Upgrade Help needed

[hearn_sdb]

Hi,

I am from South Africa, so for me cost of hardware is important. Right now I am looking at:

1) Intel Coffeelake-S LGA1151 I5-8400 6 Core Desktop CPU
2) Asus Prime Z370-A Socket 1151 ATX Motherboard
3) Ballistix Sport LT 8GB DDR4 2666Mhz Desktop Gaming Memory

At this point I am looking at only 8Gig memory, as I can always add another 8 later when I have the cash. I will be using my current HDD (1 tb storage).

Questions:

1) Are there cheaper options than the above, that will not impede my gaming experience by much? I prefer RPG's, and want a machine that can handle Cyberpunk 2077 when it comes out.
2) I currently have a 500W PSU. I will have only the above, with a DVD drive, and my HDD. Will this be enough, and if not, what is the minimum I should look at?

Thank you very much,
Sam

EDIT: Forgot to mention, I have a Geforce GTX 1050 2G graphics card right now.

 

[ARAN_108]

Whats your current processor configuration?

1) The i5 8400 is a good processor but has low clock speeds.

You could get a Ryzen 2600 instead, it has more threads much better VFM and can get a cheaper motherboard and overclock the 2600.
This will also give you extra money in hand so that you may even be able to afford another 8gb RAM. i5 8400 over Ryzen 2600 doesn't make sense. And the Cyberpunk 2077 will definitely use more threads well.

2) The Ryzen 2600 is fine with 500W PSU. Plus you can put a better card in there if your PSU is good.
What PSU brand do you have?

 

[hearn_sdb]

My GPU is a MSI GTX 1050 GAMING X

Right now my CPU can be considered ancient - It's a Core 3 - 3240

I am medically disabled, and use gaming to pass my time. I did look at AMD, but know they had some serious overheating problems in the past, and I heard some of their current CPU's still heats up more than they should.

PSU is a Raidmax RX 500XT.

 

[ARAN_108]

My GPU is a MSI GTX 1050 GAMING X

Right now my CPU can be considered ancient - It's a Core 3 - 3240

I am medically disabled, and use gaming to pass my time. I did look at AMD, but know they had some serious overheating problems in the past, and I heard some of their current CPU's still heats up more than they should.

That i3 is good for a GTX 1050.
They have come a long way. I own a Ryzen 1600 and have owned a lot of Intel processors. Ryzen doesn't overheat, you can go ahead and buy them.

 

[vMax]

The 8400 is actually a very, very good gaming CPU and will boost to its max of 4GHz on a single core and 3.6 to 3.8Ghz on all cores...For gaming at it's price point it is more than good enough...and does hold its own against even the Ryzen 2600..

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Ryzen_5_2600X/13.html

At the end of the day you can't really go wrong with either Ryzen 2600 or the 8400 but it will beat the Ryzen 1600 in gaming...but where cost is concerned the value is in Ryzen at the moment..

 

[ARAN_108]

The 8400 is actually a very, very good gaming CPU and will boost to its max of 4GHz on a single core and 3.6 to 3.8Ghz on all cores...For gaming at it's price point it is more than good enough...and does hold its own against even the Ryzen 2600..

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Ryzen_5_2600X/13.html

At the end of the day you can't really go wrong with either Ryzen 2600 or the 8400 but it will beat the Ryzen 1600 in gaming...but where cost is concerned the value is in Ryzen at the moment..

But the Ryzen 2600 will outlive the i5 8400. AC Odyssey is already choking the 6 core processors. Where the Ryzen does perform marginally better.

 

[vMax]

The 8400 is actually a very, very good gaming CPU and will boost to its max of 4GHz on a single core and 3.6 to 3.8Ghz on all cores...For gaming at it's price point it is more than good enough...and does hold its own against even the Ryzen 2600..

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Ryzen_5_2600X/13.html

At the end of the day you can't really go wrong with either Ryzen 2600 or the 8400 but it will beat the Ryzen 1600 in gaming...but where cost is concerned the value is in Ryzen at the moment..

But the Ryzen 2600 will outlive the i5 8400. AC Odyssey is already choking the 6 core processors. Where the Ryzen does perform marginally better.

Absolutely agree on outliving in terms of the platform...but if he just wants plug and play with the highest frame rates, not have to worry about memory speeds etc...it's not a bad option and coupled to a cheap Z390 board he can upgrade later to the faster 8600K/8700K or even the 9700K/9900K....

Just giving options...

Opps I should have mentioned that specifically against the 1600 it is better against the 2600 they are nearly the same with one winning some games and the other winning some games...

 

[ARAN_108]

The 8400 is actually a very, very good gaming CPU and will boost to its max of 4GHz on a single core and 3.6 to 3.8Ghz on all cores...For gaming at it's price point it is more than good enough...and does hold its own against even the Ryzen 2600..

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Ryzen_5_2600X/13.html

At the end of the day you can't really go wrong with either Ryzen 2600 or the 8400 but it will beat the Ryzen 1600 in gaming...but where cost is concerned the value is in Ryzen at the moment..

But the Ryzen 2600 will outlive the i5 8400. AC Odyssey is already choking the 6 core processors. Where the Ryzen does perform marginally better.

Absolutely agree on outliving in terms of the platform...but if he just wants plug and play with the highest frame rates, not have to worry about memory speeds etc...it's not a bad option and coupled to a cheap Z390 board he can upgrade later to the faster 8600K/8700K or even the 9700K/9900K....

Just giving options...

Options and suggestions are always welcome.
I just want him to get an extra 8Gb RAM which he will if he gets the Ryzen 2600 and a b250 motherboard.

Edit: You must have been confused because I mentioned my Ryzen 1600. The Ryzen 1600 is still better if you know how to take advantage of it.

 

[vMax]

The 8400 is actually a very, very good gaming CPU and will boost to its max of 4GHz on a single core and 3.6 to 3.8Ghz on all cores...For gaming at it's price point it is more than good enough...and does hold its own against even the Ryzen 2600..

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Ryzen_5_2600X/13.html

At the end of the day you can't really go wrong with either Ryzen 2600 or the 8400 but it will beat the Ryzen 1600 in gaming...but where cost is concerned the value is in Ryzen at the moment..

But the Ryzen 2600 will outlive the i5 8400. AC Odyssey is already choking the 6 core processors. Where the Ryzen does perform marginally better.

Absolutely agree on outliving in terms of the platform...but if he just wants plug and play with the highest frame rates, not have to worry about memory speeds etc...it's not a bad option and coupled to a cheap Z390 board he can upgrade later to the faster 8600K/8700K or even the 9700K/9900K....

Just giving options...

Options and suggestions are always welcome.
I just want him to get an extra 8Gb RAM which he will if he gets the Ryzen 2600 and a b250 motherboard.

Edit: You must have because confused because I mentioned my Ryzen 1600. The Ryzen 1600 is still better if you know how to take advantage of it.

Agreed and yes I think the mention of the 1600 threw me...On the additional 8GB RAM, I 100% agree as that will make a difference...And as an overall build where money is tight the 16GB over 8GB would do it for me especially as the performance margins are not that great on the CPU side..