early benchmarks, it’s going to be a midrange monster. The latest leaks coming out of China indicate that the Core i5-12400 is going to be faster than the Ryzen 5 5600X, all the while being around …

www.hardwaretimes.com

 

[cnaudiffred]

seems we may have to increase the budget, like you said we can upgrade everything around the GPU for future upgrades if needed.

 

[Eximo]

As long as the 12600K and the Z690 DDR4 boards are still available, might as well:

Might have to order a bracket for the CPU cooler though. Just plop the 1660Ti in there. There are many games that will enjoy the extra CPU performance.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor ($299.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock 4 CPU Cooler ($64.90 @ B&H)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z690 UD DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($199.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case ($94.99 @ Best Buy)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2021) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1044.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-11-30 15:02 EST-0500

 

[cnaudiffred]

I am going to run a test to see, after all of this discussion perhaps he can temporarily benefit from just upgrading his CPU for now, until the GPU market calms down. This would obviously need a new power supply, cooler, CPU and CASE and might as well double his RAM also.

 

[Bob.B]

I am going to run a test to see, after all of this discussion perhaps he can temporarily benefit from just upgrading his CPU for now, until the GPU market calms down. This would obviously need a new power supply, cooler, CPU and CASE and might as well double his RAM also.

Yup it's what I asked you above.
Can you pick around the edges a little to bump things along without spending a ton of bucks while waiting for the gpu market to come back down.
It's your call if you want to share the benchmark I showed.

 

[cnaudiffred]

Yup it's what I asked you above.
Can you pick around the edges a little to bump things along without spending a ton of bucks while waiting for the gpu market to come back down.
It's your call if you want to share the benchmark I showed.

i'll try that one, and I also have 3Dmark also, I will run both tonight and post the results, sorry for not doing that in the beginning, might change things.

 

[cnaudiffred]

i'll try that one, and I also have 3Dmark also, I will run both tonight and post the results, sorry for not doing that in the beginning, might change things.

UserBenchmark Test Results

https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/48361823

will post the other one when its done as well.