Question Upgrade advice..on a Budget

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Freddythecat

Freddythecat

May 28, 2025
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On a budget, is it worth upgrading CPU and GPU? I can do one at a time. I can play most new games still just not very well. Like Stalker. I can play but shit graphics and loooooong loading times. Mostly Play RPG's though.
My system
Cpu
AMD RYZEN 5 1600

GPU
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 ti

MB
ASROCK AB350 K4 AM4

2X GSKILL F4 3000C15 8GB DDR4


Thank you for reading...
 
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Game performance will always be limited by either the cpu or the gpu. Sometimes by lack of ram.

Try this simple test to see which:

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.

My guess is that a cpu upgrade would be more productive.

If you are not now using a SSD, look there first. It need not be anything more fancy than a 2.5" sata ssd.

16gb ram should be fine unless you are multitasking while gaming.
 
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Freddythecat said:
On a budget, is it worth upgrading CPU and GPU? I can do one at a time. I can play most new games still just not very well. Like Stalker. I can play but shit graphics and loooooong loading times. Mostly Play RPG's though.
My system
Cpu
AMD RYZEN 5 1600

GPU
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 ti

MB
ASROCK AB350 K4 AM4

2X GSKILL F4 3000C15 8GB DDR4


Thank you for reading...
Click to expand...
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor (£74.95 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: *Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (£47.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £122.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-05-29 20:57 BST+0100
 
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ak47jar3d said:
To give you a good answer, I would need to know what games you play...
Click to expand...
Mostly RPG's and FPS games , though I stopped playing because on the newer games the graphics are trash or play and load too slow. I've been playing BG3 a lot as it runs and looks great. I would like to try Elden ring and some other game in that genre but not with low graphics. As I said above I tried the newest Stalker but my rig crawled and begged for mercy.
 
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What you can/should upgrade depends on how much you're looking to spend.

The best CPU upgrade I'd trust that motherboard to properly deal with would be the 5700X.

On the video card side anything with 16 PCIe lanes ought to be fine, but one of the corners cut on many lower end SKUs is cutting lanes and this might be a problem with that board (due to PCIe 3.0). The forthcoming 9060 XT might be a good option here (would need to wait for reviews).
 
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Freddythecat said:
On a budget, is it worth upgrading CPU and GPU? I can do one at a time. I can play most new games still just not very well. Like Stalker. I can play but shit graphics and loooooong loading times. Mostly Play RPG's though.
My system
Cpu
AMD RYZEN 5 1600

GPU
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 ti

MB
ASROCK AB350 K4 AM4

2X GSKILL F4 3000C15 8GB DDR4


Thank you for reading...
Click to expand...
I would start with the CPU, and double your ram to 32gb, also, are you loading everything off of an SSD or a hard drive? What is your budget for this upgrade?
 
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artk2219 said:
I would start with the CPU, and double your ram to 32gb, also, are you loading everything off of an SSD or a hard drive? What is your budget for this upgrade?
Click to expand...
artk2219 said:
I would start with the CPU, and double your ram to 32gb, also, are you loading everything off of an SSD or a hard drive? What is your budget for this upgrade?
Click to expand...
My SSD is 250 GB I really should do a clean install on a larger SSD. My D drive is 1 TB. Whatever game I currently play I load off the SSD. Budget is less than 300.00 not counting a new GPU.
 
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Freddythecat said:
USA
Click to expand...
You should be able to get a cpu, ram, and 1TB ssd for less than 300, or the same but with a 2tb ssd for a little over 300. You will still need a GPU upgrade in the future, but youre better off waiting for the RX 9060, 9060 XT, or Intels B770 at the end of the year if it performs alright. Either way, you should probably plan to spend 3 - 400 or so for one of those, but the upgrades below should help you out in the interim.

1TB SSD
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor ($154.00 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot Viper Steel 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P3 Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($61.95 @ iBUYPOWER)
Total: $265.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-05-31 13:40 EDT-0400


2TB SSD
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor ($154.00 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot Viper Steel 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P3 Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($115.95 @ iBUYPOWER)
Total: $319.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-05-31 13:39 EDT-0400
 
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artk2219 said:
You should be able to get a cpu, ram, and 1TB ssd for less than 300, or the same but with a 2tb ssd for a little over 300. You will still need a GPU upgrade in the future, but youre better off waiting for the RX 9060, 9060 XT, or Intels B770 at the end of the year if it performs alright. Either way, you should probably plan to spend 3 - 400 or so for one of those, but the upgrades below should help you out in the interim.

1TB SSD
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor ($154.00 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot Viper Steel 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P3 Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($61.95 @ iBUYPOWER)
Total: $265.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-05-31 13:40 EDT-0400


2TB SSD
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor ($154.00 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot Viper Steel 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P3 Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($115.95 @ iBUYPOWER)
Total: $319.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-05-31 13:39 ET
Click to expand...

Thank you to you and everyone else that posted responses in this thread. Ordering parts. Need to wait a month or so after this purch. and then I will look into upgrading the GPU also...Many Thanks!
 
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Freddythecat said:
I will be getting the 5600. Stock cooler also using stock currently. I believe (not home right now) A 700 W CM
Click to expand...
The 5700X is worth the additional money if it's within probably 30% of the price of the 5600. It's a 65W 8-core CPU and while it doesn't come with a cooler the 65W Zen 3 parts that do come with coolers use the same one that came with your 1600. Since you're in the US (Thermalright is available at a good cost) it might be worth investing in a good quality single tower cooler no matter what CPU you go with.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09LHBFPJ6
 
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thestryker said:
The 5700X is worth the additional money if it's within probably 30% of the price of the 5600. It's a 65W 8-core CPU and while it doesn't come with a cooler the 65W Zen 3 parts that do come with coolers use the same one that came with your 1600. Since you're in the US (Thermalright is available at a good cost) it might be worth investing in a good quality single tower cooler no matter what CPU you go with.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09LHBFPJ6
Click to expand...
Thanks!!
 
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Almost had a heart attack LOL
Flashed the 1st of my BIOS updates 3.20 > 3.40...at 60-70% My PC shut down. Derp .
While imagining having to buy a new mobo...I waited 5 min and rebooted and it booted into the BIOS ( Lucky me! ) First thing I noticed is it said 3.40 and I was on 3.20 Weird since it only got to 70% at the most b4 shutting down.
Next I noticed the temps were skyrocketing 5 deg every 5-10 sec. I quickly loaded default settings ( maybe I should have deleted my OC b4 updating? ) Now it's down to 56 c in BIOS and 35c in Ryzen master from almost 100c. Seems with the newer BIOS it wasn't monitoring temps the same I don't know.

Anyway...Going to move on on the flashing but my QUESTION to the pros is: My BIOS now reads 3.40 but I don't think it finished b4 shutting down, Should I re-flash 3.40 or move on? everything seems to be fine, CPU Z shows 3.40
 
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Success flashing all the BIOS up to 7.0 7.40 I get a message I have never seen before and assume it doesn't pertain to my motherboard?

Notice: Please suspend bitlocker and any encryption or security relying on the TPM Make sure you have a backed up recovery key.
it goes on with more info if you need it. what the hell is this and can I ignore it?

Sorry for all the questions....you've been very very helpful!
 
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