Gaming PC upgrade - advice on where to start!

[Poyser04]

Hi all,
I am planning to upgrade as my sons PC is under performing. Hoping for some advice on compatibility to upgrade the CPU, maybe the motherboard and definitely add SSD.
Here are the current specs:


HDD= HGST 7200 RPM SATA3.5”

GPU= radeon rx 580 series

CPU= AMD FX(tm)-8350 Eight-core Processor 4.00 GHz

MBO = Asus m5a99fx pro r2.0

RAM- 8GB

PSU = Antec 1000W TPQ-1000

Our budget is $500 excluding the cost of the SSD - so my question is what would you upgrade with this budget. Both motherboard and CPU or try to keep motherboard?

Thanks in advance

 

[FreedomEclipse]

If you already have the SSD, the only real upgrade would be the motherboard and CPU.

a ryzen 3300X or 3600X (budget willing...) and a good board to go with it will help your 580 push more frames as its ever so slightly bottlenecked by your 8350.

If you prefer going the Intel route then the Core i5-11400F is a pretty good buy, paired with a good board and you'll probably still have money to spare to spend on other small upgrades.

The i5-11400F is ever so slightly faster for gaming than the AMD option.

 

[eidairaman1]

Get a SSD for now, GPU prices are trash still so keep the RX 580 for now.

 

[Poyser04]

If you already have the SSD, the only real upgrade would be the motherboard and CPU.

a ryzen 3300X or 3600X (budget willing...) and a good board to go with it will help your 580 push more frames as its ever so slightly bottlenecked by your 8350.

If you prefer going the Intel route then the Core i5-11400F is a pretty good buy, paired with a good board and you'll probably still have money to spare to spend on other small upgrades.

The i5-11400F is ever so slightly faster for gaming than the AMD option.

Thanks, we limited stock availability I am leaning toward:
Ryzen 5 3600X
Gigabyte GA-X570
and likely to upgrade ram too

 

[eidairaman1]

Thanks, we limited stock availability I am leaning toward:
Ryzen 5 3600X
Gigabyte GA-X570
and likely to upgrade ram too

The HDD is what holds that system back by far.

 

[cvaldes]

Well, you're not going to upgrade the GPU with a $500 budget. The RX 580 in your system is still going for ~$700 from third-party Amazon sellers; the street price was $180 in August 2020.

Hell I still see the RX 550 2GB for nearly $300.

Four. Year. Old. Graphics. Card.

My RX 550 was $65 when I bought it in October 2020, down from the $79 launch price of the AMD reference card. $65 is what this card is realistically worth -- in a sane universe. With two gigs of VRAM, this card isn't realistically viable for ETH mining (which preferably needs 6 GB VRAM) so today's exorbitant prices were mostly driven by desperate gamers trying to get anything that passes POST. This is a card one would use if their CPU doesn't have integrated graphics (like the Ryzen 3700X mine is paired with).

At least in the USA, the common street price of a GPU is still 3x-4x the MSRP for older cards. This will hopefully come down in the next six months but for sure MSRP won't be a routinely available price for another 12-18 months.

And I'd be surprised if you can bundle a 3600X + X570 mobo + extra RAM for $500.

If you go that route, a B550 mobo would shave a few dollars. With your limited budget, it's unlikely that the X570 mobo would provide any tangible performance benefit when all other components stay the same.

As others have mentioned, the HDD spinner is the bottleneck in that system.

 

[looniam]

though the difference won't be as much w/RX580. but gpu prices are insane.

 

[claes]

Thanks, we limited stock availability I am leaning toward:
Ryzen 5 3600X
Gigabyte GA-X570
and likely to upgrade ram too

Just to be sure you’ll have to upgrade to DDR4.

 

[EzioAs]

Priority wise, @FreedomEclipse and @eidairaman1 had it right.

1. SSD
You can go SATA or NVME, depends on price.

2. CPU + Motherboard + RAM
Intel Core i5 11400F + H570 Motherboard + 16GB DDR4 3200MHz CL16 RAM (higher performance)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 + B450 Motherboard + 16GB DDR4 3200MHz CL16 RAM

$500 should cover the cost for the CPU, motherboard and RAM since you said excluding the SSD cost.

 

[eidairaman1]

Priority wise, @FreedomEclipse and @eidairaman1 had it right.

1. SSD
You can go SATA or NVME, depends on price.

2. CPU + Motherboard + RAM
Intel Core i5 11400F + H570 Motherboard + 16GB 3200MHz CL16 RAM (higher performance)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 + B450 Motherboard + 16GB 3200MHz CL16 RAM

$500 should cover the cost for the CPU, motherboard and RAM since you said excluding the SSD cost.

Id say SATA at this rate of upgrades. I know my rig in 2014 booted extremely quick.

 

[EzioAs]

Id say SATA at this rate of upgrades. I know my rig in 2014 booted extremely quick.

I'm still using a SATA SSD. I see no need to get an NVME drive since they're still more expensive for the price and I probably wouldn't see any usable benefit for them. I understand those with a bit more cash wouldn't mind spending more to get more performance but for budget constraints, SATA SSD works perfectly fine.

 

[eidairaman1]

I'm still using a SATA SSD. I see no need to get an NVME drive since they're still more expensive for the price and I probably wouldn't see any usable benefit for them. I understand those with a bit more cash wouldn't mind spending more to get more performance but for budget constraints, SATA SSD works perfectly fine.

500 isnt enough lol. I hear ya

 

[AleXXX666]

If you already have the SSD, the only real upgrade would be the motherboard and CPU.

a ryzen 3300X or 3600X (budget willing...) and a good board to go with it will help your 580 push more frames as its ever so slightly bottlenecked by your 8350.

If you prefer going the Intel route then the Core i5-11400F is a pretty good buy, paired with a good board and you'll probably still have money to spare to spend on other small upgrades.

The i5-11400F is ever so slightly faster for gaming than the AMD option.

3300X any day for muuch greater IPC and OC potential! or 3700 for pure power, but not cheap.

10400F could do, not needed to get hyped 11gen lol

though the difference won't be as much w/RX580. but gpu prices are insane.

the difference WOULD be, lol.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

I would choose one of the following-

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Xdb2Vc

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/st8qMv

The AMD build would probably be the better performing combo

the Intel build still has enough budget room left to up the CPU to a 11600k, but the B560 motherboard would prevent any OC'ing.

 

[Cvrk]

I find the 3000 series from AMD dirt cheap nowadays when it comes to cpu's and they perform amazingly for the price.
for your graphics card, the 3300x is enough. I do believe a more expensive cpu will boost the card's performance more with perhaps 5-20 fps depending on the game title.

I don't know what country you from, maybe USA or Canada in which case might get your hands on a new gpu, but if you're from Europe..... impossible to get a new card by the end of the year (no joke)
So invest in a 3700x and call it a day, best performance per money. who knows maybe next year the 3060Ti (let's keep dreaming - I am in the same boat with you)

As for a fast ssd, i will believe it when i will see it. and i only saw it on youtube for a handful of games that are more demos. For example, Godfall (a horrible videogame) does need a fast ssd.
I finished Resident Evil Village on a HDD - it worked flawlessly.
For the RAM, 8 is not enough. 16 is the sweet spot. whichever timings you can afford,

 

[Poyser04]

Thanks everyone for your input, I think I have it covered and happy with these small upgrades!

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

Since the OP is already getting a SSD, I have to agree with cpu+motherboard+ram upgrade.

You dont need a 570 series motherboard when a B550 will do very nicely and save about $100. a 450 will work too but PCIe4 needs a 550 and up.

 

[GorbazTheDragon]

MSI B550-A Pro would be my main recommendation for motherboard for a 3600, there are also some okay B450 boards with ryzen 5000 support out there but honestly it saves very little and the B550s will generally get priority on BIOS updates.

RAM just go with some 3200c16 from crucial, and CPU obviously 3600... Though 5600x might be had for good prices as well in case you can't get any reasonably priced zen 2 stuff.

Potential alternative would be 11400F or 10400F with a B560 board but honestly I'd prefer to have the option to throw in a zen 3 chip down the road over the very slightly better upfront value...

 

[Selaya]

Don't buy a 3600 unless you have a known, specific reason for one.
B560-10400F/10600K is much better an idea esp if you plan on upgrading your GPU too in the near future.

 

[Why_Me]

Thanks, we limited stock availability I am leaning toward:
Ryzen 5 3600X
Gigabyte GA-X570
and likely to upgrade ram too

What country are you located?

I find the 3000 series from AMD dirt cheap nowadays when it comes to cpu's and they perform amazingly for the price.
for your graphics card, the 3300x is enough. I do believe a more expensive cpu will boost the card's performance more with perhaps 5-20 fps depending on the game title.

I don't know what country you from, maybe USA or Canada in which case might get your hands on a new gpu, but if you're from Europe..... impossible to get a new card by the end of the year (no joke)
So invest in a 3700x and call it a day, best performance per money. who knows maybe next year the 3060Ti (let's keep dreaming - I am in the same boat with you)

As for a fast ssd, i will believe it when i will see it. and i only saw it on youtube for a handful of games that are more demos. For example, Godfall (a horrible videogame) does need a fast ssd.
I finished Resident Evil Village on a HDD - it worked flawlessly.
For the RAM, 8 is not enough. 16 is the sweet spot. whichever timings you can afford,

Not sure why you'd recommend a 3700X over a 5600X or 11400F unless your privy to some gaming benchmarks that the rest of us don't have access to.

 

[Hyderz]

10400f + 16gb ram and b460m motherboard comes to $353

Amazon.com: Intel Core i5-10400F Desktop Processor 6 Cores up to 4.3 GHz Without Processor Graphics LGA1200 (Intel 400 Series chipset) 65W, Model Number: BX8070110400F: Computers & Accessories

Buy Intel Core i5-10400F Desktop Processor 6 Cores up to 4.3 GHz Without Processor Graphics LGA1200 (Intel 400 Series chipset) 65W, Model Number: BX8070110400F: CPU Processors - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

1tb 980 nvme $120

Amazon.com: SAMSUNG (MZ-V8V1T0B/AM) 980 SSD 1TB - M.2 NVMe Interface Internal Solid State Drive with V-NAND Technology: Computers & Accessories

Buy SAMSUNG (MZ-V8V1T0B/AM) 980 SSD 1TB - M.2 NVMe Interface Internal Solid State Drive with V-NAND Technology: Internal Solid State Drives - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

just shy of $500, i'd do this

 

[Why_Me]

10400f + 16gb ram and b460m motherboard comes to $353

Amazon.com: Intel Core i5-10400F Desktop Processor 6 Cores up to 4.3 GHz Without Processor Graphics LGA1200 (Intel 400 Series chipset) 65W, Model Number: BX8070110400F: Computers & Accessories

Buy Intel Core i5-10400F Desktop Processor 6 Cores up to 4.3 GHz Without Processor Graphics LGA1200 (Intel 400 Series chipset) 65W, Model Number: BX8070110400F: CPU Processors - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

1tb 980 nvme $120

Amazon.com: SAMSUNG (MZ-V8V1T0B/AM) 980 SSD 1TB - M.2 NVMe Interface Internal Solid State Drive with V-NAND Technology: Computers & Accessories

Buy SAMSUNG (MZ-V8V1T0B/AM) 980 SSD 1TB - M.2 NVMe Interface Internal Solid State Drive with V-NAND Technology: Internal Solid State Drives - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

just shy of $500, i'd do this

I don't think the OP resides in the US. With that said no reason to pair up the 10400F with a B460 board when it can be paired up with a B560 in order to use higher clocked RAM such as 3200Mhz.

Amazon.com: PNY CS2130 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe Gen3 x4 Internal Solid State Drive (SSD), Read up to 3,500 - M280CS2130-1TB-RB: Computers & Accessories

Amazon.com: PNY CS2130 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe Gen3 x4 Internal Solid State Drive (SSD), Read up to 3,500 - M280CS2130-1TB-RB: Computers & Accessories

www.amazon.com

 

[Gmr_Chick]

Don't buy a 3600 unless you have a known, specific reason for one.
B560-10400F/10600K is much better an idea esp if you plan on upgrading your GPU too in the near future.

I have one. Ok, several - because it's cheap, unlocked, you don't need a special board to OC it, it doesn't chug power, and still an amazing little CPU!

 

[Selaya]

I mean, you bought that like a year or something ago? It made a lot more sense back then. Things change.

 

[Solid State Soul ( SSS )]

Upgrade the processor, its not very good at gaming today, buy an i5 11400f with a B560 motherboard and 16gb 3200Mhz ram.

If you can wait i would suggest waiting for AM4 or intel adler lake they are suppose to release early next year and have ddr5 memory support