Question Upgrade or buy a whole new system?

[Mekee]

Hello! I have noticed that my computer sadly isnt able to keep up with the latest games anymore. I've tried tweaking and mixing around with settings etc but I have come to the conclusion that I might have to get something new, atleast upgrade something. However, Im not sure if I should just replace the system as a whole or if it's more worth it to just upgrade some pieces.

My specs are:
CPU: I5 9400F, @2,9 Hz
GPU: RTX 2060, 6 GB (if I remember correctly)
Motherboard: ROG STRIX B360-F GAMING
RAM: 16GB
(I don't know if anything else might be relevant to know but I guess you will point that out if thats the case 😉 )

My first thought is upgrading the CPU, since from what I have gathered from looking around different forums, seems to be my "worst" component. But then I also think about if the motherboard is good enough for a newer CPU and if I should replace that too. And if I change the motherboard I might aswell upgrade the GPU even though I'm not sure if it's neccesary.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Why_Me]

Not much you can do tbh with that socket. I would look at a new board and cpu to start. What's your budget, what country are you located what set of RAM do you have.

 

[Mekee]

Not much you can do tbh with that socket. I would look at a new board and cpu to start. What's your budget, what country are you located what set of RAM do you have.

Thought as much :/. Havent thought about budget but maybe like $2000 if its a whole new system, I dont need a monster. Just something that works on everything, so budget can go up if neccesary. Im not really up to date anymore on what I might get for $2000

Im from Sweden, and Im rocking DDR4 2666MHz 16GB RAM

​

 

[Why_Me]

Thought as much :/. Havent thought about budget but maybe like $2000 if its a whole new system, I dont need a monster. Just something that works on everything, so budget can go up if neccesary. Im not really up to date anymore on what I might get for $2000

Im from Sweden, and Im rocking DDR4 2666MHz 16GB RAM

​

There is literally a dozen ways to go with your budget as in a lot of choices. I'll post this as just one example of what you can do.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 5 7600 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor (kr2487.00 @ Computersalg)
CPU Cooler: *Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler (kr449.00 @ Komplett)
Motherboard: *Asus TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard (kr2079.00 @ Amazon Sweden)
Memory: *ADATA XPG Lancer Blade 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (kr1527.00 @ Proshop)
Total: kr6542.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-02-27 21:04 CET+0100

 

[Mekee]

There is literally a dozen ways to go with your budget as in a lot of choices. I'll post this as just one example of what you can do.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 5 7600 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor (kr2487.00 @ Computersalg)
CPU Cooler: *Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler (kr449.00 @ Komplett)
Motherboard: *Asus TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard (kr2079.00 @ Amazon Sweden)
Memory: *ADATA XPG Lancer Blade 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (kr1527.00 @ Proshop)
Total: kr6542.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-02-27 21:04 CET+0100

Alright, thank you. Would you recommend me upgrading my GPU aswell or should I leave it be for now? I havent noticed it performing bad but idk really.

 

[Why_Me]

Alright, thank you. Would you recommend me upgrading my GPU aswell or should I leave it be for now? I havent noticed it performing bad but idk really.

If you're gpu is working fine for your needs I see no reason to replace it atm.

 

[Eximo]

Really depends on you yes.

You might consider a monitor upgrade with a GPU.

Your whole budget is enough for a quite a dramatic upgrade, with all new parts.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X 4.5 GHz 8-Core Processor (kr3883.00 @ Amazon Sweden)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler (kr449.00 @ Komplett)
Motherboard: MSI B650 GAMING PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard (kr2178.00 @ Amazon Sweden)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (kr1460.00 @ Proshop)
Storage: Western Digital Black SN850X 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (kr1058.00 @ Proshop)
Video Card: MSI GAMING X SLIM GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12 GB Video Card (kr8747.18 @ Amazon Sweden)
Case: MSI MAG FORGE 111R ATX Mid Tower Case (kr726.00 @ Amazon Sweden)
Power Supply: MSI MAG A850GL PCIE5 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (kr1478.00 @ Amazon Sweden)
Total: kr19979.18
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-02-27 23:08 CET+0100

 

[punkncat]

It would be hard to recommend a CPU for that socket/chipset only in that the meaningful update would be a 9900. I honestly think the K skew is less, used, than the non. Those are still commanding a pretty good price. I do think your motherboard could handle it. The cooler and case choice would have a lot to do with keeping it cool as the 99s run infamously warm.

I feel like the system would do pretty well with a better graphics card. That again would have to do with having a good power supply to support it and what you monitor is. With the budget you have you could certainly build a whole system, but do keep in mind that if you are still utilizing a 1080/60 monitor that would be a part to consider upgrading as well.

Lastly, I would say that considering an update to the RAM in the current system wouldn't hurt. I also didn't note you stating what storage option you are using. There may well be opportunities to boost performance of the experience as an overall. Fast storage for OS makes things nice and snappy on the desktop alongside capable hardware. The only thing it really helps with gaming is load times between sections/maps.

 

[Why_Me]

Really depends on you yes.

You might consider a monitor upgrade with a GPU.

Your whole budget is enough for a quite a dramatic upgrade, with all new parts.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X 4.5 GHz 8-Core Processor (kr3883.00 @ Amazon Sweden)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler (kr449.00 @ Komplett)
Motherboard: MSI B650 GAMING PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard (kr2178.00 @ Amazon Sweden)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (kr1460.00 @ Proshop)
Storage: Western Digital Black SN850X 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (kr1058.00 @ Proshop)
Video Card: MSI GAMING X SLIM GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12 GB Video Card (kr8747.18 @ Amazon Sweden)
Case: MSI MAG FORGE 111R ATX Mid Tower Case (kr726.00 @ Amazon Sweden)
Power Supply: MSI MAG A850GL PCIE5 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (kr1478.00 @ Amazon Sweden)
Total: kr19979.18
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-02-27 23:08 CET+0100

Decent build but I would look at a few changes. The difference in fps with the 7700X vs 7700 is one to two frames per second on average. According to Newegg that MSI case includes a single 120mm exhaust fan and that's it. Changes to the board, cpu, gpu and psu and size up to a 2TB SSD.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 7 7700 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor (kr3785.00 @ Amazon Sweden)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler (kr449.00 @ Komplett)
Motherboard: *Asus TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard (kr2079.00 @ Amazon Sweden)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (kr1460.00 @ Proshop)
Storage: *Lexar NM710 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (kr1530.00 @ Proshop)
Video Card: *Gigabyte WINDFORCE OC GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12 GB Video Card (kr7799.00 @ Proshop)
Case: *Fractal Design Focus 2 ATX Mid Tower Case (kr876.90 @ Amazon Sweden)
Power Supply: *Corsair RM850e (2023) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (kr1298.36 @ Amazon Sweden)
Case Fan: *ARCTIC P12 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fan (kr102.93 @ Amazon Sweden)
Total: kr19380.19
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-02-27 23:30 CET+0100

 

[Mekee]

It would be hard to recommend a CPU for that socket/chipset only in that the meaningful update would be a 9900. I honestly think the K skew is less, used, than the non. Those are still commanding a pretty good price. I do think your motherboard could handle it. The cooler and case choice would have a lot to do with keeping it cool as the 99s run infamously warm.

I feel like the system would do pretty well with a better graphics card. That again would have to do with having a good power supply to support it and what you monitor is. With the budget you have you could certainly build a whole system, but do keep in mind that if you are still utilizing a 1080/60 monitor that would be a part to consider upgrading as well.

Lastly, I would say that considering an update to the RAM in the current system wouldn't hurt. I also didn't note you stating what storage option you are using. There may well be opportunities to boost performance of the experience as an overall. Fast storage for OS makes things nice and snappy on the desktop alongside capable hardware. The only thing it really helps with gaming is load times between sections/maps.

Running a 1080 144Hz monitor and using SSDs right now, dont remember the names and Im at work right now so cant look but I havent noticed any problems with OS or load times. Mainly lack of FPS but mostly stuttering.

So based on your and all the other comments I should focus on upgrading CPU, RAM and motherboard? And if Im not quite happy with the results, upgrade the GPU aswell?

 

[NedSmelly]

With your budget (I assume USD$2k) I'd just get a new system, then use the old one as a file server / backup / family donation etc. It's 5 years old now.

Otherwise it's going to be an ongoing ship of Theseus scenario with bits everywhere and things never quite optimised (given its overall age). Opportunity cost

 

[Mekee]

Thank you everyone for your comments!