[SOLVED] Upgrade Advice - 4 Year Old Rig

[darth_haggis]

Hi all,

I'm looking to upgrade the core of my beloved rig of circa. 4 years, and have come to this forum to weigh up some options & hear some potential upgrade paths.

Specifically, I'm in market for a decent CPU + Mobo combo (I recently upgraded the GPU), but could also throw in some new RAM if my old kit won't really hack it anymore - although appreciate that this is basically an entirely new rig by that point!

Primary purpose for my PC is a combination of gaming and my main WFH setup (lots of large spreadsheets + number crunching but nothing too resource-heavy such as video editing etc.). I currently have a dual 1080p monitor setup, but am also looking to upgrade one of these to a 1440p panel w/G-Sync - so would be looking to get some nice visuals in titles like RDR2, BFV at 1440p with the option to go for some higher refresh rates in games such as COD WZ (NB - don't need advice on monitor selection at this stage).

In terms of budget, I won't be looking to spend any more than probably £500/£600 - and ideally won't be upgrading again for another 4 years or so (minus another GPU swap in a couple of years). No specific loyalty towards Intel or AMD - keen to hear all options / best bang for buck!

Current Specs:
CPU: Intel i5 6600k (OC'd to 4.5) <--- currently the primary bottleneck from a gaming perspective as most titles these days are utilising 100% at 1080p.
Mobo: MSI Z170A SLI
RAM: 2x 8GB DDR4/2666mhz HyperX Fury
GPU: Gigabyte RTX 2070 Super Windforce (recently upgraded).
PSU: 600W Corsair CX600M <--- Would 600W realistically be enough with a higher wattage CPU coming in?
Case: NZXT H440 (2015 Edition)
CPU Cooling: Cooler Master Seidon 120V AIO + x2 CM 120mm SP120 fans (push/pull) <--- happy to keep if staying with Intel (looks like there is still compatibility).
Case Cooling: Default base of x3 120mm at the front <--- interested to know if worth getting some higher quality fans here?
Storage: x2 M.2 drives (1 via a PCI-e card which will be unnecessary w/new mobo), x1 SSD, x1 HDD.

Any ideas/suggestions would be greatly appreciated (can provide more context & info if needed) - cheers!

 

[Dj0gany]

I would go for this:https://pcpartpicker.com/list/BcLRLJ
I put a 12 core /24 thread cpu in there so you wont need to upgrade in like 7 years xD
I think the PSU will be enough,if not i would degrade the cpu to a 3700x which is still a 8 core beast.For the RAM i upgraded teh capacity and speed.Ryzen needs fast ram to perform to its max potential.

 

[Tioym]

For CPU I recommend R7 3800X, you should be able to get it for ~£250. It boosts up to 4.5 GHz on stock, similar to your current OC'd CPU and it can be overclocked further for a bit more performance. Don't expect it OC as well as Intel CPUs, the best you'll get is +200 MHz on the clock speed. It does have 2x the cores and 4x the threads of your current CPU and looking at your use case I really don't think you'll be needing more. I personally wouldn't spend more on a CPU that this if it were mainly meant for gaming even if I had more money.

Go for a B550 Motherboard, I would recommend X570 but most good X570 ones are expensive and the cheap ones are trash, if you do find a Good and cheap X570 mobo then go for it. The newer b550 motherboards are over-all not that bad even if you go for the cheapest ones. I can link a video if you need help choosing among the cheap b550 mobos, it'll make things easier. If you do pick this, you'll be set for another 3 years I'd reckon. You can sit on your 3800X for now and then an year or two down the line just pop-in a new and better CPU if you feel like it. This will be ~£150

Your RAM is fine, atleast for now. 2666 MHz isn't ideal for a gaming build since upgrading to 3200 will give you a 4-5% boost in performance yet going from 3200 -> 3600 doesn't provide that much a boost. For now though your RAM should do fine, as long as it's compatible with your motherboard. You can check that in the Support-> Compatibility tab of your Motherboard's site before you buy, although weirdly enough many times RAM that is not in the list works perfectly fine.

Now onto the problem. Your PSU is probably not gonna be enough, especially if you plan to OC both your CPU and GPU. You've been using your current one for 4+ years now so I'd just replace it anyway. It's up to you what you want, I'm not an expert with PSU selection but I'd recommend 650w atleast and 750 or more if you want to future-proof. Upcoming Nvidia GPUs are expected to take a lot more power as well.

For the case fans, I really don't think that should be your prio since even if you do get the best fans the temp drops will be 3C at best. If you do have extra money after you buy all this, look to get an aftermarket cooler for your CPU. Your stock cooler should do well enough on stock settings but if you plan to OC from the start then go for a good aftermarket cooler.

 

[GarrettL]

For number crunching the 3900x will be faster but if budget is an issue the 3700x would be fine. For gaming at 1440p there is little FPS difference between the 3700x and 3900x. Use the money saved to get a new psu if your existing unit is past its warranty date.

 

[darth_haggis]

Awesome - thanks for the speedy responses Djoza & Tioym & GarrettL!

Interesting you both selected AMD chips - what would be the main advantage here over say a 10600k or even a 10700k, which appear to be priced fairly similar? Looks like there are some minor trade-offs with core count & base/boost clocks - would that make any particular difference for my use case, particularly on the gaming front? Would the corresponding mobos be a little pricier for the budget?

I would be happy with a solid B550 as you suggest, but will check out the price points on the X570s too (as well as the recommended ASUS one in your part selection).

Shame about the PSU - thought I might get away with that (& the extra added hassle of the rewiring) but at least my current one is modular so shouldn't be too tricky to replace.

And yep, fans would be more of a luxury with any spare ££ - ideally I'm just looking for something a bit quieter than the current setup for the standard case fans (not bothered about all this RGB nonsense ). If moving to AMD, I'd have to say goodbye to the AIO but can see that the stock coolers on the Ryzens are pretty decent these days, so that'll save some £.

I'm also hoping to recycle/sell some of the parts to reinvest back into the upgrade, so hopefully can lean towards the higher end of the budget if that changes anything?

 

[GarrettL]

Nothing wrong with choosing Intel but with a tight budget AMD is the better choice. If the pricing for the components is similar then whatever is cheaper between the two.

I hadn't built an AMD pc since the Athlon and Phenom days. It was Intel for so long as AMD couldn't provide a competitive product. That has definitely changed with AMD's new cpu's.

For the first time I can remember, AMD is ahead in many ways over Intel.

I'm gaming at 1440p on an AMD platform and it is a great pc! Smooth as butter.

 

[darth_haggis]

Noted, makes sense - particularly if I'm also forking out on a PSU & maybe some faster RAM to complement the chip.

Will do some investigating, and come back with a proposed part list!

 

[darth_haggis]

So I've done some reading and have put together the below component list:

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/HhpzJb

Clocks in at just over £600 for all recommended part swaps, but I should be able to recoup circa. £150/£200 through selling my current equivalent parts as a bundle (based on a few current eBay auctions...) to bring the net price down. With that in mind, it may be worth going up to the 3900x instead...?

One other thought - would it potentially be worth holding fire until the new Ryzen 4X chips that are in the pipeline for later in the year?

 

[Endymio]

Shame about the PSU - thought I might get away with that...

Unless you're overclocking, your current PSU should be fine. TDP on the CPU+GPU is about 250w if you go w/ the 3700x. If money is tight, start with a standard-clocked rig, then get a new PSU later when you're ready to o/c.

And, of course if you're willing to wait a couple months, the Ryzen 4000s are supposed to be a rather substantial upgrade.

 

[darth_haggis]

Cool - that all makes sense, thanks!

I might actually wait then and see how the new chips are positioned from a price perspective. I guess the 3Xs may come down in price around the same time which might present a few bargains for the 3900...

RE: PSU - I've always been a fan of OCing, so would probably want the headroom from day 1. Plus I've been putting off re-routing some of the clutter in my case for a couple of years now, so this would present a good excuse to do so.