Question Please rate my current (very, very bad setup) and give me advice.

Aug 5, 2020
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Hello there, my name is Adriousleroi.
I'm French, from Bordeaux, and I live in Japan since 2006.
Nice to meet you all.

This is my first message, but do not hesisate to make a fool of me.
I was born broken and lived a broken life, so I was never able buy decent parts.
I really enjoy online gaming and video editing (urbex in Japan), but I know nothing much about computers.

I made my own PC using information here and there, please have a look:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/cJvqCL

For the last few years, I was working like a dog so I couldn't spend a lot of time on my computer, so some (all?) parts are like, really old.
Some games run decently, but Battle Royale games for instance are completely impossible to play, even if I put ALL the settings on low quality and high performance.
You could imagine the lag I get when running a few applications at the same time, a video editing software or games that ask for a lot of resources.

Could you rate, kindly or harshly, my setup?
Also, could you tell me which part I should change right away?
I would be very grateful if you had some tips like:
-I haven't overclocked or touched anything in the BIOS, do you have any configuration advice?
-Are there obvious tweak I should do to run my system/games/video editing faster?


I have a budget of 100 € every month, and I thought that changing the hard disk would be top priority. Like, a FireCuda or Baracuda I hear so much about.

Thanks in advance, I'm really looking forward reading you guys!

Adriousleroi
 
Aug 5, 2020
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Thank you for your reply!

I have always owned a hard disk until now, and I'm not quite familiar with SSD.
I've read a few articles, and I feel like I'm understanding a few more things.

Would you mind answering the few questions below?

If I buy for example a WD_Black SN750 1TB "NVMe", I should insert it in the Ultra M.2 slot of the mobo?
It seems like my mobo accepts PCI Express 3.0 / M2, so it should work, right?

Also, I read that it's totally recommended to put windows and the games played on the SSD and keep the HD for storage.
Would that slow the PC if I use SSD for Windows/Games and the old (formated) HD for storage?
 
Thank you for your reply!

I have always owned a hard disk until now, and I'm not quite familiar with SSD.
I've read a few articles, and I feel like I'm understanding a few more things.

Would you mind answering the few questions below?

If I buy for example a WD_Black SN750 1TB "NVMe", I should insert it in the Ultra M.2 slot of the mobo?
It seems like my mobo accepts PCI Express 3.0 / M2, so it should work, right?

Also, I read that it's totally recommended to put windows and the games played on the SSD and keep the HD for storage.
Would that slow the PC if I use SSD for Windows/Games and the old (formated) HD for storage?
An SSD is a great upgrade. It makes the whole system snappier.

BTW....SSDs basically come in 2 types....SATA and NVMe (PCI Express). NVMe (PCI Express) is faster but more expensive.....but either is way faster than an HDD.

Here is what you MB specs say>>>

1 x Ultra M.2 Socket, supports M Key type 2230/2242/2260/2280/22110 M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen3 x4 (32 Gb/s)**

*If M2_1 is occupied by a SATA-type M.2 device, SATA3_0 and SATA3_1 will be disabled.

So your MB could take either type in the M2 slot....but keep in mind...when you put any drive in the M2 slot.... SATA3_0 and SATA3_1 will be disabled.

As far as Windows and games on the SSD....I think Windows and ANY programs (games or whatever) should be on the SSD and the HDD should be for data and backups.

"Would that slow the PC if I use SSD for Windows/Games and the old (formated) HD for storage?"
No....not at all.
 
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Thankfully your motherboard can take one M.2 NVMe SSD which would make a huge difference immediately to your experience with your PC with everything loading faster and generally a much snappier feel.

The M.2 SSD like WD Black is up to 25 times faster (theoretical but so, so much faster) than your HD drive....though you can find more cost effective M.2 drives...

https://photographylife.com/nvme-vs-ssd-vs-hdd-performance
 
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Also the max CPU on that motherboard you could go to is the 7700 which would be a good difference but it probably would be easier to go the Ryzen route with a Ryzen 3300 or 3600 on a B450 route...
Finally with regards to gaming only, then the GPU would be the single biggest change...so upgrade GPU to a 1660/1660Ti or similar AMD 5500/5700 etc
 
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Your first upgrade should be the GPU, the 750ti will really struggle nowadays.

A ssd might sound nice but it's not a necessity, it's not going to actually increase anything performance wise.

It would actually be the last thing I'd replace in that setup.
 

FoxVoxDK

Distinguished
  1. SSD - SATA or NVMe both will tremendously speed up your experience.
  2. CPU/Motherboard/Ram Ryzen 3/5 3300X or 3600 / B450/B550 Motherboard / 3200 or 3600MHz RAM.
  3. GPU 1660/Super/Ti or 5500XT/5600XT
My only concern is your power supply, do you know which kind it is?
 
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Your setup is very reasonable.

A ssd is a wonderful performance upgrade.
Any ssd is about 40x faster than a hard drive when reading and writing small blocks of data.
That is what windows does most of the time.
You will see the difference not only in boot time which is not so important, but in other uses such as browsing, windows updates ...
The sequential performance of a sata ssd will be 4x faster than your hard drive.
Nice, but not as important as the faster random performance.
If you have the budget, pcie drives are more like6x faster but you will hardly notice that diifference.

How much of your 1tb HDD is actually used?
I might suggest you buy a 1tb samsung 860 EVO, 860 QVO or 870 QVO drive.
I say samsung in part because of the quality and reliability.
But more so for the ssd migration aid that will move your C drive from the HDD to the ssd easily.
You can download the user manual and app here:

Re purpose your HDD for backup.
You want EXTERNAL backup if you have anything of value to protect on the PC.

If you want better performance in games, a graphics card upgrade is in order.
What is the make/model of your power supply?
That will determine what graphics card upgrades are possible.
Here is a handy chart:
http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm

To confirm that graphics is a good upgrade, run this simple test:
Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
This makes the graphics card loaf a bit.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

If you are cpu limited, you do have some updates available that run on your motherboard.
You would have to go on the used market for those.
There are no overclocking options of any use for you.
Likely, it would be better to go to a current gen cpu and motherboard.
 
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Aug 5, 2020
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Wow. Thank you so, so much for the replies.

I checked my PSU, it's made from a Japanese (Chinese?) maker Hunt:key and it's called Kazane. It's a 450W (Max 550W) supply. (ATX12V) You can see some of the specs here: https://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page20301.htm (search for Kazane 450)

The case is a cheap one: Thermaltake Versa H26 https://pcpartpicker.com/product/8Z...red-glass-atx-mid-tower-case-ca-1j5-00m1wn-00

I have a few questions if you guys don't mind.

How much of your 1tb HDD is actually used?
I have two partitions at the moment, 500gb for windows/games/video editing softwares/files and 500gb for storage (videos made/already uploaded online).
If I buy a new SSD, I'll probably put all the data in the storage partition, format the one with windows, install Windows on the SSD, move ALL the data on the SSD, do a COMPLETE format on the HD and then put back data there. Would that make sense?
Also, do I need to make partitions on a SSD? For example, if I buy a 1T piece, should I use it entirely for Windows/Games/Video Editing and the HD for storage?

There are no overclocking options of any use for you.
Does it mean I shouldn't try to overclock the CPU for increased performance?

Right now, I think I'll invest 100€ on the WD SSD 1T this month, and I'll try to save up to boost my GPU later.
I'd like to simply enjoy the Battle Royale games a decent way, as I'm not looking to go full HD details/resolution/shaders etc.
 
Aug 5, 2020
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Thank you for the advice, do you have a PSU to recommend for a 100€/$ budget?
I have already ordered a WD Black SSD (SN750; 500gb (I can't afford more).

I thought about buying a better GPU next, but I think I'll go with the PSU.