[SOLVED] Upgrading a prebuilt "gaming" PC

[Uzzay_01]

So I'm going to try and keep this short, and hope you guys can help me.
About 4-5 years ago, I bought a prebuilt PC which was described as "gaming", that is now proving to be a slow, laggy b!tch. So I'm looking to upgrade it without spending a lot.

I'm not a huge gamer, all I want the computer to do is to be quick in opening files and applications, I also want to be able to play Minecraft at max settings, no shaders or mods, just vanilla survival (Nether update looks interesting). and to play this at a cosntant 60-80fps. My monitor has a 60hz refresh rate.

when I open MC currently, It's really laggy with medium settings, which leads me to believe its the cpu thats the problem. the graphics card isn't the best, but I would asssume its being bottlenecked by the CPU.
I'm thinking an SSD and a new CPU (maybe a Ryzen CPU) would fix my problems, but I'd like your opinions too.

I haven't been up to date with the latest computers and tech news for the past few years and nor am I too experienced (I'm 18) with this kind of stuff. so please explain accordingly.
Here are my specs, looking forward to your replies.

CPU: FX 4300 Quad Core 3800Mhz
Windows 10 Home 64 version
Graphics card: NVidia Geforce GTX 960
2 TB HDD , no SSD
8GB RAM, DDR3
Motherboard: 760GM-P23 FX

 

[rgd1101]

budget? buying from?

 

[richiestang_78]

Your CPU could be upgraded to somethign like a FX8350, however the performance probably wont be all that much because even when the FX series CPUs were new they were quite weak for gaming. You will need a new motherboard, RAM and CPU if you want something modern. Heres a good budget option for that:

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/M4QP29

CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3200G 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($87.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($72.99 @ Best Buy)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($41.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $202.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-19 13:43 EDT-0400


Your GPU is still decent however soemthing like a GTX 1650 Super would be a worth while upgrade for the 140-170 USD that it should cost. You could also look for a used RX580 or GTX1060.

 

[Uzzay_01]

Thanks for yor replies.
I'm from the UK and my budget is £120 ($150). However, after researching a little more, it looks like I would need to upgrade my Mobo, CPU and RAM due to compatibility issues. So that budget is going to cause problems it seems.
What would you suggest I do first to maximise what I already have?
I was thinking I'd buy an SSD and move my OS to it to make my pc a little faster for everyday work (?)

With the hardware I've got, I would have thought that running Minecraft wouldnt be too demanding, so do you think its a software problem or hardware? I read something about allocating more ram to it or something.
Thanks for your help guys, I appreciate it.

 

[richiestang_78]

A SSD will make programs more responsive but will not do anything for performance.

You could look on eBay or other used parts site and look for either a used FX8350, which should be cheap. Or you could look around for a used B450 mobo, a Ryzen 1600, 1700, 1800, 2200G, 2400G or the best option 2600. Some DDR4 3200mhz RAM shouldnt cost too much used or new.

If you go with the used FX8350, again should be quite cheap, then you could also look for a used RX580 or GTX1060.