Question What next for an upgrade advice please

[yrst80]

Hi, this is what I bought my son as a basic gaming PC
MSI A320 Motherboard

AMD Ryzen 2200G with Vega 8 graphics

8gb Ddr4 Hyper X

Corsair Carbide 175R case

500gb sata drive
Obvs time has moved on and he wants an upgrade. What is the best budget step up here? (I am tech savvy but out of touch/date with gaming requirements so keep it simple and cheap options)

 

[logainofhades]

Need to know make/model of the PSU. Need to know the model of the motherboard. Also need an idea of games they wish to play, and at what resolution.

 

[yrst80]

Need to know make/model of the PSU. Need to know the model of the motherboard. Also need an idea of games they wish to play, and at what resolution.

MSI A320 Motherboard

AMD Ryzen 2200G with Vega 8 graphics

8gb Ddr4 Hyper X

Corsair Carbide 175R case

500gb sata drive



A good base pc for someone, vega 8 can handle entry games... Easily upgraded as board has space for a m.2 ssd or a normal ssd drive and use 500gb to hold games, only one ram slot used so a second hyper x stick to take ram to 16gb and has an empty pcie slot if you can find a dedicated card... Psu is nothing special but handles all that is there currently.

 

[logainofhades]

Which A320? Need exact model, to determine compatibility. Need to know the PSU model. If it is not a quality unit, it can die and take the system with it. Just because it is working now, doesn't mean much. Ram is best bought in kits. Dropping in a single matching stick, to what they currently have may or may not work. An actual budget is needed too. Cheap is a relative term. What one person may find cheap, another could find expensive.

 

[yrst80]

A320M-A Pro
PSU is Corsair variety but I can't get in without opening it all up, it's covered up and didn't get a manual with it - where else can I find it?


Approximate Purchase Date: no rush, savings required
Budget Range: UK £ 200-400

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Steam games; some EA...the list increases as age increases; homework; internet
Are you buying a monitor: No



Parts to Upgrade: as few as possible;
Do you need to buy OS: No
Please note that if you're using an OEM license of Windows, you will need a new one when buying a new motherboard.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: no fussed, secondhand suitable too

Location: UK

Parts Preferences: no pref

Overclocking: don't know how

SLI or Crossfire: not sure what that is

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments:

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: bro got a gaming laptop (Nitro 5) and seems faster/better, wants to play together/keeps getting lag on games they play together.

 

[logainofhades]

You have to open it up, to get PSU model. Thinking more on it, and if that PSU is as old as the rest of the system, it's to be replaced regardless. This will give them a solid upgrade, and they can drop a GPU later.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700G 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor (£181.17 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (£79.58 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair TX650M 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (£59.99 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £320.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-01-26 13:50 GMT+0000

 

[yrst80]

You have to open it up, to get PSU model. Thinking more on it, and if that PSU is as old as the rest of the system, it's to be replaced regardless. This will give them a solid upgrade, and they can drop a GPU later.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700G 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor (£181.17 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (£79.58 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair TX650M 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (£59.99 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £320.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-01-26 13:50 GMT+0000

OMG amazing, thank you. And yes...I anticipate the PSU would need replacing. Great starting point for discussion around some chores to earn these!

 

[logainofhades]

Might want to consider an aftermarket cooler too. I forgot to add that in earlier.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700G 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor (£187.99 @ AWD-IT)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Pure Rock 2 CPU Cooler (£32.99 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (£79.58 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair TX650M 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (£59.99 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £360.55
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-01-26 14:29 GMT+0000

 

[geofelt]

Reasonable suggestions by loganofhades above.

Price goes up. My first upgrade would be to replace the 500GB HDD with a ssd of some sort. A quality 1tb ssd should be about £100.
Look to samsung or intel for quality

Games can be cpu limited or graphics limited.
To find out which, run this simple test:
Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
This makes the graphics card loaf a bit.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.