Which PC component should I upgrade first?

[CandyDealer21]

So around a year ago I bought a pre-build gaming PC which I now regret doing, but I've got to deal with it now.

Now I'm wondering which part to Upgrade first. Is the ram, the memory, psu or even put some fans in my pc cause the pre-build pc tries to achieve "complete silence while gaming".

Though the case is quite small so fitting a 120mm isn't going to be possible. Though the GPU temps are at 80-86c and the CPU at 57-65c.

Another idea is to buy a new big pc case that comes with fans and all and then move all the parts over there or even wait for Nvidias 11th gen of graphics cards.

My specs: I5 6400, GTX 970, 8 GB ram, 1TB HDD and 128GB SSD, b150m skylake motherboard.

~Thanks guys (or girls)

 

[R_1]

https://www.fcomputer.dk/corsair-cx-series-cx550-45-stroemforsyning-45-550w
the lowest price unit I am comfortable suggesting. not a wide selection

 

[Kasper Jorgensen]

https://www.fcomputer.dk/corsair-cx-series-cx550-45-stroemforsyning-45-550w
the lowest price unit I am comfortable suggesting. not a wide selection

Not sure, but seems like the old model as it doesn't have the "m" in the model name, in which case you should not buy it.

 

[R_1]

https://www.fcomputer.dk/corsair-cx-series-cx550-45-stroemforsyning-45-550w
the lowest price unit I am comfortable suggesting. not a wide selection

Not sure, but seems like the old model as it doesn't have the "m" in the model name, in which case you should not buy it.

the m signifies modular, the green lettering is to be avoided.
as far as I know it is the same unit, like the S12II and the M12II one is modular and that's the only difference.
If you have information I do not please share.

 

[Kasper Jorgensen]

https://www.fcomputer.dk/corsair-cx-series-cx550-45-stroemforsyning-45-550w
the lowest price unit I am comfortable suggesting. not a wide selection

Not sure, but seems like the old model as it doesn't have the "m" in the model name, in which case you should not buy it.

the m signifies modular, the green lettering is to be avoided.
as far as I know it is the same unit, like the S12II and the M12II one is modular and that's the only difference.
If you have information I do not please share.

Nah, i think you are right. If i remember correctly the old units was like 400w, 500w and not 450w and 550w.
Either way, in Denmark we use edbpriser as that will list from most of the shops and you can select the cheapest price.

 

[Karadjgne]

For a pre-built, the g3-710 has potential. You really don't need a new case unless you want one and interior aesthetics really don't play into the solid sided case, that's more window dressing. As is, it's a pre-built, so most of the connections to the front panel are almost always proprietary, which can make swapping to an aftermarket case a nightmare to either get adapters or run pinouts to figure out which is the power, power led, hdd led etc. Usually more trouble than it's worth.

Without running the serial numbers or model number of the psu through Google, it's generally impossible to actually state the psu quality on a designed gaming pc, it's entirely possible it's a Delta OEM unit or Seasonic OEM unit, which puts it as a very good unit, definitely better than almost all the low budget aftermarket psus. Being @500-550w to be paired with a gtx970 narrows this a little since most of the real junk is usually in the 300w and lower class.

As is, I'd start with 2x things. First figure out what can and cannot be done with case cooling. Ideally you'll have 2x input fans and 2x exhaust fans, but that doesn't look feasible with your case.

You actually have no pre-installed case fans, totally relying on the top mounted psu fan for exhaust, which is where your temps are coming from. I'd give serious consideration to using the hot-swap bay for your hdd, and removing the lower hdd bracket and getting some fan mounted in the front. I'd also figure out exactly what size fan will mount below the psu and get one mounted there. A budget cpu cooler, like a Cryorig H7, paired with a rear exhaust fan would do wonders there for all temps as now most heat will be directed out the rear end.

8Gb ram is fine. Gtx970 is fine. 128Gb ssd is fine just takes a little space management and keep games on the hdd. For a medium range build, it's really not that bad. Just airflow is a consideration.

The only other thing I'd swap would be the cpu. The i5-6400 is a dog. It's quite easily beaten by the i3-6100 in most of your everyday games, especially online games like cs:go or LoL.
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/71760-intel-skylake-i5-6500-i5-6400-i3-6100-review.html
I'd give real consideration to an upgrade, it's more than possible to get a used i5-6500 or better yet a I7-6700, both of which will require nothing more than a bios upgrade, as the G3 comes available with that cpu. You might even go so far as contact Acer directly and find out if the kabylake cpus will be upgradable, if bios supports it, an I7-7700 would be the ultimate goal. Definitely add a Cryorig H7 and at least a rear exhaust fan for any i7 move.

Just my thoughts.

 

[CandyDealer21]

For a pre-built, the g3-710 has potential. You really don't need a new case unless you want one and interior aesthetics really don't play into the solid sided case, that's more window dressing. As is, it's a pre-built, so most of the connections to the front panel are almost always proprietary, which can make swapping to an aftermarket case a nightmare to either get adapters or run pinouts to figure out which is the power, power led, hdd led etc. Usually more trouble than it's worth.

Without running the serial numbers or model number of the psu through Google, it's generally impossible to actually state the psu quality on a designed gaming pc, it's entirely possible it's a Delta OEM unit or Seasonic OEM unit, which puts it as a very good unit, definitely better than almost all the low budget aftermarket psus. Being @500-550w to be paired with a gtx970 narrows this a little since most of the real junk is usually in the 300w and lower class.

As is, I'd start with 2x things. First figure out what can and cannot be done with case cooling. Ideally you'll have 2x input fans and 2x exhaust fans, but that doesn't look feasible with your case.

You actually have no pre-installed case fans, totally relying on the top mounted psu fan for exhaust, which is where your temps are coming from. I'd give serious consideration to using the hot-swap bay for your hdd, and removing the lower hdd bracket and getting some fan mounted in the front. I'd also figure out exactly what size fan will mount below the psu and get one mounted there. A budget cpu cooler, like a Cryorig H7, paired with a rear exhaust fan would do wonders there for all temps as now most heat will be directed out the rear end.

8Gb ram is fine. Gtx970 is fine. 128Gb ssd is fine just takes a little space management and keep games on the hdd. For a medium range build, it's really not that bad. Just airflow is a consideration.

The only other thing I'd swap would be the cpu. The i5-6400 is a dog. It's quite easily beaten by the i3-6100 in most of your everyday games, especially online games like cs:go or LoL.
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/71760-intel-skylake-i5-6500-i5-6400-i3-6100-review.html
I'd give real consideration to an upgrade, it's more than possible to get a used i5-6500 or better yet a I7-6700, both of which will require nothing more than a bios upgrade, as the G3 comes available with that cpu. You might even go so far as contact Acer directly and find out if the kabylake cpus will be upgradable, if bios supports it, an I7-7700 would be the ultimate goal. Definitely add a Cryorig H7 and at least a rear exhaust fan for any i7 move.

Just my thoughts.

Hey karadjgne and thanks for your time for writing all that! Though I think that my pc case isn't wide enough to house a any fans tbh. If I could fit a fan in, that would be a dream. About the cpu upgrade, is it even worth the extra ~$200+ upgrade for a couple fps here and there? Although thanks for the help and effort

 

[Karadjgne]

Well the Cryorig H7 is a budget cooler, here in the States is @$30-$40 depending on stock and sales, and at 145mm tall should have no issues fitting in that Predator case, it's an ATX mid tower according to any review I found. If you look directly under the psu, there's a fan grill. Not sure, couldn't find the specs on it, but it should fit either a 120mm or at least a 92mm fan there. Best bets with location will probably be Noctua or Phanteks or Fractal Design as those are more local. But you really should get at least that one fan there. A tower like the H7 will help as it'll blow case air directly at that exhaust fan, taking much of the pc generated heat out of the psu.

It's more than just a few fps here and there. Your cpu base is a measly 2.4GHz, that'll boost upto 3.3GHz. Most modern games like BF1 or Witcher 3 or GTA:V can and do use upto 8 threads, and pretty much need a quad core minimum. What this means is you'll be seeing upto 100% cpu usage, which pretty much kills your boost, the cpu will downclock to handle the loads. So you'll be running in the 2.xGHz range. Between the cpu clock speeds and high cpu usage, expect some serious drag on the fps at decent detail settings. Something like the I7-6700 would negate all that, giving much more headroom, lower heat output, raising fps etc. You could easily see a 30+ fps increase. An i7 won't do much for games like cs:go as such, as they only run 1-3 threads generally, so you'll keep that 3.3GHz boost, but it's still a little slow compared to what the i3-6100 or i5-6500 can put out. The reason I suggest the i7 is more for longevity, it's uses and potential uses with 8 possible threads not to mention its also a much stronger cpu in clock speeds and things like Lcache. It's like your pc now, it has a gtx970, the base model had an Rx360 or a gtx950. Your 970 will last pretty much the lifetime of a 1080p monitor, neither of those cards will. I can still game on my i5-3570k/gtx660ti but it's a far cry from my i7-3770K/gtx970 build as far as ability goes.