Upgrade advice for 1080p Gaming

chrismon

Hi all,
I'm looking to upgrade my PC which you guys helped pick out nearly 6 years ago
Its mostly used for gaming, tts still tipping away but newer titles are chugging a bit.

Heres the current spec.

BitFenix Merc Alpha Case
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W
ASRock 970 Extreme3, AM3+, ATX
AMD FX-6300 Prozessor, Boxed, Sockel AM3+
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 13 Pro
16GB DDR3 Ram
Club 3D Radeon HD 7850 royalKing, 2GB GDDR5
Crucial M4 128GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")
WD Caviar Green 2TB Sata 6Gb/s

What upgrade path would you recommend for 1080p gaming?
Would you go Intel or AMD?


I'm thinking I'll have to replace Motherboard, CPU, GPU, PSU, and Ram.

I have a decent monitor, but I do need a copy of Win10.

K.O.Kiki

GPU first, then CPU/motherboard.

For CPU, I'd consider 2nd-hand Intel i5/Xeon stuff (which lets you keep your RAM), though if budget permits a new Ryzen 3/5 is great too.

chrismon

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

GPU first, then CPU/motherboard.

For CPU, I'd consider 2nd-hand Intel i5/Xeon stuff (which lets you keep your RAM), though if budget permits a new Ryzen 3/5 is great too.

Yeah I was thinking Ryzen alright.
Thanks.

K.O.Kiki

Fill out this form too:

1. What is your budget?

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer?

3. Do you need a copy of Windows?

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer?

5. Do you need a monitor?

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future?

6. Do you need any of these peripherals?

7. Are you willing to try overclocking?

8. How can you pay?

9. When are you purchasing?

10. If you need help building it, where are you based?

TerrorFirmer

It depends on your budget but I would say a new H81M board for €50 and a 2nd hand i5 for €80 is very economical as you can re-use your ram and get nearly the full cost back by selling your current mobo and CPU for about €100 - and net a big upgrade.

Then put the rest of the money into a new GPU instead like a GTX1060 6GB.

Going Ryzen 5, B350M + 8GB DDR4 would set you back about €300 - not a waste of money, but not necessarily the best choice either depending on what you have to spend/what you're looking for.

The HD7850 2GB is still OKish, so it depends on the games you are playing and what struggles you are finding.

EG there is no game on the market the 7850 2GB still can't play at a steady 60fps as long as you tailor the settings accordingly. The same cannot be said of the FX-6300 however, and it will be all over the place in some games no matter what GPU you had.

Really depends on what you have to spend. If the budget is limited I'd definitely prioritize the GPU and pick up the H81M + 2nd hand i5 to go with it.

Factoring in what you would get for your motherboard, FX-6300 and HD7850, the overall cost to go to something like i5-4590 + GTX1060 6GB would be about €300 and would be pretty much good for everything at 1080p high-ultra 60fps at the moment.

chrismon

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

It depends on your budget but I would say a new H81M board for €50 and a 2nd hand i5 for €80 is very economical as you can re-use your ram and get nearly the full cost back by selling your current mobo and CPU for about €100 - and net a big upgrade.

Then put the rest of the money into a new GPU instead like a GTX1060 6GB.

Going Ryzen 5, B350M + 8GB DDR4 would set you back about €300 - not a waste of money, but not necessarily the best choice either depending on what you have to spend/what you're looking for.

The HD7850 2GB is still OKish, so it depends on the games you are playing and what struggles you are finding.

EG there is no game on the market the 7850 2GB still can't play at a steady 60fps as long as you tailor the settings accordingly. The same cannot be said of the FX-6300 however, and it will be all over the place in some games no matter what GPU you had.

Really depends on what you have to spend. If the budget is limited I'd definitely prioritize the GPU and pick up the H81M + 2nd hand i5 to go with it.

Factoring in what you would get for your motherboard, FX-6300 and HD7850, the overall cost to go to something like i5-4590 + GTX1060 6GB would be about €300 and would be pretty much good for everything at 1080p high-ultra 60fps at the moment.

Thanks for that!
Good call about the RAM, be a good way to save a few quid and do a proper upgrade in the future.

chrismon

Do you think I'd need to upgrade the PSU to go with that motherboard and GPU?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Superflower-450W-Power-Supply-Bronze/dp/B0103E5F2A

K.O.Kiki

chrismon wrote: »

Do you think I'd need to upgrade the PSU to go with that motherboard and GPU?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Superflower-450W-Power-Supply-Bronze/dp/B0103E5F2A

Not really; Superflower are a good PSU brand & 450W is sufficient for most gaming rigs.
Upgrading the PSU is worthwhile if you find the PSU fan too noisy; in which case get a modern 600-750W Gold-rated unit.