[SOLVED] Partial Upgrade Question - Black Friday Offers

Nov 22, 2019
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Hi all,

I currently have an old mid-range gaming pc that I have been sporadically upgrading as time has gone on over the past 9 years but some parts are probably showing their age. I probably only need a partial upgrade and I'd quite like to take advantage of black friday.

One of the things that I would like to upgrade, but doesn't add any form of performance is perhaps a new case or, at least a new modular power supply so I can get rid of the cables and make management that bit easier when it comes to handling dust. A perspex case would be good so that I can monitor dust rather than any aesthetic reason :tearsofjoy:

My main usage is gaming, and while I don't game as often as I used to, I do like to dabble every now and then. The most important thing for me is that I can pick up any triple A game in the next few years and have no worry that I will be able to play it smoothly at the maximum graphics settings. In terms of budget, I'm not too sensitive to price, but obviously within reason. I'd like a system which is mid-high end, but it doesn't need to be super super high end, so hopefully I'm talking about 100s as opposed to 1000s. I should note that I also wouldn't be looking to overclock anything.

My current system is as follows, with the recently new parts highlighted in bold.

CPU: i5 - 2500k 3.30 ghz 3301 Mhz
Mobo: Asus P8P67 Pro
Ram: 16GB DDR3 1600 MHz (Corsair Vengeance Pro Series Red )
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 SC 6GB GDDR5
Case: Antec 100
PSU: Corsair TX750
Storage: Samsung SSD 850 EVO 1 TB (also have an old 1tb HDD which I haven't yet backed up)

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks
 
Solution
Just to add another choice in the mix...The 9700K based system if purely for gaming will provide a great gaming experience at any level of gaming and it is on sale at £295 now.... I added the Asus ROG Hero Z390 only because there is currently an offer on at Overclockers for the Asus Hero XI Black Ops edition dropping it down to £199 which is a significant saving..ignore the price on PCPartpicker...This is just another option and will provide near on the best FPS though if you intend to play at 1440p or 4K Ryzen will do the job as well though at 1080p high refresh the 9700K is at the very top just shy of the 9900K.

PCPartPicker Part List: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/7sk6rV

CPU: Intel Core i7-9700K 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor...
I'd look at your max budget for this idea, and work from there for buying plans. Given you want this upgrade to last for years, and your platform itself is getting long on the tooth, I'd be looking at an overall. First thought is entire platform overall, which would require DDR4 RAM, and a stronger GPU. The 2500k, even OC'd ones these days, are showing their age in modern AAA titles.
 
Nov 14, 2019
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You definitely need to upgrade your GPU if you want to stay at maximum graphical settings in the future. I see that you highlighted it as recently upgraded though, so perhaps you should think about settling for medium settings to start with and replace some of the other pieces first. With a goal of getting a GPU in the future.

My mid-budget recommendation:

CPU: Ryzen 5 3600
Mobo: MSI X570-A PRO
RAM: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600


~ USD $450 for those depending where you live/tax/shipping.
 
Nov 22, 2019
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Thanks both, with regards to my budget, I'd say maximum would probably be £500-£700 for an upgrade and I could accept around £1,000 for a new build. Fairly flexible though, and would rather something that would be able to last me a while.

The current system handles things like COD fairly well (for all my sins) but there are definitely a few settings I have to turn down a notch. I can imagine in 2-3 years time, I'd have to start accepting medium settings as opposed to max, with a couple things turned off.

Usage wise, the only intensive thing I would be doing is gaming and the games I enjoy are typically a range of FPS games, both multiplayer and offline (so COD, Bioshock, Far Cry etc and I'd love to play Half Life when it's released) or racing games like iracing/rfactor. I don't tend to play any RTS games, which I understand to be more CPU intensive, nor do I play MMORPGs.

Don't do any video editing/photoshopping and I don't intend to do any in the future, unless an avenue to become youtube famous opens up..... I'd love to eventually start learning something like Java / Python but I can't imagine I'd ever build anything that requires my CPU to work that hard.
 
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Encryption+

Upstanding
Sep 26, 2019
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Something like this would be my recommendation, it's essentially a new build and comes out to £900. Depending on your PSU you may need a new one but I didn't include that.

Partpicker list

AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor
be quiet! Dark Rock 4 CPU Cooler
Gigabyte X570 UD ATX AM4 Motherboard
Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory
Zotac GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB AMP Extreme Video Card

I don't know if your overclocking but if your not you could probably use the stock cooler for the CPU if money is real tight.
 
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Nov 22, 2019
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Thanks Encryption, if I were to keep the same GPU for now, and say spend the money in 6 months time or so, what else would you suggest to the build at present?

Potentially stupid question, but apart from a different motherboard socket for the CPU, would going AMD have any other effects on the pc and compatabile parts in future?

Additionally, is 750 Watts good enough these days or has power consumption increased over the years?
 

Encryption+

Upstanding
Sep 26, 2019
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Thanks Encryption, if I were to keep the same GPU for now, and say spend the money in 6 months time or so, what else would you suggest to the build at present?
Sorry, this part is confusing me. Are you asking for a different build that's the same price not including the GPU, or asking if your current GPU will work with the build I recommended until you can get the 2070 card I mentioned, or is it an entirely different question that I'm missing?

Potentially stupid question, but apart from a different motherboard socket for the CPU, would going AMD have any other effects on the pc and compatabile parts in future?
AMD CPUs generally are cheaper for similarly performing CPUs. So for a budget build, AMD will get you a higher performing CPU for a given price point. Other than the motherboard, Intel and AMD builds essentially use the same components, so it won't hurt your upgrade ability in the future. The system I mentioned has a lot of room to upgrade even using current parts.

Additionally, is 750 Watts good enough these days or has power consumption increased over the years?
Unless your overclocking a lot, 750 watts is enough for all but the most powerful PCs. I don't think I've ever heard of a Ryzen 5 build that needs more than that. The one I mentioned would be fine on a 550 or 650 watt PSU.
 
Nov 22, 2019
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Sorry, this part is confusing me. Are you asking for a different build that's the same price not including the GPU, or asking if your current GPU will work with the build I recommended until you can get the 2070 card I mentioned, or is it an entirely different question that I'm missing?

Sorry I wasn't clear - I meant a new build at the same price £900 (or maybe a less? if you deem it overkill) without an upgrade to the GPU. It handles games pretty well for now, but say in 6 months to one year, I could always upgrade to the 2070 with a robust system behind it. I'm just asking if you decided to compromise anywhere in the above build to fit it under £1,000.

AMD CPUs generally are cheaper for similarly performing CPUs. So for a budget build, AMD will get you a higher performing CPU for a given price point. Other than the motherboard, Intel and AMD builds essentially use the same components, so it won't hurt your upgrade ability in the future. The system I mentioned has a lot of room to upgrade even using current parts.

Thanks!

Unless your overclocking a lot, 750 watts is enough for all but the most powerful PCs. I don't think I've ever heard of a Ryzen 5 build that needs more than that. The one I mentioned would be fine on a 550 or 650 watt PSU.
I wouldn't know where to start! so I probably won't overclock. I may be tempted to upgrade the PSU to a modular one just to make the airflow a bit better and for dust management.
 

Encryption+

Upstanding
Sep 26, 2019
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Here's the new build, it comes out to £800 which leaves room for the upgraded case you mentioned above, I didn't include that since that's largely a matter of personal preference, just make sure it has room for the cooler. It has a better CPU and better motherboard than the one I mentioned above. It also has a some extra RAM to make it a little more future proof, which some may say is more than you need, to each their own. This way you also have some extra for any other RAM intensive things you may want to do in the future as well.

Partpicker List

AMD Ryzen 7 3800X 3.9 GHz 8-Core Processor
be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler
Gigabyte X570 AORUS ELITE ATX AM4 Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory
SeaSonic FOCUS Plus Gold 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply

The 2070 GPU is probably the only upgrade you'll need in the next five years or more (I'm guessing more).

I wouldn't know where to start! so I probably won't overclock.
I generally don't overclock either, mostly cause it just wears out the parts faster.
 
Just to add another choice in the mix...The 9700K based system if purely for gaming will provide a great gaming experience at any level of gaming and it is on sale at £295 now.... I added the Asus ROG Hero Z390 only because there is currently an offer on at Overclockers for the Asus Hero XI Black Ops edition dropping it down to £199 which is a significant saving..ignore the price on PCPartpicker...This is just another option and will provide near on the best FPS though if you intend to play at 1440p or 4K Ryzen will do the job as well though at 1080p high refresh the 9700K is at the very top just shy of the 9900K.

PCPartPicker Part List: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/7sk6rV

CPU: Intel Core i7-9700K 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor (£295.23 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler (£67.31 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Asus ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£238.97 @ Laptops Direct)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£61.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS Plus Gold 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (£111.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £775.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-11-26 14:19 GMT+0000

Finally as to overclocking, I have yet to experience a CPU wearing out in many, many years of overclocking...Keep the vcore at a sensible level below manufacturer max and temps down and you will be more than fine.
 
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