Question Possible upgrades ?

[agent_9]

I am currently upgrading the system that I have been using since 2018. The current specs are:
CPU: Intel Core i5-8400
Mobo: Gigabyte H310M A
RAM: Patriot DDR4 8gb ( 4gb x2) 2400 MHz
PSU: Corsair CX 550W 80+
GPU: EVGA Geforce GTX 1070
SSD: nADATA SU800 512GB 3D-NAND 2.5 Inch SATA III
Hard Drive: Hitachi HUA723020ALA640 2TB, 3.5, SATA
Cooling: Cooler Master MasterLiquid Lite 240
Case: Fractal Design Meshify C

I am upgrading the CPU, Mobo, cooling, and possibly GPU if my $800 dollar or so budget allows. I was going to stick to Intel since I'm most familiar with them but am unsure of how to proceed from here. I use my PC mostly for school with some gaming here and there.
Any advice or recommendations are greatly appreciated!

 

[Lutfij]

How old is the PSU in your build listed above? When you speak of gaming, what sort of titles do you tax your current system with and what sort of tittles would you want to tax the system with in the future, post-upgrade? You can recycle the cooler provided you reach out to Coolermaster and look for the upgrade kit, not to mention the chassis. You can get a large capacity M.2 drive to have as your game library drive.

I don't think you're going to get much in terms of an upgrade with 800USD. In fact in your current state you could source an used processor, then look into DDR4-2666MHz dual channel ram kit though you're also treading into brand new parts territory with the amount you'll spend on the existing rig.

Can you go higher than 800USD?

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor ($249.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus PRIME Z690-P WIFI D4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($223.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Corsair MP600 CORE 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB XC BLACK GAMING Video Card ($399.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM (2021) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($97.49 @ Corsair)
Total: $1151.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-07-09 03:47 EDT-0400

 

[Cyberat_88]

Liquid CoolMaster - why change it unless old enough not to perform well ?
CPU if you want to upgrade at all Gen. 10 should be enough, i5 or i7.
RAM recommended for gaming yes, but 16gb pair should do.
GPU if you stick with nVidia, the RTX 2060 is good enough.
PSU is a must, but even there a 750W with 3-5 year warranty is enough.
SSD - this is your largest bottleneck as you have no space to run programs, but a 2TB SSD from Samsung would be a performer (860 EVO).
Don't even look at NVME (.M2) as those are for professional applications and stuff you will never see, it's not even for top end gaming, no performance increase.
If you insist on motherboard, sit on your money a little longer, when you have $1600 buy a new PC.

 

[Why_Me]

https://www.newegg.com/phanteks-amp-series-ph-p650g-us01-650w/p/N82E16817987009
Phanteks AMP 650W 80+ Gold Modular Power Supply $79.99 + $10 off w/ promo code FTPBU596, limited offer

https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813144528
MSI MAG B660M BAZOOKA DDR4 $129.99

https://www.newegg.com/intel-core-i5-12400f-core-i5-12th-gen/p/N82E16819118360
Intel Core i5-12400F $154.99 + $5 off w/ promo code FTPBU8562, limited offer

https://www.newegg.com/team-16gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820331354
Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z DDR4 3200MHz 16GB (2x8GB) CL16 $48.99

https://www.newegg.com/gigabyte-geforce-rtx-3060-gv-n3060eagle-oc-12gd/p/N82E16814932434
GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3060 Eagle OC 12GB Graphics Card $409.99 + $10 off w/ promo code VGAEXCBN52, limited offer

Total: $798.95 *including promo codes

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B099N59B14
MSI RTX 3060 Ti Ventus 2X 8GB OC Graphics Card $498.40

A better look at those components.

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MAG-B660M-BAZOOKA-DDR4

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...2400f-processor-18m-cache-up-to-4-40-ghz.html

i5 12400 / 12400F gaming benchmarks.

 

[Cyberat_88]

https://www.newegg.com/phanteks-amp-series-ph-p650g-us01-650w/p/N82E16817987009
Phanteks AMP 650W 80+ Gold Modular Power Supply $79.99 + $10 off w/ promo code FTPBU596, limited offer

https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813144528
MSI MAG B660M BAZOOKA DDR4 $129.99

https://www.newegg.com/intel-core-i5-12400f-core-i5-12th-gen/p/N82E16819118360
Intel Core i5-12400F $154.99 + $5 off w/ promo code FTPBU8562, limited offer

https://www.newegg.com/corsair-32gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820236541
CORSAIR Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200MHz 32GB (2x16GB) CL16 $99.99

Total: $449.96 *including promo codes

A better look at those components.

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MAG-B660M-BAZOOKA-DDR4

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...2400f-processor-18m-cache-up-to-4-40-ghz.html

i5 12400 / 12400F gaming benchmarks.

Suspiciously missing - Ryzen 5700x, 5800x, 5950. Fanboys afraid of competition.

 

[agent_9]

How old is the PSU in your build listed above? When you speak of gaming, what sort of titles do you tax your current system with and what sort of tittles would you want to tax the system with in the future, post-upgrade? You can recycle the cooler provided you reach out to Coolermaster and look for the upgrade kit, not to mention the chassis. You can get a large capacity M.2 drive to have as your game library drive.

I don't think you're going to get much in terms of an upgrade with 800USD. In fact in your current state you could source an used processor, then look into DDR4-2666MHz dual channel ram kit though you're also treading into brand new parts territory with the amount you'll spend on the existing rig.

Can you go higher than 800USD?

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor ($249.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus PRIME Z690-P WIFI D4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($223.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Corsair MP600 CORE 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB XC BLACK GAMING Video Card ($399.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM (2021) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($97.49 @ Corsair)
Total: $1151.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-07-09 03:47 EDT-0400

The PSU is also from 2018; the most taxing game I'd say I have is maybe Battlefield 1. And how much higher would I have to go for a decent upgrade? The $800 was just a ballpark figure in my mind.

 

[agent_9]

https://www.newegg.com/phanteks-amp-series-ph-p650g-us01-650w/p/N82E16817987009
Phanteks AMP 650W 80+ Gold Modular Power Supply $79.99 + $10 off w/ promo code FTPBU596, limited offer

https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813144528
MSI MAG B660M BAZOOKA DDR4 $129.99

https://www.newegg.com/intel-core-i5-12400f-core-i5-12th-gen/p/N82E16819118360
Intel Core i5-12400F $154.99 + $5 off w/ promo code FTPBU8562, limited offer

https://www.newegg.com/team-16gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820331354
Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z DDR4 3200MHz 16GB (2x8GB) CL16 $48.99

https://www.newegg.com/gigabyte-geforce-rtx-3060-gv-n3060eagle-oc-12gd/p/N82E16814932434
GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3060 Eagle OC 12GB Graphics Card $409.99 + $10 off w/ promo code VGAEXCBN52, limited offer

Total: $798.95 *including promo codes

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B099N59B14
MSI RTX 3060 Ti Ventus 2X 8GB OC Graphics Card $498.40

A better look at those components.

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MAG-B660M-BAZOOKA-DDR4

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...2400f-processor-18m-cache-up-to-4-40-ghz.html

i5 12400 / 12400F gaming benchmarks.

Okay wow this is fantastic! I'll definitely take some time to look this.

 

[agent_9]

How old is the PSU in your build listed above? When you speak of gaming, what sort of titles do you tax your current system with and what sort of tittles would you want to tax the system with in the future, post-upgrade? You can recycle the cooler provided you reach out to Coolermaster and look for the upgrade kit, not to mention the chassis. You can get a large capacity M.2 drive to have as your game library drive.

I don't think you're going to get much in terms of an upgrade with 800USD. In fact in your current state you could source an used processor, then look into DDR4-2666MHz dual channel ram kit though you're also treading into brand new parts territory with the amount you'll spend on the existing rig.

Can you go higher than 800USD?

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor ($249.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus PRIME Z690-P WIFI D4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($223.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Corsair MP600 CORE 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB XC BLACK GAMING Video Card ($399.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM (2021) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($97.49 @ Corsair)
Total: $1151.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-07-09 03:47 EDT-0400

The increase in price isn't terrible. I'll for sure have to look through it.