Question Reviving gaming PC- hardware advice

oli_ct

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Mar 4, 2018
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Hi everyone!

I am looking to revive a gaming pc that never really worked. I am looking to be able to run Windows 11 and run games like Hell Divers 2 and Hell let loose. These are the specs I currently have below and I believe one of the problems is that I never got an SSD? Or more of a CPU problem?


Processor AMD Ryzen 3 1200 Quad-Core Processor

RAM 16 GB DDR4

Video Card
Video Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti

Operating System
Size 64-bit
Operating System Windows 10
Version 10.0.19041

Motherboard: asrock ab350m-hdv

1tb HDD
 
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Math Geek

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what is this system not doing that you expect it to? we need some idea of what your expectations are vs what it is doing now to know what type of upgrade(s) might be worth it or even possible.

it is a rather weak system overall with the cpu and gpu. but it can be salvaged most likely.

what EXACT psu is in the system? this will determine a lot of what you can do.
 
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Hi everyone!

I am looking to revive a gaming pc that never really worked. I am looking to be able to run Windows 11 and run games like Hell Divers 2 and Hell let loose. These are the specs I currently have below and I believe one of the problems is that I never got an SSD? Or more of a CPU problem?


Processor AMD Ryzen 3 1200 Quad-Core Processor

RAM 16 GB DDR4

Video Card
Video Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti

Operating System
Size 64-bit
Operating System Windows 10
Version 10.0.19041

Motherboard: asrock ab350m-hdv

1tb HDD
Processor AMD Ryzen 3 1200, very good upgrade would be 5600x with BIOS upgrade/update to latest one. More than 3 times performance boost.
Video Card. That depends on resolutions you intend to play on and monitor capabilities. Also might have to upgrade PSU to match GPU.
Drives: MB has one M.2 slot for NVMe SSD with PCIe x4 gen3 support so any such SSD would be 100 fold improvement over HDD but should be one with RAM cache, they are about same price as SATA but much faster and require no cables.
Samsung 970 evo+ is one of best, 500GB should be enough as you can still use HDD for storage.
All is 100% compatible with W11 but I would suggest, new, clean installation without HDD connected. W10 and W11 license and activation are identical and tied to MB which you are not changing so you don't have to buy new one.
 
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Echoing what others have said here. Full system specs especially the power supply are needed. That said, assuming the board is decent quality, you’ve likely got bios updates that will enable you to go up to a ryzen 7 5700x3d possibly, or as someone said, maybe a ryzen 5600. This would bump you up to being roughly on par with intel 12th/13th gen parts.

Toss in an ssd and new copy of windows and you are in business.

Doing a bit more looking, is this your motherboard?

https://www.asrock.com/MB/AMD/AB350M-HDV/index.asp#CPU

If so I’ll let others weigh in but personally I don’t think the vrms are great on that board. I’d probably suggest with that board to stick to a cpu like the ryzen 5 5600. And maybe pick up an AMD wraith prism cooler like this one since it’s a down firing cooler that should help cool the vrms. And the fact that the 5600 should only start out at 65 watts. Though their cpu support list shows it, I would not suggest going wild and tossing a 5900x on there.

NVME ssd would be great but if you’re running a hard drive, a cheap sata ssd would make it feel like a new computer. I would suggest getting say a 500gb boot ssd. Preferably a good nvme. Then I’d suggest a secondary ssd like a 2 or 4 tb unit for putting all your games/storage on.

GPU as was said totally up to you. Needing to know refresh rate, psu etc.
 
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Eximo

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Seconded, Ryzen 5600 is the max I would do with that motherboard, and you will want to stick with the stock cooler.

NVMe SSD is a must have these days for larger game sizes, that will reduce load times. SATA SSD is an okay alternative, but the cost difference is minimal these days.

500B is not a very powerful unit. I recommend a replacement on age alone. If you opt to keep it, then the GPUs I would target would be things like the RTX4060, RX7600 at the largest. Depends what you have to spend there.
 
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