Which components should I upgrade on my current gaming build?

dansofe0r

Honorable
Jan 8, 2013
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0
10,510
I play World of Warcraft but would also like to play games like Overwatch on the highest possible settings the games have to offer. In WoW I can currently play at 7/10 video quality and have about 30-40 FPS on average.

I don't have Overwatch on pc but would like to get it and be able to play other new games on the highest settings. Here is what I'm working with now, let's see if anyone can recommend what to upgrade to make this possible. I'm willing to spend a max of around $400-500 on any component.

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
MB: Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3 Ultra
RAM: 20 Gb
Processor: AMD Phenom(tm) II X6 1045T Processor (6 CPUs), ~2.7GHz
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
Chassis: NZXT h440

* Update - forgot to include GPU.
* Update 2 - added chassis
 
Solution
Core count has little to do with anything, given the CPU's being discussed here. Ryzen should be paired with fast ram also. WoW, in no way, needs a GTX 1080 either. I run ultra 1080p, with a GTX 980. Not using mail in rebates, for this.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($218.30 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H5 Universal 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($46.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard ($89.45 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Team - Dark 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($111.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Mini Video Card ($329.99 @...
IDK if you can overclock your CPU.... but I do know that an overclocked phenom II x4 processor would be better for games than your current CPU at stock speed. It would give you much better single threaded speed, and most games only need 4 cores anyway. The existing cooler should be OK.
A good phenom II x4 CPU will overclock to 4GHz at about 1.4V Vcore. Put the Northbridge to x12, and increase your base clock to 220, which will overclock your memory too. Of course, you might be unlucky, and buy an old CPU which will only overclock to 3.5Ghz. It is down to luck.

Only other option is ditch the CPU, motherboard and memory, and start again with a fast intel i5
 
Ignore that RAM statement, you're fine in that regard.
New CPU and new graphics card are the two best upgrades here.
And I can't believe i'm saying this for once, but an AM3+ processor is the best choice for you atm.
This 9590 is supported and is a great deal.
Grab this, goes a bit over but well worth it, you can get the GPU a bit later if you want.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-9590 4.7GHz 8-Core OEM/Tray Processor ($158.79 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Windforce OC Video Card ($356.55 @ Amazon)
Total: $515.34
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-02 20:28 EDT-0400
 


Don't ever get a 9590 horrible cpu. It runs extremly hot needs a good (and expensive) water/air cooler and gets beaten by an i3 in games nowadays. The problem you have in wow is that the single core strength of the phenom is too weak so upgrading to even a pentium g4560 will give you much better fps. However I would recommend you go with an i5 just to have an overall better experience.
 
The FX 6300 performs worse than an i3, however the 9590 is somewhere in beetween an i3 and an i5.
Getting an i5 would mean forfeiting a GPU upgrade and 20GB of DDR3 RAM.
Updated list.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-9590 4.7GHz 8-Core OEM/Tray Processor ($158.49 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG M9a 48.4 CFM CPU Cooler ($19.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Mini Video Card ($339.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $518.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-02 21:54 EDT-0400
 


If I do that then don't I have to replace my MB and RAM?
 
I'm saying given he can't get a CPU which can actually run a 1070 or even fit it in the budget with that, this gets @OP the best performance possible with the budget given until he can afford a decent CPU.
Not worth throwing away 20GB of DDR3 for worse performance and a bigger financial hole in your pocket.
Here's the two options updated.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($173.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($62.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card ($336.35 @ Amazon)
Total: $572.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-03 00:26 EDT-0400

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-9590 4.7GHz 8-Core OEM/Tray Processor ($158.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card ($336.35 @ Amazon)
Total: $494.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-03 00:27 EDT-0400
 


Thanks to everyone for helping to work this out.

I'm willing to increase my budget, what kind of extra spending would be required to get a good or great cpu? I'd be willing to go up to $1000 but would rather stay closet to maybe 700 or so. Definitely want to do this the right way.

Would option 2 just updating the GPU and cpu but staying AMD meet the requirement of playing games like wow and overwatch on max settings?

 
Inherent performance per core for AMD CPU is similar whether you have a Phenom ii or a fx 6300 or a 9590. The only difference is clock speed.
4 cores is enough, more cores only give you a small benefit when gaming.
Therefore increasing your clock speed to 4GHz or more on any AMD chip with at least 4 cores will give you a 50% real world speed increase compared to your current 2.7Ghz CPU. IDK about overclocking a 6 core phenom ii, but you can definitely get a big overclock on a 4 core phenom without needing a huge cooler, and they are cheap on ebay
You can judge better than I if a 50% CPU speed increase is enough for the games you play.

If you need MOAR, then each intel core is literally twice as powerful as an AMD core. Therefore a i5 slowed down to 1.3GHz would give you roughly the same gaming performance as you have now... My i5 runs at 4.2GHz, so I have almost treble the gaming CPU performance that you have.

Bad news - changing to intel means a complete rebuild of your computer, a new windows install and re-install all your games. This is a lot of time and money.
Short term, a fast AMD may be enough, long term you need a new computer.
 
Might be good (and fun) to just overclock the crap out the cpu you have and see if it helpes.Need a good cpu cooler for that of course.

If upgrading just the cpu better look at the FX 8350/8370 with maybe the wraith cooler ( Cryorig H7 ~ similar depending on price),that would be a better choice than the FX 9590 for which you would need a very good high end (and therefore expensive) cpu cooler.
 
Actually, you could even turn off one or two of the cores on your existing CPU to reduce temperature, then overclock it with the cooler that you already have.
More than 65°C on stress test is bad.
When I overclocked my sons gaming rig a few years ago, I found that one of the cores was capable of 4GHz, but the other 3 were stable at 4.2 to 4.3. It was a 4 core phenom, we needed all the cores, so we were limited to 4GHz. However, you can turn off your least stable core....
 
I see, this is your best bet then.
If you want to OC i've also included another list.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-7700 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($294.89 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock B250 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($66.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper Elite 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card ($369.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $826.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-03 18:10 EDT-0400

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($337.88 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z270 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($103.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper Elite 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card ($369.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $941.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-03 18:10 EDT-0400
 
I don't see why.

He could get a gtx 1080 in when choosing a Ryzen chip,

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($218.55 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-AB350-GAMING 3 ATX AM4 Motherboard ($109.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($119.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB FTW DT GAMING Video Card ($522.98 @ B&H)
Total: $970.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-05 15:47 EDT-0400

Not that i think he needs to. He could well be better of with the gtx 1070 and maybe add an ssd if he hasn't one already.

What monitor is used is imo also important.Maybe that could be upgraded too depending on what dansofe0r uses now?

He could look at either one of the ones in the next,

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($218.55 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-AB350-GAMING 3 ATX AM4 Motherboard ($109.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($119.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Windforce OC Video Card ($341.73 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Asus - VG248QE 24.0" 1920x1080 144Hz Monitor ($229.99 @ Amazon)
Monitor: BenQ - BL2420PT 23.8" 2560x1440 60Hz Monitor ($229.99 @ Jet)
Total: $1249.64
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-05 16:12 EDT-0400

both will make it abit over budget (~$20) i know.Take the monitors out and you'll be at a Totall of $789.66

 
Yea a Ryzen 5, 1600/1600x is definitely a consideration. Absolutely avoid an FX 9590. What is the make/model of your power supply? Reusing your case, and HDD, this would work. If your PSU is a good quality unit, with enough wattage, you could drop that off too.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600X 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor ($247.88 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H5 Universal 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($46.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard ($89.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Team - T-Force / Night Hawk 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial - MX300 275GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($94.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte - Radeon RX 580 8GB Gaming 8G Video Card ($219.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA - 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($89.98 @ NCIX US)
Total: $964.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-08 14:29 EDT-0400
 
I believe that an i7 is the better selection due to the still high core count and much better gaming performance, but
if you really want to go to Ryzen however here are your options.
What PSU do you have currently?
I've included one in case.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($217.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-AB350-Gaming ATX AM4 Motherboard ($99.38 @ OutletPC)
Memory: GeIL - EVO POTENZA 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($93.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Superclocked Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card ($498.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $950.23
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-11 03:04 EDT-0400
 
Core count has little to do with anything, given the CPU's being discussed here. Ryzen should be paired with fast ram also. WoW, in no way, needs a GTX 1080 either. I run ultra 1080p, with a GTX 980. Not using mail in rebates, for this.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($218.30 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H5 Universal 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($46.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard ($89.45 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Team - Dark 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($111.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Mini Video Card ($329.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA - 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.49 @ Amazon)
Total: $875.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-17 14:23 EDT-0400
 
Solution

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