New build or upgrade prebuilt?

[ubaba3]

I bought the Lenovo x315 about three years ago, but it has been underwhelming for my gaming uses recently. I play things like League of Legends and Rainbow six siege, and it runs fairly well for the most part until teamfights or big firefights, where the framerate tanks. I have farily low graphic settings on both games.

I am not very knowledgable about building computers or what the best thing to do here is. Is there some component of my computer that could be upgraded to improve my performance or should I just build a new computer? If I build a new one, are there still parts that I could take out of the prebuilt to save some money?

I just have the stock components, but here is a list of them.

Processor: AMD A8 7600 / 3.1 GHz
Graphics: AMD Radeon R9 255
RAM: 8 GB DDR3-1600MHz
Motherboard: AMD A78
Storage: 1 TB HDD 7200 RPM
Power Supply: 450 Watt
OS: Windows 10

I don't need games to run on the best graphics, I just want them to look nice enough (such as good render distance in FPS's makes the game more enjoyable) and run smoothly. I don't want to spend too much money, but I will pay for higher end things if they will make the games run smoothly.

Thanks in advance, I appreciate any help!

 

[scout_03]

that r9 gpu how much ram it have on it also 8 gig for today games as ram is a bit low with a 400 watts psu .

 

[ritvarsdavis]

I'd suggest building a new system all together. Knowing your budget would help create a build.

 

[ubaba3]

I'd suggest building a new system all together. Knowing your budget would help create a build.

I would like to pay around the $500 range, but that is very flexible as I just want my computer to run well

 

[jwcrellin]

For $500 you can get a 600 watt 80+ bronze certified power supply and a new gtx 1060 6 gb. That will dramatically improve your gaming performance.

 

[ritvarsdavis]

If it's $500, then upgrading sounds more beneficial. I made this list, would give huge performance boost.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Memory: G.Skill - AEGIS 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($57.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GAMING X Video Card ($374.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $487.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-04-23 21:51 EDT-0400

Even squeezed another 8GB stick. The thing about mixing ram though, it might not work, even if manufacturer, speed etc. is matched. It's always recommended to get a kit of ram, because it's tested together and is guaranteed to work. You could write down the exact model of the 8GB stick you have right now and Google about it with the mobo you have and see what's what. Or alternatively, you could sell the 8GB stick and buy a kit of 2x8GB.

Or, if you feel like 8GB is still enough for you, you can squeeze in an SSD instead. SSD is possibly the best investment one can make. For example:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Storage: SanDisk - SSD PLUS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($72.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GAMING X Video Card ($374.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $502.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-04-23 21:59 EDT-0400

 

[Lehan123456789]

For $500 you can get a 600 watt 80+ bronze certified power supply and a new gtx 1060 6 gb. That will dramatically improve your gaming performance.

I strongly suggest that the OP upgrades his CPU, as the old A-series processors will be a huge bottleneck compared with a 1060. For $500 they can get a 1050 ti, and a Ryzen 3 1200.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 1200 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($92.90 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - B350M PRO-VD PLUS Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($61.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: ADATA - XPG GAMMIX D10 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($85.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($189.89 @ OutletPC)
Case: Cougar - MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($42.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $498.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-04-23 21:56 EDT-0400

Component justification:

CPU: Decent IPC, many cores, and overclocking capability, all for under $100. I would go for the Ryzen 3 2200g, however you cannot be sure the BIOS has been updated on the motherboard, and as such the chip may not work.

Motherboard; With the B350 chipset you should have no trouble getting a decent overclock, although I wouldn't push the CPU too hard with this motherboard.

RAM: 8GB is more than enough for a build of this caibre. Ryzen also benefits from faster RAM.

GPU: A nice cheap 1050 ti, from a company with a great reputation for customer support.

Case: Its cheap and its got a TG window. These parts don't output enough heat to require more than 1 case fan.

PSU: While old, the S12II series PSUs are reliable and cheap.

Any questions, feel free to ask!

 

[ritvarsdavis]

@Lehan, that's a nice build with a B350 chipset. Good upgradability path down the line. I reckon, selling the existing system and adding that money to the $500 and getting an SSD and maybe other bits and pieces, could be a solid build at the end.

 

[Lehan123456789]

@Lehan, that's a nice build with a B350 chipset. Good upgradability path down the line. I reckon, selling the existing system and adding that money to the $500 and getting an SSD and maybe other bits and pieces, could be a solid build at the end.

Yea, 100%. If the OP can grab a 120 or 240gb SSD, a better motherboard and a decent cooler they could do some decent overclocks. If you can sell the x315 for ~$130, you can grab these parts for a better overclocking and general experience.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 1200 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($92.90 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($74.39 @ OutletPC)
Memory: ADATA - XPG GAMMIX D10 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($85.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital - Blue 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($74.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($189.89 @ OutletPC)
Case: Cougar - MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($42.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $620.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-04-24 01:05 EDT-0400

Of course at some point the OP should grab a 1060 or 1070 down the line for a significant boost in performance.