[SOLVED] Upgrading computer on a budget

[elitech]

Hi all,

I have a machine that is several years old and am hoping to put some money into it to improve performance and keep it relevant. The major usage (and most often) is gaming, I'd like to play games with max settings on the 1920x1080. Second, and far behind, is watching movies. Here is the "form" from the pinned guide, and below it will be the current specs of the computer. If I missed anything or any additional info is needed, please let me know.

Thank you all.

Approximate Purchase Date: within the next month or two
Budget Range: Max $750; As low as possible while matching my desired usage (gaming)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Most important: gaming, watching movies
Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: Everything is open to being upgraded as needed, as long as it stays within the budget
Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: any
Location: USA, any vendor

Parts Preferences: No preference, but at least decent quality
Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No
Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Nothing special needed (rather spend money on parts than have my case glow)
And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: computer is several years old and I'm hoping to keep it going with "yearly investments"

I'm not an expert, so doing the best I can with components... I'll gladly post any other information as needed.

Motherboard: MSI Z97 gaming 5 https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/Z97-GAMING-5/Specification
CPU: i5-4690k @ 3.5 GHz https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/80811/intel-core-i5-4690k-processor-6m-cache-up-to-3-90-ghz.html
RAM: 2x8 (16GB) DDR3 @ 666 MHz
GPU: geforce gtx 980, 4095MB
PSU: 1300W
Storage: 250 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD
Monitor: ASUS VG248QE 24''
Case: Full tower

 

[anotthatgreatdane]

Depending on what you are playing.
Another 980 in sli. Use that PSU or a 1660 8gb. You'd probably get a good price for the 980.
A i7 4770K or 4790K.

Personally i would jusy upgrade the gpu to the 1660. I dont play anything that cpu heavy

 

[punkncat]

With the budget you have now, there are quite a few new motherboard/CPU/RAM combo that would make your system more future proof but certainly hampered by the 980. I am not sure that I would utilize all that budget just on GPU for the resolution you are targeting. I don't really feel like there would be a good upgrade path for all the above inside budget that is worthwhile as an all in one solution.

You could target a second gen Ryzen 5, maybe third, motherboard, and memory for 'roughly' the same price as finding a fourth gen intel i7 unless you luck across something.

 

[anotthatgreatdane]

For future proofing maybe a new ddr 4 mobo and a performance ryzen.
But with that setup you should be able to play 1080p for a while

 

[LordVile]

Hi all,

I have a machine that is several years old and am hoping to put some money into it to improve performance and keep it relevant. The major usage (and most often) is gaming, I'd like to play games with max settings on the 1920x1080. Second, and far behind, is watching movies. Here is the "form" from the pinned guide, and below it will be the current specs of the computer. If I missed anything or any additional info is needed, please let me know.

Thank you all.

Approximate Purchase Date: within the next month or two
Budget Range: Max $750; As low as possible while matching my desired usage (gaming)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Most important: gaming, watching movies
Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: Everything is open to being upgraded as needed, as long as it stays within the budget
Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: any
Location: USA, any vendor

Parts Preferences: No preference, but at least decent quality
Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No
Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Nothing special needed (rather spend money on parts than have my case glow)
And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: computer is several years old and I'm hoping to keep it going with "yearly investments"

I'm not an expert, so doing the best I can with components... I'll gladly post any other information as needed.

Motherboard: MSI Z97 gaming 5 https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/Z97-GAMING-5/Specification
CPU: i5-4690k @ 3.5 GHz https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/80811/intel-core-i5-4690k-processor-6m-cache-up-to-3-90-ghz.html
RAM: 2x8 (16GB) DDR3 @ 666 MHz
GPU: geforce gtx 980, 4095MB
PSU: 1300W
Storage: 250 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD
Monitor: ASUS VG248QE 24''
Case: Full tower

For 750 a B450 Max and R5 3600 with 16GB of ram should run you about 400. Get a RX 5700 ontop of that and with the spar you get selling old parts get a new PSU

 

[elitech]

With the budget you have now, there are quite a few new motherboard/CPU/RAM combo that would make your system more future proof but certainly hampered by the 980. I am not sure that I would utilize all that budget just on GPU for the resolution you are targeting. I don't really feel like there would be a good upgrade path for all the above inside budget that is worthwhile as an all in one solution.

You could target a second gen Ryzen 5, maybe third, motherboard, and memory for 'roughly' the same price as finding a fourth gen intel i7 unless you luck across something.

Thank you for the response. Hypothetically, what budget would I need for a "good upgrade path" and, in that case, what would be the components to get?

Thank you again!

 

[elitech]

For 750 a B450 Max and R5 3600 with 16GB of ram should run you about 400. Get a RX 5700 ontop of that and with the spar you get selling old parts get a new PSU

Thank you for the response. If you don't mind, I'd pose a similar question to you as I did to punkncat - what budget and what components should/could I get if I managed to increase my budget?

Don't get me wrong, $2000 is out of the question, but if there is a combo of components that would make the system better that is not too far from the budget itself (i.e. $900) I'd like to know.

Thank you again.

 

[elitech]

For future proofing maybe a new ddr 4 mobo and a performance ryzen.
But with that setup you should be able to play 1080p for a while

Thank you, appreciate the posts Do you have any recommendations on the MB/CPU combo?

 

[ScrewySqrl]

with a $750 budget, I'd do this:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700 3.2 GHz 8-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M-HDV R4.0 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($63.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB OC Video Card ($289.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $722.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-14 11:10 EST-0500

reuse your case and older storage, new PSU due to the age of your old system, I added a 1TB m.2 SSD as your new boot disk. the 2700 will run newer games better (8 cores is now the standard thanks to consoles having 8 core cpus), with a 2060 for 144Hz gaming at 1080p. IMHO a RX5700 really needs the X570 and a 3600/3700/3800 to get full use of PCIe 4.0, and that combo exceeds your budget.

 

[johnsoner13]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/6gfqY
This is assuming your PSU can still hold up as you didnt specify the exact model. The site says you might need to update the BIOS for the 3600 but the Tomahawk Max supports ryzen 3000 out of the box. The RX 5700 XT is an amazing card and slaps the rtx 2060/2060 super and matches/beats the rtx 2070 super in some circumstances. I do recommend you sell your parts that you’ll be replacing to have some extra money to maybe get a new PSU if needed.

 

[elitech]

with a $750 budget, I'd do this:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700 3.2 GHz 8-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M-HDV R4.0 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($63.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB OC Video Card ($289.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $722.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-14 11:10 EST-0500

reuse your case and older storage, new PSU due to the age of your old system, I added a 1TB m.2 SSD as your new boot disk. the 2700 will run newer games better (8 cores is now the standard thanks to consoles having 8 core cpus), with a 2060 for 144Hz gaming at 1080p. IMHO a RX5700 really needs the X570 and a 3600/3700/3800 to get full use of PCIe 4.0, and that combo exceeds your budget.

Thank you Screwy, any opinion on johnsoner13's proposal? It seems to incorporate 5700 XT and a better proc.

 

[johnsoner13]

Also I wouldnt worry about not being able to utilize PCIE 4.0 on b450 as the 5700 xt can use 3.0 and the difference is pretty much unnoticeable
4.0 vs 3.0 video

 

[Tyrvidar]

Your rig is fine. You've got plenty of Ram & your CPU is still solid. 4th Gen i5's are not far off (especially with a little overlock action) from many the 2000 Series AMD chips in performance like a 2600x.

Couple of things though

1. Get rid of the 1300W PSU (way overkill for what you're doing) sell it for 80-100 bucks to someone online then spend 40 of it on a 550-600watt 80+.
2. Sell the 980 for $60-100 to someone on Craigslist/Facebook marketplace.
3. Now Take your 120+ bucks you just made then add another $80-100 and get a used GTX 1080 or 1070 ti.

Presto you just significantly upgraded your gaming capabilities at 1080p. If you pick up a used GTX 1080 or TI version, go 1440p, spend some of that $750 on a solid 120hz+ 1440p monitor and never look back.

You're done sir, save several hundred bucks. Get larger SSD during your upgrade and put some games on it .