Question Upgrade advice

Mar 23, 2023
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My computer is getting a little old (6 yr) and I'm wondering if anyone has any advice for "bang for my buck" upgrades - I don't really want to spend more than $100-$300 at the most for such an old system. The Witcher 3 next gen update doesn't run that well, and even WoW doesn't run great anymore. I also like to play strategy games. Thanks for help!

Board: Gigabyte AB350 Gaming
CPU: Ryzen 3 1300x
GPU: GTX 1050
Memory: G skill ripjaws 5 DDR 4, 16GB (2x 8GB)
 
Update your board to the latest bios.

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/PgcG3C/amd-ryzen-5-5600-36-ghz-6-core-processor-100-100000927box
AMD Ryzen 5 5600 $118.94

https://www.amd.com/en/products/cpu/amd-ryzen-5-5600

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-AB350-Gaming-rev-1x#kf

amd5600.jpg
 
5600x would be a great upgrade for you. I’m running a 5800x on an older AsRock b350 board. Massive performance difference over the ryzen 5 1600 it started life with. You will basically be on par with Intel 11th-12th generation. Grab that, even a 5600g or a 5500 would be huge. If you could pick up a 5500 and upgrade the gpu to an rx 6600, which would put you at 300 or a little over I can about guarantee your old pc would really perk up.
 
GPU in most cases will affect gaming performance more. The 5600 is better than the 5600g. Compared to your old ryzen 3, any of those cpus will be a big upgrade. The 5600g and 5700g have integrated graphics but the others don’t.

You could keep using your 1050 also, but to put it into perspective, the rx 6600 is closer in performance to a gtx 1080. So if you did spring for both a cpu and the 6600, it would be a decent jump I think.
 
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What if I used the 5600g with no GPU?
5600G and 5600X single thread performance is comparable,
and much stronger than your 1300x.
That is what strategy games need most.
You could buy either, depending on which is cheapest.
Do plan on continuing with the GTX1050 discrete card since it is stronger than the integrated graphics of the 5600G.
You will need to update your bios before installing one of the newer processors.
 
Check the manufacturer website. On my asrock ab350 board, I had to install bridge bios versions in between my old version and newest version. In my case you had to put the bios on a USB drive, boot up and go into your system bios and AsRock has a utility called q flash that you use. Gigabyte may be different.

You might check YouTube to see if there are any videos on how to update it on your board.
 
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