Question Will my PC benefit from a CPU upgrade?

smmm

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Aug 14, 2019
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I currently have a PC with an i3-550, 4 gb of DDR3, GTX 750 ti, and a 300w psu. I know to upgrade this CPU meaningfully I'd have to get a different motherboard, but but beside that will this PC see any gaming performance increase with a better CPU, or is it limited by the 750 ti? I'm currently happy with performance in some lower-spec games but would a CPU upgrade enable me to play games such as Destiny 2 at higher FPS than I'm getting now (20-30)?
I don't mind minimum settings.

One option for a CPU upgrade would be my friend's old Pentium G4400. I know I'd have to get different RAM for that one.
Also, would it be likely that if i put in a new CPU, it would need more power than my 300w?

Since this PC is a Dell prebuilt, (Inspiron 580), would I be able to change out the motherboard? I know prebuilts can have pretty wonky mobos, but from inspection of the screw holes it seems to be a decently standard micro ATX board. I'm concerned if the IO shield and PCI slots will match up. I do have the option to get a cheap case but I was wondering if something like this is even possible.

Thanks for any advice!
 

InvalidError

Titan
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Dell is known for using proprietary form factors for PSUs and motherboards, so it is impossible to tell how standard your particular model is without detailed drawings to verify how things line up with a standard board. Some models also have non-standard PSU connectors.

Anything below quad-core is going to suck in most newer games and some won't launch at all with less than that, so you should really aim at least that high if you don't want to have an urge to upgrade again almost immediately. For about $300, you can get a Ryzen 2400G, a B450 motherboard and 16GB of DDR4-3200. As a bonus, the IGP is stronger than your 750Ti so you can ditch that too.
 

smmm

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Dell is known for using proprietary form factors for PSUs and motherboards, so it is impossible to tell how standard your particular model is without detailed drawings to verify how things line up with a standard board. Some models also have non-standard PSU connectors.

Anything below quad-core is going to suck in most newer games and some won't launch at all with less than that, so you should really aim at least that high if you don't want to have an urge to upgrade again almost immediately. For about $300, you can get a Ryzen 2400G, a B450 motherboard and 16GB of DDR4-3200. As a bonus, the IGP is stronger than your 750Ti so you can ditch that too.
Ok thanks for the information. If I can upgrade my PC to the G4400 for around $70 do you think there would be any performance increase at all and it would be worth it? I’m on a pretty low budget. I’m also open to used components if you have any recommendations for that.
 

InvalidError

Titan
Moderator
Your i3 is 2c4t while the i5 is 2c2t and only 100MHz faster, so the G4400 is actually slightly WORSE due to lacking the i3's HT.

Your only upgrade on that board would be moving up to an i5 but those are 2c4t with similar clocks too, so not much of an improvement.

If you look around for used office PCs, you can probably find whole PCs with an i7-3770 for ~$200.
 

smmm

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Your i3 is 2c4t while the i5 is 2c2t and only 100MHz faster, so the G4400 is actually slightly WORSE due to lacking the i3's HT.

Your only upgrade on that board would be moving up to an i5 but those are 2c4t with similar clocks too, so not much of an improvement.

If you look around for used office PCs, you can probably find whole PCs with an i7-3770 for ~$200.
Interesting. By HT I assume you mean hyperthreading? As a side note while on this topic, do you think upgrading to 8 gb of ram will yield any performance increase?
Thanks.
 
Alas, realistically, you pretty much need a new...well, everything, sorry....

A new CPU and MB means new RAM, and, the PSU is too small for the inevitable GPU upgrade that is needed as well...

An R5-1600 is a nice find at a new value bargain when on sale at $79 paired with a B450 for about $90-$95...(I'd really not start any lower or slower, CPU-wise, lest we already start off 'needing an upgrade'....

If your case and it's cabling are specially made/proprietary, add $55 for a new Corsair 200R as well...

FInd a pair of 8 GB sticks (DDR4-3200 MHz) for about $70 or so...

GPUs- RX580's can be had for ~$180, making the GTX1050 Ti too expensive, relatively speaking IMO...
 

zero_l0gic

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Aug 17, 2018
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Listen to Error he summed it up realy good, basicly ram will not “speed up” computer you just need to have it more then you use it, having 8gb will show some speed in aplications that are memory hungry like Chrome. So short answer no its not recomended that you upgrade cpu, best budget option is a used office PC.
 

j3ster

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Interesting. By HT I assume you mean hyperthreading? As a side note while on this topic, do you think upgrading to 8 gb of ram will yield any performance increase?
Thanks.

itll be small probably for browsing.

but you can try 2nd hand market.
personally id recommend just saving up for a whole new PC.

the recommendation given by @InvalidError is a really good one.

"Anything below quad-core is going to suck in most newer games and some won't launch at all with less than that, so you should really aim at least that high if you don't want to have an urge to upgrade again almost immediately. For about $300, you can get a Ryzen 2400G, a B450 motherboard and 16GB of DDR4-3200. As a bonus, the IGP is stronger than your 750Ti so you can ditch that too. "
 
Sep 15, 2019
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Looking at the current setup you better build a new PC. That pc will not last you more plus its a pre-built meaning if incompatible parts are inserted in the PC then it might not boot. Better build a pc with used parts try looking for some deals in craig lists etc. there are deals with new component like CPU+mobo combo at a cheap price. Better get a Ryzen 3 1200 and pair it with 8gb ram. Find a decent graphics card on the used market.
 

InvalidError

Titan
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Interesting. By HT I assume you mean hyperthreading? As a side note while on this topic, do you think upgrading to 8 gb of ram will yield any performance increase?
Having dual-channel if you can find an identical-enough DIMM to allow it will increase performance by 10-20% plus whatever performance you may gain from reduced swapping which depends on how tragically short on RAM you typically are.
 

smmm

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Ok thanks for the advice. I’m not in the situation to get a new pc as this one is my secondary, I was just wondering if there were any ways to squeeze some more performance out of it. I think I’ll just stick with it now and maybe throw some ram in if convenient down the line (I do some web browsing with it). One last question: What is the bottlenecking situation with this PC? For example, I wouldn’t go out if my way to actually upgrade this pc more but if I magically found like a 1050 ti in the street and threw it in, would there be no FPS increase because of a CPU bottleneck?
 
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