Upgrade or new pc for an occasional gamer?

[lubos.barta11]

Hello,

I stopped playing games in the beginning of this year to spend time elsewhere than with PC, as I did all my life, and sold my GPU and now I sort of started to think that I could play something from time to time. I spend the time with PC anyway ..
My specs are:
Phenom II X6 1100t (dedicated hd4250) + 8gb ram + SSD + Corsair Gold 650W + case and the rest.

I have few options:
1. buy a 2nd hand GPU and keep the PC how it is
2. buy a low class gaming pc components:
i3 8100 + rx 570 + 8GB DDR4 ram + MB suitable for this CPU
3. wait until some new CPU or GPU come out, but I don´t know when. Are there any new seen worth waiting for?

If I buy just a used cheap card I am going to play older games occasionally however with option 2 I would play all new games coming out in 2018+.

What are your suggestions if I decide to play from time to time again? I am not a hardcore gamer and I will be playing 1080p and I like +-50fps.

I think that approx 500GBP would be the budget tops.

Thank you a lot.

 

[Barty1884]

Really depends. The Phenom is definitely dated, but could probably pair well enough (although not great) with something like a GTX1050 or RX560

1080p 50+FPS, you'd need to scale back in-game settings on cards like that though.

Ultimately, you need a new GPU regardless. Why not buy something like the RX570 proposed, and see how you fare? Monitor CPU/GPU resources and, if you're struggling to achieve what you want to do, then upgrade the platform?

 

[lubos.barta11]

Really depends. The Phenom is definitely dated, but could probably pair well enough (although not great) with something like a GTX1050 or RX560

1080p 50+FPS, you'd need to scale back in-game settings on cards like that though.

Ultimately, you need a new GPU regardless. Why not buy something like the RX570 proposed, and see how you fare? Monitor CPU/GPU resources and, if you're struggling to achieve what you want to do, then upgrade the platform?

That is a good idea however I heard of some problems of Assassins Creed Origins and Far Cry 5 not running on this old phenom CPU. Someone heared the same?

 

[Barty1884]

Unfortunately, there are titles that won't work on the older CPU due to lack of instruction sets.
I believe ACO is one of them.

 

[techphantom]

I'd build a new pc if I were you.

If your budget is 500 GBP. then:

414 GBP
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/vJccgw

 

[Barty1884]

I'd build a new pc if I were you.

If your budget is 500 GBP. then:

414 GBP
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/vJccgw

:lol: Techphantom, I'm hoping you linked the wrong build? A new/old Haswell system, with a Pentium & no GPU?


OP, if you wanted to go with a new build, you could look to something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 1200 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£72.79 @ Alza)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£51.01 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Team - Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£78.27 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Kingston - A400 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£38.39 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card (£137.21 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Cooler Master - MasterBox Lite 3.1 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£34.86 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM (2015) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£47.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £460.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-23 21:53 BST+0100

You could just about make a modern Ryzen5 6c/12t chip work.....almost.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor (£135.97 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£51.01 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Team - Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£78.27 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Kingston - A400 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£38.39 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card (£137.21 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Cooler Master - MasterBox Lite 3.1 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£34.86 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM (2015) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£47.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £523.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-23 21:54 BST+0100

And reuse your HDD in either build.

 

[USAFRet]

I'd build a new pc if I were you.

If your budget is 500 GBP. then:

414 GBP
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/vJccgw

Nearly $100 in useless junk? C'mon...you're not even trying.

 

[techphantom]

The Pentium has imbedded graphics and is better than that 1200. Otherway, here is a more modern build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2400G 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor (£130.20 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock - A320M-HDV Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£43.97 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (£75.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£83.94 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate - FireCuda 1TB 2.5" 5400RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive (£53.26 @ PC World Business)
Case: NZXT - S340 Elite (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case (£69.59 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA - 400W ATX Power Supply (£23.51 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £480.46
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-23 22:19 BST+0100

Spend less money on a graphics card and spend it on a quality case.

 

[Barty1884]

The Pentium has imbedded graphics and is better than that 1200. Otherway, here is a more modern build.
Spend less money on a graphics card and spend it on a quality case.

Yes, the Pentium has an iGP... but in what world would the entry level iGP of a CPU from >3 years ago make sense, even for an occasional gamer?

In what way is that Pentium "better" than the Ryzen3 1200? By any metric, that's false.

Form over function, 100% there. Less on a GPU for a nicer case?? There are plenty budget cases in the <40GBP range that are perfectly adequate, and don't look half-bad (like the one I linked).


Yes, that's a more modern system.... but flawed in more ways than one.
Slow DDR4, detrimental to Ryzen, especially the APUs
junk PSU
overspending on the SSD for a "budget" system.
Saved 8GBP vs a B350 board, where the OP could at least consider some overclocking....

 

[logainofhades]

IGP or not, a 4th gen Pentium is in no way better than Ryzen 1200. For games, a better GPU is far better than a fancy case. Cases don't make FPS. I suggest stepping back and learning a thing or two, before suggesting any other builds. This isn't the first bad build I have seen from you today. Also Evga whites are junk.

 

[dontlistentome]

That is a good idea however I heard of some problems of Assassins Creed Origins and Far Cry 5 not running on this old phenom CPU. Someone heared the same?

Those two games are a couple of the most hardware demanding games to play. If that's what you are looking to play, even occasionally, AND you like 50fps or more at 1080p, you need a new platform.

So this means new CPU/motherboard/DDR4 ram to start with, plus a new videocard. I would not recommend the Ryzen 2400g for this, because even though you do get workable integrated graphics, it's suited for esports and not games like you want to play.

Given that you'd be buying a new platform, and given the games you want to play, the minimum I'd buy if I were you is an Intel 6 core/6 thread CPU or AMD Ryzen 4 core/8 thread CPU, whichever one you can get at a lower price. Then pick up a 1060 3g or AMD RX 470 or 570, whichever you can pick up at the lowest price.

The games you want to play, and your expectations for performance, mean spending a bit of money is necessary.

 

[lubos.barta11]

Thank you for the answers..

I kinda liked that I would just buy rx570 and see where it goes .. I had rx470 4gb msi gaming and actually I played a lot of games (The Division, Farcry4, GTAV, Battlefield1 MP(however after new DLCs it was not fluent anymore, I dont know why), COD WW2, ME Andromeda,etc.) with my ooold phenom however AC:Origins was the first game that did not run. Ofc I didnt play the high details - the detail settings was approx. 50%.

So I would say that my old CPU was not doing that bad if I consider only the change of GPU and I dont think that getting a better CPU and pairing it with gtx 1050ti, which is approx 40% less powerful than RX470, is going to be any improvement no? I mean - GPU does most of the work, therefore if I am getting better GPU (RX570/580/gtx 1060) and pairing it with worse CPU, it should be better than getting better CPU but worse GPU (1050ti).


Am I right? I mean - where does the balance between CPU and GPU lye so they dont bottleneck each other?

Would this: i5 8400 + gtx 1050ti be better than this: i3 8100 + gtx 1060?

Also one of the ideas was to get a gtx 1060 now and then i3 8100/amd alternative maybe next spring - or is it better to do it at once?

Thank you again.

 

[Barty1884]

Depends on any given title, really.

Anything overly CPU intensive; open world titles, shooters etc, the CPU plays a big factor and, while your FPS may be higher on average with a weaker CPU + stronger GPU, the drops can be substantial. A more capable CPU and a (slightly) weaker GPU would be a more balanced pairing, allowing for pretty stable FPS throughout.

Your Phenom could certainly pair well enough with a stronger GPU - that's why I suggested going that route initially. But there are limitations, like AC Origins mentioned.

The i5+1050TI vs i3+1060, would be pretty similar pairings.... with the i3 + 1060 likely to net you greater performance unless a title can leverage the additional cores of the i5.

FWIW, a 6c/12t AMD CPU (+3000MHz RAM) is slightly cheaper vs an i5, and should have greater longevity IMO, at the expense of minor gaming impacts today.

A Ryzen5 will pair nicely with even a 1080TI today.... so gives you a solid foundation moving forward.



As for upgrading all or part now.... You could look at it from different angles.
IF you had to upgrade one thing now.... you don't have much option, you need a GPU.
Ideally, building a new system now would be the way to go - that way you can play the titles you want to play. Not always feasible for a given budget though.

Personally, I'd look to the Ryzen5 +1050TI build I linked. You could potentially reuse your SSD/HDD and PSU, depending on model etc. That would free up some funds, and you could probably do a Ryzen5 + 6GB 1060.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor (£135.97 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£50.95 @ More Computers)
Memory: Team - Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£78.27 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Palit - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB Super JetStream Video Card (£229.97 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Cooler Master - MasterBox Lite 3.1 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£34.86 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £530.02
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-24 18:25 BST+0100

 

[lubos.barta11]

I see, well there is a lot of to think about.. first I need to decide if at all I am going to upgrade as I havent played for a long time and if I do, then what is the best option..

i3-8100 + rx 570 seems like a good choice also, or not? in case someone thinks I am just for nvidia/intel, that is not true .. I prefer what is more reliable and cheaper at the moment..

 

[Barty1884]

Kinda sounding like a broken record here but..... It depends :lol:

Intel have the slight edge as far as the best CPUs for gaming...... AMD offer the better "value" IMO.

6c/12t vs 4c/4t of the i3. The i3 would be fine today... but longevity-wise, I would fully expect the Ryzen5 to hold age better.

As for GPU's, Nvidia really control the upper-end. In the mid-range tiers, there's arguments to be made for both sides.
Loosely speaking, in lower to higher performers (in the mid-range) its:
1050 / 560
1050TI
570 / 3GB 1060
580 / 6GB 1060

Some titles prefer Nvidia, others (DX12 titles, Vulcan etc) can have greater results on an AMD card.

For the money/performance, I'd be inclined to look to AMD for the CPU (Ryzen5) and Nvidia on the GPU (1050TI or 6GB 1060), but an RX570 is a solid middleground between the two.

 

[lubos.barta11]

Okay I see..

I keep that in mind when decided about next steps. Thank you all for giving the advice.

All have a lovely weekend and nice time gaming