Build Advice Upgrading a 10-year old gaming PC ?

[tomahawk5067]

Hello,
Below is the gaming PC I built with advice from the Tom’s Hardware forum back in Spring 2015.
After 10 years, I am looking to re-use the Case, DVD drive, storage and upgrade the remainder of the build.
Current Build:

Case : Fractal Design Define R5 with 3x Fractal Design Dynamic GP-14 fan @ 1000 RPM (2 intake, 1 exhaust)

MB : Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 (rev. 1.0)

CPU : Intel CORE i5 4690K 3.5GHz

Cooler : Cooler Master 212 Hyper Evo

RAM : Crucial Ballistix Tactical LP 16GB (2X8) [DDR3L 1600MHz 8-8-8-24 1.35V]

GPU : ASUS Strix 97O GTX 4GB DirectCU II

SSD : Crucial MX500 1TB [replaced 256GB MX100]

HDD : Segate Barracuda 2TB

PSU : Antec Edge 650W 80 Plus Gold Fully Modular

Media : ASUS DRW-24F1ST

Approximate Purchase Date: within next month, unless was advised to wait for more appropriate products to release.

Budget Range: ~€1850 with some upwards leeway if needed.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, web browsing, music listening.

Are you buying a monitor: using ASUS VG248QE since 2015. Would be interested in suggestions for newer monitor to go with updated build. May not need to be part of this upgrade.


Parts to Upgrade: CPU Cooler, CPU, Motherboard, RAM, GPU, PSU. Add Gen4 NVME drive as new boot drive.

Do you need to buy OS: No
Please note that if you're using an OEM license of Windows, you will need a new one when buying a new motherboard.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: EU websites that ship to Ireland. The German store I used previously is gone now, so for my search I was looking at Amazon De and Caseking.de. Would welcome other suitable sites.

Location: Ireland

Parts Preferences: AMD.

Overclocking: No

Multiple GPUs: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920 X 1080 – current monitor ASUS VG248QE

Additional Comments: Would like to keep quiet and cool [temperature]. Do not care for RGB as PC case has metal side panel.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Windows 11, temperamental issues with PC, play newer games.


Include a list of any parts you have already selected with descriptively labeled links for parts. Please do not post only links.


Here is a link to a list of products i checked so far from Caseking.DE and Amazon.DE as possible upgrade parts:

https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/yccvYd

Please review and suggest better alternatives if better pricing / features are available.

Just to note, the Ryzen 7 7800X3d costs €100 more than 7600X3d on Caseking.de site.

I noticed that with regards to the Case, PCPartPicker mentions compatibility regarding the length of graphics cards and the drive bay storage - I have previously removed the lower half of the drive bay storage at front of the PC case as they were vacant and to improve airflow.

 

[Lutfij]

You could get the non-X3D, to save you some money.

I tweaked your listing to account for the non-X3D part, ram that's got E.X.P.O advertised on it and a lower priced cooler since you don't need that much to cool the processor;
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 7600X 4.7 GHz 6-Core Processor (€204.72 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Assassin Spirit 120 EVO 68.9 CFM CPU Cooler (€34.89 @ Caseking)
Motherboard: *Gigabyte B850 AORUS ELITE WIFI7 ATX AM5 Motherboard (€226.59 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws M5 Neo RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory (€102.74 @ Proshop)
Storage: *Crucial T500 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€86.97 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Asus TUF GAMING OC Radeon RX 9070 16 GB Video Card (€780.89 @ Caseking)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: *Corsair RM850e (2023) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€109.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €1546.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-04-18 23:25 CEST+0200
Look through this;

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awz_CG2320E

pertaining to the CPU.

I noticed you have the solid side paneled Define R5, so if you're going for a blackout themed build, you could save some more on the cooler and ram, by a few Euro's.

 

[Why_Me]

https://geizhals.eu/ <--- compare prices on here. Computer Universe and Alza also ship to Ireland (and possibly ProShop).

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 5 7500F 3.7 GHz 6-Core OEM/Tray Processor (€150.63 @ notebooksbilliger.de)
CPU Cooler: *ID-COOLING FROZN A620 PRO SE 58 CFM CPU Cooler (€37.89 @ Proshop)
Motherboard: *MSI PRO B850-P WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard (€186.90 @ Alza)
Memory: *Patriot Viper Venom 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (€93.89 @ Galaxus)
Storage: *Silicon Power UD90 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€104.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: *Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB Video Card (€788.91 @ Caseking)
Power Supply: *Corsair RM850e (2023) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€109.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €1473.11
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-04-18 23:50 CEST+0200

Optional cpu:
https://geizhals.eu/amd-ryzen-7-7800x3d-100-100000910-a2872867.html
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D €374,89

https://www.currys.ie/products/aoc-q27g4x-quad-hd-27-ips-lcd-gaming-monitor-black-10262606.html
AOC Q27G4X Quad HD 27" 180Hz IPS LCD Gaming Monitor €229.00

A better look at those components.

https://aoc.com/us/gaming/products/monitors/q27g4x

https://www.techspot.com/review/2728-ryzen-7500f-vs-core-13400f/

https://www.eurogamer.net/digitalfoundry-2023-amd-ryzen-5-7500f-review

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-ryzen-7-7800x3d/20.html

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/PRO-B850-P-WIFI

ID-Cooling FROZN A620 PRO SE Review - Better Value Than Thermalright

ID-Cooling dominates the competition with the FROZN A620 PRO SE. By forgoing ARGB lighting and excessive visual accents, they've created a cooler that offers a combination of performance and value bordering on unbelievable. At less than $30 it even offers better price/performance than Thermalright.

www.techpowerup.com

 

[LOGAN54321]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 7600X3D 4.1 GHz 6-Core Processor (€323.99 @ Caseking)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler (€39.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: MSI MAG B650 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard (€191.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (€103.47 @ Proshop)
Storage: Western Digital Black SN770 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€116.38 @ Senetic)
Video Card: Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB Video Card (€788.91 @ Caseking)
Power Supply: NZXT C850 (2024) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€131.89 @ Computeruniverse)
Total: €1696.44
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-04-19 03:45 CEST+0200

 

[tomahawk5067]

Thank all of you for your replies so far, and for giving me some interesting alternatives to some parts.

For the CPU I was originally looking at the Ryzen 7 9700x, but chose the 7600X3d as it was similarly priced but had better gaming performance, at cost of lower core count for multitasking.
Thinking over what I have done with my current PC and it was mostly gaming, web browsing and music listening, so not much multi-tasking.

@Lutfij, you suggested the 7600X for cost saving, but the Gamers Nexus video showed the 7600X3D to be quite power efficient with gaming performance slightly being the 7800X3d which is over €100 more in cost.

@Why_Me The Ryzen 5 7500F would make a great cost saving with its lower price \ half the price of 7600X3d but I would prefer a CPU with a built in GPU just in case of future troubleshooting.
Also the ID-Cooling cpu cooler looked good, but when checking the sites Proshop \ Amazon DE, they don't deliver to Ireland 🙁.
However, I do like the suggestion for the Motherboard and RAM, as lower priced that my original picks and seem good picks. The MSI Pro B850-P may have older audio and less USB ports, but I use an external DAC\AMP for the audio and currently I only use 4 uss ports on back of current PC.
I take it that for adding an additional NVME drive to that motherboard in future, I would have to purchase a heatsink cover for it as that motherboard only seems to provide them for the Main drive position.

@LOGAN54321 I liked the PSU suggestion, although costing more than my pick, it seems to newer [ATX3.1] and well reviewed from what I can see. As a result of PC Builder channel on Youtube, I came across the SPL's PSU tier list and it gave this PSU an A+ rating.

Regarding, the GPU, the Sapphire Pulse Radeon 9070 XT was suggested twice, it is similarly priced to the Asus GPU I originally chose, but obviously is an XT version and I take it that it would have more headroom for graphics performance in future over 9070 alone, but at higher TDP.

I altered my original build to reflect your suggestions above:
https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/b3pCKq