What is the best route to upgrade/build my PC for gaming?

[dustin.mcfarland]

I'm really not sure what to do at this point. I am fairly certain I need a new motherboard for the newer processors, but my computer is starting to fall way behind the times. I would like to see if I could get some constructive advice as to where to go from here. My system is as follows:


Intel Core i7 2600 @ 3.40GHz
12.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3
Intel Corporation DH67BL Motherboard
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB (PNY)
223GB PNY CS900 240GB SSD
2TB TOSHIBA DT01ACA200 HDD


Thanks for your time and advice in advance. I just really need to figure out what to do. I enjoy PC gaming a great deal and I just want my PC to be able to run games as smooth as possible for a few years to come. I don't have thousands of dollars for something enthusiast, but I am willing to drop enough money for something that will last me for a few years. $1000 would be the max that I could do. It seems to me like it's probably not worth trying to upgrade anything else, but I could easily be wrong and it could be ok to just upgrade something for now.

 

[Karadjgne]

Keep gpu/drives, they are the only things transferable across platforms. The rest is a one shot replacement. New platforms require ddr4 ram, new mobo and new cpu. Case and psu are optional.

Depending on just how high you want to go on performance, OC, non-OC, Amd or Intel you'd be looking at @$400-$800 or so. Any of the new platforms will be good for quite a few years to come, so it's just a matter of deciding just what usage you see for yourself. If you maybe plan on streaming video while gaming, threads matter more, the bigger Ryzen or i7 cpus are far better in that respect, if wanting to save a few $ the mid size Ryzens and i5's are perfectly usable. If you just want to get by, maximize savings, then the smaller Ryzens or i3's are functional, but can suffer in heavy cpu usage stuff. Either way you go, there will be a sizable difference over your current setup.

 

[AniChatt]

Here is my suggestion,
PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LdHBvn
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LdHBvn/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7GHz 8-Core Processor ($309.90 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus - ROG STRIX X470-F Gaming ATX AM4 Motherboard ($196.72 @ Newegg Business)
Memory: G.Skill - Flare X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($240.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($103.59 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($81.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $933.08
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-06-19 00:55 EDT-0400

I don't know regarding the PSU if you have a good one then just avoid it. It will save you money. Right now Ryzen has the best future compatibility unlike intel. SO if you choose ryzen rigth now, you can even upgrade this cpu upto cpu release at 2020. Which is really cool for your purpose. Regarding the mobo it has debug lights but not debug error code display. It is not that important for ryzen right now however if you feel you really need this then there are option from Gigabyte and MSI.

 

[dustin.mcfarland]

Eventually, I'd like to get a 1080 or better GPU. Right now, however, that is not going to be an option. I pretty much figured I'd have to build a new computer considering how outdated the i7 2600 is. I'm not sure about Ryzen vs Intel, but I do know for a very long time Intel pretty much dominated processing speed. I haven't had to upgrade anything for quite a few years, so I can't say that I"m disappointed, but I do feel like it's time before I get left behind. Basically, I'd like to not break the bank trying to upgrade so that I can put a better graphics card such as a 1080 in the future. Perhaps Ryzen is the way to go?

 

[AniChatt]

Eventually, I'd like to get a 1080 or better GPU. Right now, however, that is not going to be an option. I pretty much figured I'd have to build a new computer considering how outdated the i7 2600 is. I'm not sure about Ryzen vs Intel, but I do know for a very long time Intel pretty much dominated processing speed. I haven't had to upgrade anything for quite a few years, so I can't say that I"m disappointed, but I do feel like it's time before I get left behind. Basically, I'd like to not break the bank trying to upgrade so that I can put a better graphics card such as a 1080 in the future. Perhaps Ryzen is the way to go?

Only advantage on Ryzen is future compatibility for their CPU and till date Ryzen+ has significantly improved IPC compared to Intel so AMD seems promising. The advantage of Intel is clock speed but any time you are planning to upgrade on intel you have to buy entire setup so choose what you need. Here is a similar or even better Intel build which is superb right now but no upgrade path for sure for CPU side,
PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/3zhg3b
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/3zhg3b/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor ($339.99 @ Best Buy)
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H100i v2 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($107.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus - Prime Z370-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($162.20 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($178.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($103.59 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($81.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $974.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-06-19 02:02 EDT-0400