[SOLVED] What should i first upgrade?

[ramindersk]

Hello

Current Specs:
i5 - 3470 CPU
1050TI GPU
8GB RAM
Antec VP500PC PSU
H61M Motherboard

Yes, i need an upgrade but i can't upgrade my whole system at one time as per my budget. So i have divided it into 2 parts.

1. Every thing except GPU and PSU [New Gen Intel or AMD].
2. GPU

So i need your help to decide which part should i upgrade first.
This will be a budget gaming PC.

Thanks.

 

[eibelbilly]

1

 

[Aeacus]

1st - PSU. Your Antec PSU is low quality PSU and i wouldn't trust running anything newer than you already have with it.
For new PSU, any Seasonic unit in 500W range is more than enough, e.g Focus GX-550. Latter is good quality PSU with 10 years of warranty. Other PSUs to look towards are Focus GM, PX or PRIME GX, PX, TX.

2nd - GPU. Once you have better quality PSU, and only then, look towards new GPU.
I take that you play on 1080p. If so, GTX 1660 Ti is at the top. Anything better than GTX 1660 Ti and you're looking towards 1440p (2K), which in turn requests monitor change as well and at that point, the PC wouldn't be a budget gaming PC.

3rd - if your CPU gets maxxed out during gaming with GTX 1660 Ti or similar GPU, then look towards new CPU-MoBo-RAM combo. If your CPU doesn't max out, keep the current CPU-MoBo-RAM combo.

 

[ramindersk]

1

Why so? Isn't upgrading GPU would give me some time and good performance boost in gaming?

 

[ramindersk]

1st - PSU. Your Antec PSU is low quality PSU and i wouldn't trust running anything newer than you already have with it.
For new PSU, any Seasonic unit in 500W range is more than enough, e.g Focus GX-550. Latter is good quality PSU with 10 years of warranty. Other PSUs to look towards are Focus GM, PX or PRIME GX, PX, TX.

2nd - GPU. Once you have better quality PSU, and only then, look towards new GPU.
I take that you play on 1080p. If so, GTX 1660 Ti is at the top. Anything better than GTX 1660 Ti and you're looking towards 1440p (2K), which in turn requests monitor change as well and at that point, the PC wouldn't be a budget gaming PC.

3rd - if your CPU gets maxxed out during gaming with GTX 1660 Ti or similar GPU, then look towards new CPU-MoBo-RAM combo. If your CPU doesn't max out, keep the current CPU-MoBo-RAM combo.

So you don't think my PSU can handle 1660ti?

 

[Aeacus]

So you don't think my PSU can handle 1660ti?

The thing with PSUs is, that they are the most important component inside the PC since they power everything. And when PSU goes sky high, they also have ability to fry everything they are connected to. Though, good and great quality PSUs are built with utmost care and it's rare event that they take any other component with them. While with low quality PSUs, question isn't "if" it blows up but "when" it blows up and you can be sure that when it blows, it is going to take some component with it, while rewarding you with nice fireworks. E.g like in this video:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6snWfd1v7M


Btw, i also have 1660Ti in my Skylake build. Feel free to check out what kind of PSU i'm using to power my 1660Ti. Full specs in my sig.

 

[rcald2000]

ramindersk What is your upgrade budget ? Which website do you plan to purchase computer components from? What games would you currently like to play? What is your monitor's mfg and model number? Your answer to my first question is critical.

 

[ramindersk]

The thing with PSUs is, that they are the most important component inside the PC since they power everything. And when PSU goes sky high, they also have ability to fry everything they are connected to. Though, good and great quality PSUs are built with utmost care and it's rare event that they take any other component with them. While with low quality PSUs, question isn't "if" it blows up but "when" it blows up and you can be sure that when it blows, it is going to take some component with it, while rewarding you with nice fireworks. E.g like in this video:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6snWfd1v7M


Btw, i also have 1660Ti in my Skylake build. Feel free to check out what kind of PSU i'm using to power my 1660Ti. Full specs in my sig.

Thanks for the explanation but you think for my current specs my PSU is not good enough? I can understand i need to upgrade PSU if i go with higher GPU but if go with the option 1 do i still need to upgrade PSU?

 

[ramindersk]

ramindersk What is your upgrade budget ? Which website do you plan to purchase computer components from? What games would you currently like to play? What is your monitor's mfg and model number? Your answer to my first question is critical.

My budget is 15~20k INR. I prefer amazon.in.
I like to play latest titles and my monitor has 1080p resolution with 60hz refresh rate.

 

[Aeacus]

but if go with the option 1 do i still need to upgrade PSU?

In the end, it's up to you. If you think that your current Antec unit is fine then there isn't any "need". That is, until your Antec PSU blows up and fries your entire PC. At that point, you're not looking just for new PSU but every component as well your Antec PSU fried. New MoBo, new GPU and maybe even new CPU, RAM and storage drives as well. After that has happened, the realization of needing better PSU sinks in. But at that time, it's already too late.

If you have money to essentially replace your entire PC once your Antec unit blows up, feel free to keep your Antec unit. I, however, have dealt with PC hardware over 20 years and know very well not to cheap out on PSU by seemingly saving some money now while spending a lot more when the "budget" PSU fails.

Since the PSU selection in Amazon.in is poor and your budget is small, the best PSU you can get, while still having more than half of money left, is;
Corsair CX750, amazon: https://www.amazon.in/Corsair-CP-9020015-NA-CX750-Watts-Supply/dp/B00E2TYLCS/
or Corsair CX550, amazon: https://www.amazon.in/Corsair-CP-9020121-NA-550W-Power-Supply/dp/B01MRW2K79/

Is Corsair CX-series better than your Antec VPxxxPC PSU? Yes.
Is Corsair CX-series equal to Seasonic Focus GX? No.

Corsair CX-series is mediocre quality PSU. Better than your Antec but worse than Seasonic i suggested. Due to that, i'd go with 750W unit since lower-end Corsair PSUs (VS, CX and CXm) are known to act up when load on them gets closer to their max output. With 750W unit, you'd have more headroom wattage wise.
I, personally, wouldn't use Corsair CX-series since i care a lot about my PCs and i won't use anything lower than good quality PSU with my PCs. But due to the poor availability in amazon.in and your small budget, compromises should be made. Corsair CX-series is the best of the worst, without using more than half of your budget.

However, you can afford good quality PSU as well,
Corsair RM750, amazon: https://www.amazon.in/CORSAIR-Certified-Modular-Microsoft-Standby/dp/B07S4WS5L4/

Is Corsair RM-series better than your Antec VPxxxPC PSU? Yes.
Is Corsair RM-series better than Corsair CX-series? Yes.
Is Corsair RM-series equal to Seasonic Focus GX? Yes.

Corsair RM-series is good quality PSU and i, personally, would go with that PSU. While it does cost quite a bit, that's the nature of things. To get cheap and good PSU, you need to buy two PSUs: the cheap one and the good one. You can not get good PSU with cheap price. (It is so with all things actually, better quality things cost more.)

(If you're wondering how much the Seasonic PRIME 650 (80+ Titanium) costs, that powers my Skylake build, then converting it's price into your currency, we get 18,309.87 INR.)

 

[rcald2000]

ramindersk For your budget of 15 - 20K INR (~$266 USD), if I were in your situation and couldn't wait for the next generation graphics cards to come out in two months, then I would do the following:

Upgrade from GTX 1050 Ti to GTX 1650 Super
Upgrade from 8 GB to 16GB RAM
Upgrade (possibly) to 120 or 250 (ideally) GB SSD. This might be tough on your budget, but perhaps you could find a used Samsung 840 EVO or 750 EVO. Ideally you'd want to avoid DRAM-less SSDs, if possible.

I've personally owned several GTX 1050 TI's, but not the 1650 Super. According to this video, it looks like the upgrade would grant you 50 - 100% more FPS, depending on the game. However, were it my money, I would wait for the Nvidia 3000 series replacement of the 1650 Super. But I'm wildly guessing that the specific replacement could be six months away.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k72xswYsUfc


Since your chipset is H61, I assume that you only have two RAM slots, and not four. If you have a single 8GB memory, then I would add another 8GB, for a total of 16. If both slots are full, then unfortunately you'd have to consider removing both 4GB sticks and replacing it with a 16GB kit, if your budget would allow you to do so.

 

[Aeacus]

If you have a single 8GB memory, then I would add another 8GB, for a total of 16.

And where is the explanation to OP that chances of two individual sticks working together are 50:50 and it's generally bad idea to match single sticks in the first place?

 

[rcald2000]

And where is the explanation to OP that chances of two individual sticks working together are 50:50 and it's generally bad idea to match single sticks in the first place?

I disagree. The RAM will certainly work. If he was trying to overclock a mismatched kit then that would be a different story. You are welcome to your opinion, but I disagree with your assumption.

 

[ramindersk]

In the end, it's up to you. If you think that your current Antec unit is fine then there isn't any "need". That is, until your Antec PSU blows up and fries your entire PC. At that point, you're not looking just for new PSU but every component as well your Antec PSU fried. New MoBo, new GPU and maybe even new CPU, RAM and storage drives as well. After that has happened, the realization of needing better PSU sinks in. But at that time, it's already too late.

If you have money to essentially replace your entire PC once your Antec unit blows up, feel free to keep your Antec unit. I, however, have dealt with PC hardware over 20 years and know very well not to cheap out on PSU by seemingly saving some money now while spending a lot more when the "budget" PSU fails.

Since the PSU selection in Amazon.in is poor and your budget is small, the best PSU you can get, while still having more than half of money left, is;
Corsair CX750, amazon: https://www.amazon.in/Corsair-CP-9020015-NA-CX750-Watts-Supply/dp/B00E2TYLCS/
or Corsair CX550, amazon: https://www.amazon.in/Corsair-CP-9020121-NA-550W-Power-Supply/dp/B01MRW2K79/

Is Corsair CX-series better than your Antec VPxxxPC PSU? Yes.
Is Corsair CX-series equal to Seasonic Focus GX? No.

Corsair CX-series is mediocre quality PSU. Better than your Antec but worse than Seasonic i suggested. Due to that, i'd go with 750W unit since lower-end Corsair PSUs (VS, CX and CXm) are known to act up when load on them gets closer to their max output. With 750W unit, you'd have more headroom wattage wise.
I, personally, wouldn't use Corsair CX-series since i care a lot about my PCs and i won't use anything lower than good quality PSU with my PCs. But due to the poor availability in amazon.in and your small budget, compromises should be made. Corsair CX-series is the best of the worst, without using more than half of your budget.

However, you can afford good quality PSU as well,
Corsair RM750, amazon: https://www.amazon.in/CORSAIR-Certified-Modular-Microsoft-Standby/dp/B07S4WS5L4/

Is Corsair RM-series better than your Antec VPxxxPC PSU? Yes.
Is Corsair RM-series better than Corsair CX-series? Yes.
Is Corsair RM-series equal to Seasonic Focus GX? Yes.

Corsair RM-series is good quality PSU and i, personally, would go with that PSU. While it does cost quite a bit, that's the nature of things. To get cheap and good PSU, you need to buy two PSUs: the cheap one and the good one. You can not get good PSU with cheap price. (It is so with all things actually, better quality things cost more.)

(If you're wondering how much the Seasonic PRIME 650 (80+ Titanium) costs, that powers my Skylake build, then converting it's price into your currency, we get 18,309.87 INR.)

I got your point and i think i can go with cx550.
Your 2nd recommendation was to upgrade GPU. As cx550 is cost around 5k in India and i'm left with 10~15k so i can't afford 1660ti in that range only 1650 is available.

 

[madmatt30]

Your current psu will handle a 1650 super.
Its not the greatest unit but I'd trust it to not take out a system, it has all relevant protection circuitry.

Some of our Indian members are running dire circle branded units, theyre dangerous, that antec isn't.

 

[ramindersk]

ramindersk For your budget of 15 - 20K INR (~$266 USD), if I were in your situation and couldn't wait for the next generation graphics cards to come out in two months, then I would do the following:

Upgrade from GTX 1050 Ti to GTX 1650 Super
Upgrade from 8 GB to 16GB RAM
Upgrade (possibly) to 120 or 250 (ideally) GB SSD. This might be tough on your budget, but perhaps you could find a used Samsung 840 EVO or 750 EVO. Ideally you'd want to avoid DRAM-less SSDs, if possible.

I've personally owned several GTX 1050 TI's, but not the 1650 Super. According to this video, it looks like the upgrade would grant you 50 - 100% more FPS, depending on the game. However, were it my money, I would wait for the Nvidia 3000 series replacement of the 1650 Super. But I'm wildly guessing that the specific replacement could be six months away.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k72xswYsUfc


Since your chipset is H61, I assume that you only have two RAM slots, and not four. If you have a single 8GB memory, then I would add another 8GB, for a total of 16. If both slots are full, then unfortunately you'd have to consider removing both 4GB sticks and replacing it with a 16GB kit, if your budget would allow you to do so.

I could wait for couple of months if any card with better performance is coming under my budget. You think 3000 series would have competitor of 1650 super or 1660? As 20 series least performance card is 2060 and it is way over my budget and far superior than 1650 super.
I have 2x4GB Ram and i don't want to buy ddr3 ram as i don't think it is a good idea to buy an old technology now.

 

[ramindersk]

I still very confused as both of you has good points and are on completely different tracks.

 

[rcald2000]

Yes, there is no question that Nvidia will have a successor to the GTX 1650 Super. What I don't know, but somewhat doubt, is whether that specific card's successor will release at the beginning of the Nvidia 3000 series launch. I suspect it will be some months later, which is why I was wildly guessing up to 3-6 months. I honestly have no idea about the timeline for the card. For all-I-know, they may release it at the beginning of the launch, but I truly have no idea. But again, I have no doubt that the card will exist in updated form in the future, as Nvidia leaves no price point untouched.

question: Do you only have two ram slots? What is your current ram configuration? two 4GB or one 8GB?

confused? For the record, I agree with the opinion of madmatt30

 

[ramindersk]

Your current psu will handle a 1650 super.
Its not the greatest unit but I'd trust it to not take out a system, it has all relevant protection circuitry.

Some of our Indian members are running dire circle branded units, theyre dangerous, that antec isn't.

That's what i thought initially.

 

[ramindersk]

Yes, there is no question that Nvidia will have a successor to the GTX 1650 Super. What I don't know, but somewhat doubt, is whether that specific card's successor will release at the beginning of the Nvidia 3000 series launch. I suspect it will be some months later, which is why I was wildly guessing up to 3-6 months. I honestly have no idea about the timeline for the card. For all-I-know, they may release it at the beginning of the launch, but I truly have no idea. But again, I have no doubt that the card will exist in updated form in the future, as Nvidia leaves no price point untouched.

question: Do you only have two ram slots? What is your current ram configuration? two 4GB or one 8GB?

confused? For the record, I agree with the opinion of madmatt30

Well i think i should wait for 3000 series then and go with the 1st option [upgrading every thing except GPU and PSU (i got you point [B]Aeacus[/B] and i'll definitely upgrade it at the time of GPU upgrade most probably next year)].

Now should i create another thread for New Gen INTEL / AMD or shall i discuss that here?

 

[madmatt30]

Well i think i should wait for 3000 series then and go with the 1st option [upgrading every thing except GPU and PSU (i got you point [B]Aeacus[/B] and i'll definitely upgrade it at the time of GPU upgrade most probably next year)].

Now should i create another thread for New Gen INTEL / AMD or shall i discuss that here?

I would discuss it here, makes no sense to start a new thread.

 

[Aeacus]

The RAM will certainly work.

No, it does not. Instead, there is a chance of two individual sticks working together, not certanity of them working together.

While memory modules that did not come together in a matched set that was tested by the manufacturer to be compatible, certainly CAN still work together, often it does not. Right up front I'll tell you that if you are trying to get sticks to work in the same machine together that were purchased separately, even if they are otherwise identical according to the kit or model number or if they would seem to have identical timings and voltage requirements, there is a very good chance that you simply will not be able to do that.

Source: https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq...y-ram-and-xmp-profile-configurations.3398926/

Your 2nd recommendation was to upgrade GPU.

For GPU, anything that fits in-between of your GTX 1050 Ti and GTX 1660 Ti does fine on 1080p.

Here's the average percentage of how much the following GPUs are better than your GTX 1050 Ti, so you can pick the best GPU within your budget:

Nvidia
GTX 1050 Ti - baseline
GTX 1650 - 34% better
GTX 1060 3GB - 74% better
GTX 1060 6GB - 84% better
GTX 1650 Super - 87% better
GTX 1660 - 101% better
GTX 1660 Ti - 138% better
GTX 1660 Super - 150% better
GTX 1070 - 153% better

Radeon
GTX 1050 Ti - baseline
RX 470 - 43% better
RX 570 - 55% better
RX 480 - 62% better
RX 5500-XT - 70% better
RX 5500 - 71% better
RX 580 - 79% better
RX 590 - 95% better

Its not the greatest unit but I'd trust it to not take out a system, it has all relevant protection circuitry.

From where you take the "all relevant protection circuitry" claim? Official specs doesn't state any protections Antec VP500PC PSU having. So, did you make up that claim?
Official specs: https://www.antec.com/product/power/vp500pc.php

Also, the master himself, JonnyGuru, had this to say about Antec VP500PC PSU:

Never mind it lacks in every department, the ONE REASON you wanted it was because it had two +12V rails? I mean, it's LITERALLY the cheapest, lowest end Antec PSU they make.

Like Cooler Master, Thermaltake, Corsair, etc., Antec reuses series names over and over across different generations in order to keep it in the same place in their line up. For example: VP is always better than the (now discontinued) Basiq. Neo is ALWAYS better than the VP. Also keep in mind there are many different VP's. VP Plus, VP-P Plus, VP Plus 230V, VP-PC. They also tend to hop from one OEM to another... especially on the cheaper stuff. VP has been made by Delta, FSP, CWT..

For "light use" (read: non-gaming PC) this Antec is fine.

Source topic: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/worry-antec-vp500pc-500w-psu.3501442/

I do agree that Circle PSUs in India are much worse than Antec VP500PC, however, Antec unit isn't anything to brag about either.

If we would put select few PSUs, talked in this topic, into Tiers, we'd get this:
Tier 5 (crap quality) - Circle PSUs
Tier 4 (low quality) - Antec VP500PC
Tier 3 (medium quality) - Corsair CX
Tier 2 (good quality) - Corsair RM, Seasonic Focus GX
Tier 1 (great quality) - Seasonic PRIME

 

[madmatt30]

No, it does not. Instead, there is a chance of two individual sticks working together, not certanity of them working together.



Source: https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq...y-ram-and-xmp-profile-configurations.3398926/



For GPU, anything that fits in-between of your GTX 1050 Ti and GTX 1660 Ti does fine on 1080p.

Here's the average percentage of how much the following GPUs are better than your GTX 1050 Ti, so you can pick the best GPU within your budget:

Nvidia
GTX 1050 Ti - baseline
GTX 1650 - 34% better
GTX 1060 3GB - 74% better
GTX 1060 6GB - 84% better
GTX 1650 Super - 87% better
GTX 1660 - 101% better
GTX 1660 Ti - 138% better
GTX 1660 Super - 150% better
GTX 1070 - 153% better

Radeon
GTX 1050 Ti - baseline
RX 470 - 43% better
RX 570 - 55% better
RX 480 - 62% better
RX 5500-XT - 70% better
RX 5500 - 71% better
RX 580 - 79% better
RX 590 - 95% better



From where you take the "all relevant protection circuitry" claim? Official specs doesn't state any protections Antec VP500PC PSU having. So, did you make up that claim?
Official specs: https://www.antec.com/product/power/vp500pc.php

Also, the master himself, JonnyGuru, had this to say about Antec VP500PC PSU:



Source topic: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/worry-antec-vp500pc-500w-psu.3501442/

I do agree that Circle PSUs in India are much worse than Antec VP500PC, however, Antec unit isn't anything to brag about either.

If we would put select few PSUs, talked in this topic, into Tiers, we'd get this:
Tier 5 (crap quality) - Circle PSUs
Tier 4 (low quality) - Antec VP500PC
Tier 3 (medium quality) - Corsair CX
Tier 2 (good quality) - Corsair RM, Seasonic Focus GX
Tier 1 (great quality) - Seasonic PRIME

The original vp500pc is a cwt unit, its the same at form as the green label corsair cx from 2012 to 2016.
Not amazing but fairly dependable
I know they have the relevant protections because of the platform they're based on.

Thats not THE Jonnyguru (I'm not dissing him because he certainly has some knowledge) so don't be fooled by a username

You missed the 1650 super from the GPU list

Mixing ram? Half in agreement but old intel platforms are fairly forgiving when it comes to mixing ram, even different speeds and sizes tend to run OK in flex mode at the very worst.

 

[FoxVoxDK]

@jonnyguru is jonnyguru, as in the R&D Director/Manager for Corsair's PSU team, former proprietor of www.jonnyguru.com, shout out to Tazz and Oklahoma, though.

Grabs popcorn Waits for the bite.

 

[jonnyguru]

Thats not THE Jonnyguru (I'm not dissing him because he certainly has some knowledge) so don't be fooled by a username

Umm.. Actually. It is.