Question What to buy to upgrade my current build?

Emiel123

Commendable
Jun 12, 2017
17
1
1,515
Hello fellow PC people.

I have around 1000 euros to spare and I was wondering what you people would suggest for me to upgrade my current PC with.

Current specs:
CPU: AMD FX 8150
Cooling: Stock*

Moederbord: ASUS M5A97 R2.0
RAM: 2x Corsair Vengeance (4GB)

GPU: Nvidea GTX 770 gigabyte 4GB

Tower: Carbide Series® 500R Mid-Tower Case89

Ideally I would like to keep the current GPU and tower. Thus I am mostly looking to upgrade the CPU (wich I know is most outdated).
I like to game on it and would be most content if I was able to have a proper frame-rate in games along the lines of the Total War series.

* I have a non-stock cooler "cooler master hyper 412S" which should have fit on my motherboard but it didn't
That is why I would also like a MB on which this cooler fits (according to the box LGA 2011, 1366, 1156, 1155, 775 and FM1, Am3+, AM3 and AM2).

I hope someone is able and willing to help me. If more information is needed I will happily provide it if I can.
 

WildCard999

Titan
Moderator
At 1000 euros I would just start fresh as even the GPU is quite dated.

I reused the Case as it appears it isn't sold anymore (per PCPer).

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor (€149.90 @ Alternate)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - Hyper 212 Black Edition 42 CFM CPU Cooler (€34.90 @ Caseking)
Motherboard: Asus - ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard (€126.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (€109.89 @ Alternate)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (€69.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€69.90 @ Caseking)
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB GAMING Video Card (€289.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: Corsair - Carbide 500R Black ATX Mid Tower Case (€0.00)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€79.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €929.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-03-12 17:32 CET+0100
 
Last edited:
Here is the list:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor (€149.90 @ Alternate)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - B450M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (€69.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (€89.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (€69.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€69.90 @ Caseking)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB MINI ITX Video Card (€449.48 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: Corsair - RMx (2018) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€100.56 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €998.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-03-12 17:42 CET+0100


Extremely powerful and perfect for your budget.

What PSU are you using? Please can you list its model and manufacturer.
 

Emiel123

Commendable
Jun 12, 2017
17
1
1,515
Oh I guess I fogot to say what PSU I am using.

PSU: be quiet! pure power L8 630W

I also already have enough storage space so those costs can be cut from the part lists.
Regarding the CPU I thought I would go for an Intel this time as I had some problems with overheating on this and my former AMD chips. If, however, you guys really think I should go for AMD again at this price-range, I'll reconsider.
 
Oh I guess I fogot to say what PSU I am using.

PSU: be quiet! pure power L8 630W

I also already have enough storage space so those costs can be cut from the part lists.
Regarding the CPU I thought I would go for an Intel this time as I had some problems with overheating on this and my former AMD chips. If, however, you guys really think I should go for AMD again at this price-range, I'll reconsider.
Presently the over heating problem is faced by Intel CPUs if paired with a budget cooler. AMD ryzen will not be running extremely hot but if you wanna have decent OC then go for R5 2600X over R5 2600 as it comes paired with better cooler and is binned CPU with higher clock speeds.
 

Emiel123

Commendable
Jun 12, 2017
17
1
1,515
So you guys would still say to buy a new PSU or is this one good? Also would you say to buy a more expensive GPU or CPU if I already have the storage and the PSU covered with my budget?
 
Here is the list:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 2700 3.2 GHz 8-Core Processor (€264.00 @ Alternate)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - B450M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (€69.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (€95.89 @ Alternate)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB MINI ITX Video Card (€449.08 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€120.90 @ Caseking)
Total: €999.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-03-13 17:57 CET+0100


Allocate the budget you save from storage towards CPU and 850W PSU. That 850W PSU will be only useful if you use it again when you upgrade your PC next time. Otherwise 650W PSU will be enough.
 
After thinking about it for some time, what would be the Intel CPU to go for using this budget? I'm still not sure if I want to go AMD or Intel.
For overall performance build with AMD will out perform build with Intel. Presently Intel CPUs are way over priced compared to AMD CPUs which leads to compromise on other components especially GPU to fit the CPU in that budget. For gaming and other GPU intense workload AMD PC will outperform Intel PC of same budget. I would recommend Intel PC only if you have specific requierment where Intel CPU will outperform AMD CPU and be worth the expenditure like in the case of using PC mainly for Photoshop or need to use it for NAS.

If the main purpose of the build is to game AMD and more powerful GPU will outperform Intel and less powerful GPU combo in every title.
 

Emiel123

Commendable
Jun 12, 2017
17
1
1,515
Another question: Can't I keep using my current PSU? Or would you recommend against doing that, and if so why?
Because saving the cost of a new PSU could maybe mean better CPU or GPU or would that mean needing more wattage?
 

WildCard999

Titan
Moderator
Another question: Can't I keep using my current PSU? Or would you recommend against doing that, and if so why?
Because saving the cost of a new PSU could maybe mean better CPU or GPU or would that mean needing more wattage?
I'd replace it for two reasons. One is that it isn't really a good unit (not terrible though, mid-ish range) and two is that you've probably had it for at least a few years and it's probably not wise to risk newer parts on a older PSU, especially if you have the budget to get a brand new much better quality unit.
 

Emiel123

Commendable
Jun 12, 2017
17
1
1,515
Ah my warranty is almost over so it would indeed seem smart to buy a new one.

Yet another question as to why I should go for the "geforce rtx 2070 MINI"? Any particular reason or is this one especially good or something?
 
You can also do as you originally planned and stick with your existing graphics card. This will allow you to allocate your budget to other areas of your build then do a graphics card monitor upgrade in the future at the same time. I often find people spending all this money on high end graphics cards only to find out that they are running 1080p at 60hz and any older graphics card match fps to that panel so the new graphics card's performance and cost are wasted. Purchasing the graphics card and monitor combo in the future would ensure optimal performance between the two, allowing you to get the most out of your hardware.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel - Core i9-9900K 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor (€529.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! - Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler (€72.64 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: Asus - TUF Z390-PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€152.84 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (€183.59 @ Mindfactory)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€120.90 @ Caseking)
Total: €1058.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-05 16:59 CEST+0200
 

WildCard999

Titan
Moderator
You'd have to ask King Dranzer but I think it was because the card was cheaper at the time but personally I wouldn't use a single fan setup for a higher end GPU. Blower style fans are good for ITX cases with limited airflow but currently, per PCPer, the Asus ROG Strix is the cheapest so that would be the one I'd grab (3 fans/RGB).

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: Asus - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB Video Card (€494.52 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €494.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-05 16:57 CEST+0200
 
Here is the list:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 2700 3.2 GHz 8-Core Processor (€229.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - B450 AORUS M Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (€81.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: G.Skill - Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (€79.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Asus - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB Video Card (€494.52 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€120.90 @ Caseking)
Total: €1006.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-05 17:35 CEST+0200


When I made the initial list that RTX2070 was very cheap offering. Now that model is not available so this one will suit you better and has better cooling solution and can be pushed to crazy extent for OC.
 
I'd honestly go with a RTX 2060 over the 2070 since the performance decrease is only marginal while the cost is ~150€ less. That you can spend on better MB, cpu + cooler or just pocket for future upgrades.
Unless OP has plans of upgrading GPU in near future may be a year. I would recommend to go with RTX2070 over RTX2060 for its obvious performance gain over RTX2060. Even if RTX2070 is paired with marginally weaker CPU the performance gain it outputs makes it a superior combo for a long run. It will be better balanced build for longer usage without the requirement of upgrade.
 
Obviously RTX 2070 is faster than a RTX 2060. I just don't think it's 150€ faster when the fps difference in many games is less than 10. They're based on the same chip after all.
There's not, nor will there be a game that a RTX 2070 can run but a RTX 2060 can't.
 
Obviously RTX 2070 is faster than a RTX 2060. I just don't think it's 150€ faster when the fps difference in many games is less than 10. They're based on the same chip after all.
There's not, nor will there be a game that a RTX 2070 can run but a RTX 2060 can't.
Depending on games mostly it has around decent 20% performance gain over RTX2060. My question what will OP do saving that € 150?
I will only recommend doing that if OP skips completely on GPU and but it later this year or next year when AMD and NVIDIA launch their next GPU lineups. Unless OP is going to that saving minimal amount as €150 for future upgrades is meaningless as with that small amount no performance upgrade can be possible.
 
At this price range i'd personally just rather go for best value for money instead of best performance the budget allows.
You'll save 240€ at the cost of 10-20% gaming performance compared to a RX 2070 + Ryzen 7

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor (€156.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: ASRock - B450 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard (€81.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (€83.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB GAMING OC PRO Video Card (€350.65 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€88.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €762.42
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-05 19:48 CEST+0200
 

Emiel123

Commendable
Jun 12, 2017
17
1
1,515
It seems that buying the GPU in Germany makes me have to pay import taxes into the Netherlands. This makes almost all 2070s around €100 more :(
No import over the other parts though

Edit: The "Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 2070 Mini" is still affordable within my budget, should I just get that one?