[SOLVED] PC Low Bench performance and need to upgrade

[Greggt69]

Hi There,

I built this system in 2013 for my son and it hasn't kept up with the Intel i5 builds that I made for the other boys around the same time.


1 x ($219.99) XFX Core Edition FX-787A-CNFC Radeon HD 7870 GHz E
$219.99

1 x ($159.99) AMD FX-8320 Vishera 3.5GHz (4.0GHz Turbo) Socket A
$159.99

1 x ($99.99) Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
$99.99

1 x ($69.99) Western Digital WD Blue WD10EZEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB - OEM
$69.99

1 x ($59.99) ENERMAX COENUS GUNMETAL GREY ECA3290A-G ATX MID TO
$59.99

1 x ($59.99) BIOSTAR TA970 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
$59.99

1 x ($52.99) G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DD
$52.99

1 x ($44.99) Rosewill RP600V2-S-SL 600W ATX12V v2.01 SLI Ready
$44.99

I haven't upgraded anything and am wondering where to start and what processor the existing motherboard can support. Looking for the most bang for my buck in terms of improvement. He plays Rocket League and Apex amongst other games. TY in advance for your input. I can build them but am pretty noobish when it comes to understanding the way the parts interact.

 

[doolittle]

Truth be told, the fx-8320 still does esports well enough

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw4_NnjPLKA


so the first thing I would upgrade is the PSU and the GPU, and maybe thrown in an SSD then prep for a full cpu/board/memory purchase later this year (anytime after the zen 2/ryzen 3 release, should shake up prices a bit) and make for killer deals this black friday.

Something like the Seasonic 550w and a RX 580 and a Kingston A400 SSD 240GB decent budget upgrades, a fresh install of win10 using the key from 7 to activate it would not hurt any. That would give him near double the graphics performance of his existing GPU, and a fresh install of 10 on the ssd would make it crazy fast on boot up.​

 

[Greggt69]

Truth be told, the fx-8320 still does esports well enough

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw4_NnjPLKA


so the first thing I would upgrade is the PSU and the GPU, and maybe thrown in an SSD then prep for a full cpu/board/memory purchase later this year (anytime after the zen 2/ryzen 3 release, should shake up prices a bit) and make for killer deals this black friday.

Something like the Seasonic 550w and a RX 580 and a Kingston A400 SSD 240GB decent budget upgrades, a fresh install of win10 using the key from 7 to activate it would not hurt any. That would give him near double the graphics performance of his existing GPU, and a fresh install of 10 on the ssd would make it crazy fast on boot up.​

Thanks Doolittle. Curious on the power supply. The current one is 600W but the Seasonic 550W. Definitely need a new GPU and likely a new board. Any thoughts on the memory? 16maybe? It is running windows 10. Should have listed that. Sorry. I have a SSD in one of the computers and wouldn't build another without one so yeah that's a no brainer


Thanks for the reply

 

[doolittle]

Apologies I should have elaborated on the power supply differences, the Rosewill RP600 was pretty good several years ago if you look at the newegg entry and select the pics, and look at the label it will say max +12V@430w/35A which is quite low by modern standards, and note the high +5v / +3.3v rail power another giveaway it's a very old design. The Seasonic Focus+ gold 550w has a combined +12v max output of 540W/45A so effectively it's a boost of the critical +12v power by over 100w/10a. It's also a very good investment for future upgrades since it is a higher quality unit.​

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As for the cpu/board/mem upgrade, the current sweet spot is the Ryzen 2600 with a b450 board and 16gb of 3000 ram, something like this would work nicely​

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PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/TMp66s
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/TMp66s/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor ($164.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock - B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill - Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($90.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $335.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-02-24 19:20 EST-0500

However the Ryzen 3 / zen 2 releases coming out in the summer so should shake up pricing a bit - if he can hold out over the next few months with the PSU/GPU and ssd upgrades, a 8c/16t may be had for around the same price making the wait worth it.

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