[SOLVED] Upgrade Advice

[DigiPar]

Hello! I've been interested in upgrading some parts if possible, to keep up with the frequent changes in hardware and hopefully futureproof my specs a little bit. I'm quite happy with my current PC at the moment, but I know soon it may start to show it's age. I'm not the best with hardware, so some help would be welcome.

Approximate Purchase Date: I was thinking to look into an upgrade either towards the end of this year (2020) or early to mid 2021, depends on how extensive of a purchase this would be.

Budget Range:~$1000 (Willing to go above if required for extra replacement parts due to compatability or bottlenecking, but under $1000 would be great!)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming comes first and foremost, I don't do anything like streaming or editing, but 3D Modeling/Game Art is a hobby of mine which I may want to pursue as a career in the future, so some capabilities on that front would be nice, but it's definitely not urgent that I get super powerful dev hardware at this time of course.

Are you buying a monitor: No

System Specs: (This is a prebuilt Alienware Aurora R6, bought in 2017. I added an SSD)
GTX 1070 8gb VRAM
Intel I7-7700k 3.62Hz
16gb RAM
Motherboard: Alienware 07HV66 (just the stock mobo from the R6)
PSU: Aurora R6 Stock PSU (Swings out on a little hinge since the build is compact if that makes sense, not entirely sure what the make and model would be exactly.)
Case: Alienware Aurora R6 stock case.
1 TB HDD
250 GB Samsung 970 Evo SSD

Parts to Upgrade: I'm particularly interested in a better GPU and CPU, if that means I need to upgrade some other parts alongside those it's ok. I'm also worried that new parts might not fit in my case, as it's a medium sized tower, quite compact.

Do you need to buy OS: No, I don't think so.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Not really any preference, any website such as Newegg.com is fine.

Location: Burbank, California, United States.

Parts Preferences: I'm most familiar with Intel and Nvidia (Those new 30 series cards look interesting), but I'm not against trying a different brand if it would be better, mostly regarding the CPU. I would mostly worry that different brands may require some more replacements so everything is compatible.

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 144hz currently, and I'm fine with keeping this resolution.

Additional Comments: My rig is an Alienware R6, mid sized tower, as I stated above. The case doesn't have any windows, just LED plates on each side, so RGB parts are not necessary.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Futureproofing for the most part. Even just some advice on even when I should upgrade would be helpful, as my computer is by no means slogging through games yet.

Thanks for any tips or advice

 

[Darkbreeze]

Most Dell/Alienware cases have proprietary designs and cabling, so usually you can't just stick a standard ATX or micro ATX motherboard in them, or a standard power supply either. Looking at a few forum entries on the Dell website it certainly looks like that case is no exception so I think a new case, power supply, motherboard, CPU and memory and graphics card are going to be what you're looking at if you want to make a significant upgrade in performance.

Since there are new Nvidia Ampere cards releasing over the course of this next month and new Ryzen CPUs being released sometime between now and December, supposedly, waiting is probably a very good idea but I think you should consider expanding your budget to more like 1500.00 if you want to upgrade the graphics card.

If we're being totally honest, unless you have problems with your current graphics card there is ZERO reason to upgrade THAT for a 1080p configuration. So without a graphics card upgrade you could do something right now that would put you in much better shape than you're currently in as far as your gaming performance is concerned.

The only real question is whether or not you need new memory. What speed is your current memory kit and, if possible, what is the actual MODEL of the memory kit you are running? This could be a factor in determining what CPU or motherboard would best suit the new build.

 

[DigiPar]

Most Dell/Alienware cases have proprietary designs and cabling, so usually you can't just stick a standard ATX or micro ATX motherboard in them, or a standard power supply either. Looking at a few forum entries on the Dell website it certainly looks like that case is no exception so I think a new case, power supply, motherboard, CPU and memory and graphics card are going to be what you're looking at if you want to make a significant upgrade in performance.

Since there are new Nvidia Ampere cards releasing over the course of this next month and new Ryzen CPUs being released sometime between now and December, supposedly, waiting is probably a very good idea but I think you should consider expanding your budget to more like 1500.00 if you want to upgrade the graphics card.

If we're being totally honest, unless you have problems with your current graphics card there is ZERO reason to upgrade THAT for a 1080p configuration. So without a graphics card upgrade you could do something right now that would put you in much better shape than you're currently in as far as your gaming performance is concerned.

The only real question is whether or not you need new memory. What speed is your current memory kit and, if possible, what is the actual MODEL of the memory kit you are running? This could be a factor in determining what CPU or motherboard would best suit the new build.

Thanks so much for replying, I agree that an upgrade isn't required, and I'm pretty happy with my setup right now. But I'll definitely save some more cash to spend for those parts when the time comes. My current RAM has a speed of 2400MHz, I have two sticks of 8gb "SK Hynix" DDR4.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Ok, so I'd recommend that you sell those sticks of RAM, and do something like this.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor ($289.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright ARO-M14O 73.6 CFM CPU Cooler ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI B450 GAMING PRO CARBON MAX WIFI ATX AM4 Motherboard ($159.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z Neo 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Meshify S2 ATX Mid Tower Case ($158.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2018) 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($114.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $883.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-02 04:58 EDT-0400

 

[DigiPar]

Ok, so I'd recommend that you sell those sticks of RAM, and do something like this.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor ($289.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright ARO-M14O 73.6 CFM CPU Cooler ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI B450 GAMING PRO CARBON MAX WIFI ATX AM4 Motherboard ($159.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z Neo 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Meshify S2 ATX Mid Tower Case ($158.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2018) 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($114.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $883.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-02 04:58 EDT-0400

Thanks for making this list! Do you have any GPU recommendations for the future? Or, would you change anything in this part list if the budget was bigger? Thanks again for you help.

 

[Darkbreeze]

You don't need anything more for 1080p 144hz gaming really. I mean, certainly we could give you a slightly better single core performance advantage by going with one of the latest Intel CPUs and a Z490 motherboard, but yes, that's going to significantly increase the cost of the build even WITHOUT the addition of a new graphics card.

The fact is, for 1080p, you already have a graphics card that is more than capable enough for that unless you are having problems with the card or are seeing an inability of the card to meet the demands of some heavy hitter titles.

Obviously, I didn't include any storage, because you already have storage, but the addition of an M.2 SSD would definitely reduce loading times and general overall "snappiness" of the system. Not to mention you could use that for your OS and then put whatever game you are currently playing the most on the 250GB SSD you already have so that anything that needs to load does so very quickly.

 

[theonerm2]

You're in a situation that I'd either upgrade the whole PC or not upgrade anything at all. If you sell that 7700K you'll probably still get a good chunk of change for it. If you absolutely must stick with the $1000 budget and there not any chance of you selling off your older parts then I'd do the following or similar and get an RTX 3070. If you could increase to $1200 it would give some breathing room. Although the pc part picker list could be better it gives a general sense of where you should be going with that budget if you'd like to squeeze in a 3070. Although... The 3060... If it's out then would be a better choice for this budget so you don't have to skimp on your other parts as much.

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/7YmcWb

CPU: Intel Core i5-10400 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor ($176.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B460M DS3H Micro ATX LGA1200 Motherboard ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Memory: GeIL EVO POTENZA 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL16 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Team GX2 512 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Deepcool MATREXX 50 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12III 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($78.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $480.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-03 04:40 EDT-0400

Ideally you'll want at least 2x the SSD storage. The CPU in this list is OK Although really I find 6 cores/12 theads a bit low for today. Just a touch low. I'd opt for 3700x or i7 10700k if at all possible. The motherboard WORKS but it is nothing really special so you might want something else for more/better features. And 32GB of RAM is really what I recommend these days. Less than 32GB is still OK but really there are games starting to use more than 16GB of RAM. And if you don't close out everything before loading up a game your system will want to use even more RAM which means you'll be cutting into swap space on your SSD. While SSD's are fast RAM is much faster still. There will be a loss of performance in some cases. NVME storage is what I'd get. Along with a larger HDD for backup/extra space. The PSU also is nothing special but it will work. I totally recommend going for something higher grade. Like this... If you can swing it.

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/2nMNRk

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor ($289.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) ATX AM4 Motherboard ($189.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory ($164.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate IronWolf Pro 4 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($139.99 @ B&H)
Case: NZXT H510 ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Best Buy)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2018) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($144.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $1169.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-03 05:14 EDT-0400

It's probably not perfect. but it's not intended to be perfect. It's just to be used as a general outline of what you should shoot for. You could definitely shave off some $$$ and still get decent parts.But I would say $1000 besides the graphics card is good to aim for. This build offers excellent performance with room to still upgrade later if you want/need to.

 

[Darkbreeze]

S12III is a piece of crap and shouldn't be included in anybody's builds.

The RMx units that show in stock at Best Buy (They aren't, unless in a FEW cases you have a store physically near you and can pick it up in person, but mostly it's BS that they show in stock on PCPP and I'd ignore ALL Best buy results for power supplies) and Newegg (15-30 day fulfillment) are BS and should be ignored. Even if they are in stock at the time moment you put the build together in PCPP, it's almost a certainty they won't be ten minutes or a day later. I've already reached out to Marinelli at PCPP about this and it's supposed to be being addressed, but I doubt there's much they can really do to force Best Buy and Newegg to accurately provide their in stock listings rather than showing in stock for items they won't even have until thirty days from now.

 

[DigiPar]

You're in a situation that I'd either upgrade the whole PC or not upgrade anything at all. If you sell that 7700K you'll probably still get a good chunk of change for it. If you absolutely must stick with the $1000 budget and there not any chance of you selling off your older parts then I'd do the following or similar and get an RTX 3070. If you could increase to $1200 it would give some breathing room. Although the pc part picker list could be better it gives a general sense of where you should be going with that budget if you'd like to squeeze in a 3070. Although... The 3060... If it's out then would be a better choice for this budget so you don't have to skimp on your other parts as much.

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/7YmcWb

CPU: Intel Core i5-10400 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor ($176.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B460M DS3H Micro ATX LGA1200 Motherboard ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Memory: GeIL EVO POTENZA 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL16 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Team GX2 512 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Deepcool MATREXX 50 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12III 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($78.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $480.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-03 04:40 EDT-0400

Ideally you'll want at least 2x the SSD storage. The CPU in this list is OK Although really I find 6 cores/12 theads a bit low for today. Just a touch low. I'd opt for 3700x or i7 10700k if at all possible. The motherboard WORKS but it is nothing really special so you might want something else for more/better features. And 32GB of RAM is really what I recommend these days. Less than 32GB is still OK but really there are games starting to use more than 16GB of RAM. And if you don't close out everything before loading up a game your system will want to use even more RAM which means you'll be cutting into swap space on your SSD. While SSD's are fast RAM is much faster still. There will be a loss of performance in some cases. NVME storage is what I'd get. Along with a larger HDD for backup/extra space. The PSU also is nothing special but it will work. I totally recommend going for something higher grade. Like this... If you can swing it.

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/2nMNRk

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor ($289.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) ATX AM4 Motherboard ($189.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory ($164.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate IronWolf Pro 4 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($139.99 @ B&H)
Case: NZXT H510 ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Best Buy)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2018) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($144.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $1169.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-03 05:14 EDT-0400

It's probably not perfect. but it's not intended to be perfect. It's just to be used as a general outline of what you should shoot for. You could definitely shave off some $$$ and still get decent parts.But I would say $1000 besides the graphics card is good to aim for. This build offers excellent performance with room to still upgrade later if you want/need to.

Hello, Thanks for contributing! and my budget is definitely not hard set on $1000 if a rebuild is in order some time in the future I would be more than happy to spend more anyways, as any upgrades are not urgent for me of course. Futureproofing with some room to upgrade would for sure be what I would aim for in my next rig!

 

[Kevkas]

Hope you don't mind, I'll post a similar thread using your original one as a template, I'm looking for advice on upgrading and your original post seems like a good starting point on how to post my question.

 

[DigiPar]

Hope you don't mind, I'll post a similar thread using your original one as a template, I'm looking for advice on upgrading and your original post seems like a good starting point on how to post my question.

Go for it, I created my post from a pinned template.

 

[theonerm2]

S12III is a piece of crap and shouldn't be included in anybody's builds.

The RMx units that show in stock at Best Buy (They aren't, unless in a FEW cases you have a store physically near you and can pick it up in person, but mostly it's BS that they show in stock on PCPP and I'd ignore ALL Best buy results for power supplies) and Newegg (15-30 day fulfillment) are BS and should be ignored. Even if they are in stock at the time moment you put the build together in PCPP, it's almost a certainty they won't be ten minutes or a day later. I've already reached out to Marinelli at PCPP about this and it's supposed to be being addressed, but I doubt there's much they can really do to force Best Buy and Newegg to accurately provide their in stock listings rather than showing in stock for items they won't even have until thirty days from now.

I've heard it's bad but I didn't see any good 650 watt power supplies in the price range I was looking for. My whole point though was to kind of show that it's not easy to go $1000 in a pc and still go for a $500 gpu. I mean the OP did show interest in the 30 series in his first post. It doesn't really even need beefed up to $1000 for the other parts but I think it's good to aim for because it kind of gives room to get good quality parts and still get an RTX 3070. Do I think that GPU is really necessary at 1080p 144hz? No. I actually think an RX 5700 XT would be fine. But at $400 I think I'd just go ahead and spend the $100 extra for the RTX 3070 anyway.

 

[Darkbreeze]

For 1080p? An RX 5600 XT would be fine, or an RX 580, or an RTX 2060, or even a GTX 1660 Super or ti for that matter.

What wouldn't be fine, is using that S12III power supply, with practically anything. It's not a good power supply.