Upgrade or Rebuild - how to decide

Snakeweasel

I have posted my woes here previously about whether to update my PC and if so how.
current set up is ryzen 1500x, 8gb RAM 2400mhz, 1050ti, 240gb ssd, 1tb hard drive, 450w psu.

Its only 1.5 years old and I am already debating a full new build (def upgrade gpu and ram at least)

But how do you guys decide on when you do a full rebuild v just upgrading? I am having no problem running any game I want to, maybe not as high settings as I would like (apex dont always look too pretty)

I tried to connect a PS4 controller to it last night and that was when I realized that it didnt support bluetooth, so that is something else that I will have to upgrade if I want to connect it wirelessly.

If you were me, would you just throw in a 1660ti and 16gb ram and call it a day, (plus case transplant cos the one I have is uber low budget and I like nzxt cases) or would you do a full new build in a few months? If I was to go full new build budget would be 1000-1300 so fairly mid rang

Do you wait for all your components to be on their last legs to do a new build or is it something you do every couple of years to keep up with the latest hard ware releases?

Shlippery

I think a little upgrade and you'd be fine.

GPU upgrade and another 8gb Ram would go a long way I reckon.
GPU wise depends on your monitor and what you want from it / how much willing to spend.
1660ti probably be fine, but not sure if others can chime on on AMD's offerings. - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/sapphire-radeon-rx-580-nitro-8192mb-gddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-37m-sp.html
Perhaps RX580/590 if you just want max 1080p ?


Also for bluetooth, just need a little dongle like this and you'll be fine
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mpow-Bluetooth-Transmitter-Receiver-Supports/dp/B06XPCVB4F/ref=sr_1_4?crid=CCCJK9I9G0EQ&keywords=ps4+controller+bluetooth+adapter&qid=1568983653&sprefix=ps4+controller+bluetooth+a%2Caps%2C124&sr=8-4

I did first build in 2012 and upgraded along the way bit by bit til I decided needed a better CPU, so with new CPU I was forced into new mobo, ram (ddr3-> ddr) etc so went all out at that point.

Snakeweasel

Shlippery wrote: »

I did first build in 2012 and upgraded along the way bit by bit til I decided needed a better CPU, so with new CPU I was forced into new mobo, ram (ddr3-> ddr) etc so went all out at that point.

Part of me thought the CPU and mobo would be the parts that would dictate when a rebuild was needed most

Xenoronin

Yeah this build is still solid. It was designed to be upgradable so you need to figure out what's bottlenecking you the most at the moment. I would guess that it's the GPU for the most part.

Here's what I'd consider as an upgrade currently:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor (£109.98 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£79.98 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Samsung 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£125.58 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 5700 8 GB PULSE Video Card (£358.10 @ CCL Computers)
Case: NZXT H500 ATX Mid Tower Case (£68.50 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £742.14
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-20 14:07 BST+0100

Faster RAM because Ryzen loves it. A much faster graphics card, though do look around online to see if AMD have fixed their driver issues. More SSD storage, because I'm sure the boot drive is probably full by now, and you can't stick games on it.

K.O.Kiki

Get an Intel 660p 1Tb instead of Samsung.
Better speeds (NVMe vs SATA) yet cheaper by £30.

Also be sure to update BIOS while the 1500X is still installed.
Apex Legends runs better on Nvidia AFAIK so a GTX 1660 Ti, RTX 2060 or used GTX 1080 for GPU.

Snakeweasel

Xenoronin wrote: »

Yeah this build is still solid. It was designed to be upgradable so you need to figure out what's bottlenecking you the most at the moment. I would guess that it's the GPU for the most part.

Here's what I'd consider as an upgrade currently:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor (£109.98 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£79.98 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Samsung 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£125.58 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 5700 8 GB PULSE Video Card (£358.10 @ CCL Computers)
Case: NZXT H500 ATX Mid Tower Case (£68.50 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £742.14
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-20 14:07 BST+0100

Faster RAM because Ryzen loves it. A much faster graphics card, though do look around online to see if AMD have fixed their driver issues. More SSD storage, because I'm sure the boot drive is probably full by now, and you can't stick games on it.

You are correct about the boot drive! my sister uses my computer too so saves a load of stuff for community bits she is involved with so I keep having to tidy up my ssd as its regularly full. I'm thinking GPU could be bought with next months pay pack, I would be imagine I'm restricted on my choice due to my PSU. RAM can be bought at any time due to the current low prices (crazy to think that 16gb is cheaper than I paid for my 8gb last year)

K.O.Kiki

Snakeweasel wrote: »

You are correct about the boot drive! my sister uses my computer too so saves a load of stuff for community bits she is involved with so I keep having to tidy up my ssd as its regularly full. I'm thinking GPU could be bought with next months pay pack, I would be imagine I'm restricted on my choice due to my PSU. RAM can be bought at any time due to the current low prices (crazy to think that 16gb is cheaper than I paid for my 8gb last year)

450W is plenty, just avoid RX Vega 56/64 or RX 590.
TechPowerUp is a good resource for finding the power draw of GPUs.

Also did you buy your RAM as 1 stick or 2?
Dual-channel RAM (2 matched sticks) is a must for Ryzen.

Snakeweasel

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

450W is plenty, just avoid RX Vega 56/64 or RX 590.
TechPowerUp is a good resource for finding the power draw of GPUs.

Also did you buy your RAM as 1 stick or 2?
Dual-channel RAM (2 matched sticks) is a must for Ryzen.

I bought 2 sticks of 4gb and I only have 2 dimm slots so it will be a case of having to remove them to upgrade to 16gb. They were only 2400ghz so no real stress over that anyways.

Thanks for the heads up on TechPowerUp, never heard of it before.