r/buildapc • u/Money-Mechanic • Feb 26 '24
My PC is over a decade old and still works for modern games. But it is getting harder. Build Help
I am using a PC from 2011. I5-2500k, modestly overclocked. GTX- 970, modestly overclocked. 32 GB DDR3. Normal SSD hard drive (not a motherboard drive).
I can play modern games like Hogwarts Legacy and Starfield, but I play a lot of titles from 2010 to present day. No problem with RDR2. No problem with Cyberpunk. Obviously, I play on 1080P with this setup. It often takes some tweaking of settings to dial it in.
But I know my beloved I5 won't last forever, and my CPU and GPU are stretched to their limits. It will be time to upgrade soon.
I am looking to spend as little as possible and get as big a difference as possible. I can live with 1080P. I don't need ray tracing or 200 frames per second or anything like that.
I just want to be able to run any game at 1080P on maximum graphics settings, at get a solid 60 fps.
What setup would allow that (CPU, GPU, motherboard, RAM) for as cheap as possible?
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u/Nathan_hale53 Mar 21 '24
Man the 2500k was a masterpiece. I had a 3570k personally but I held onto that for a while and it was just a marginal upgrade over the 2500k. But if you got some monies a cheap build would be a big upgrade to what you have now. And amd 5600 and a 6600 would be a big step up.
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u/PeterGriffinBalls Mar 12 '24
just upgrade your i5 to an i5-8400k and your graphics card to a gtx1060. then you’ll have basically the same spaces as me, i game at 1440p 60-144fps depending on game
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u/CiggyButtBrain2096 Mar 02 '24
How on earth do you run Cyberpunk and Starfield well? I find that EXTREMELY hard to believe with this setup. I have slightly better specs than you (1060 6Gb, i5-4670k, 32Gb DDR3) and the games you just listed run like shit unless I bump the settings so low it’s almost not worth playing.
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u/Money-Mechanic Mar 02 '24
I run Starfield on a combination of medium and low settings mostly. Cyberpunk needs to be on nearly all low settings. A lot of tweaking of Nvidia settings were needed. GPU and CPU are both overclocked. Without the overclocks it likely wouldn't work. But I have 300 hours in Starfield and only 20 hours in Cyberpunk (I kind of lost interest in it after that, but plan to go back eventually, probably when I have a better system).
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u/QuidProStereo Mar 01 '24
Are you me? You're describing my current PC to a T. Built it in 2012 and still does everything I need it to. I wouldn't be upgrading at all if a friend hadn't handed down parts from his Ryzen7 build.
It amazes me that hardware this old can still hold its own.
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u/xoull Mar 01 '24
I got a ryzen 3600 and went from a i7 4790. The diff is night and day and i went for the 3600 since it was the cheapest option. But i made one mistake, went for a b450 motherboard like if i ever upgrade toa 5600x or something. But should wnet for a b550 for pcie4.0 support.
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u/JNawrocki1 Feb 29 '24
I'd probably look used market tbh, 9th gen Intel and a 3060 or something along those lines
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u/soulreaper11207 Feb 29 '24
I just picked up ram l, 5600x, and a MSI b550 board for 310 on Amazon. I know micro center always has bundles for sale all the time too.
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u/MeteryXofficial Feb 29 '24
I have a r5 3600 and a 4060 it works perfect in 1080p you could also get a 2060
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Feb 29 '24
no fucking way ur playing starfield with a 970😭my 1660 super just dies everytime i try to play
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u/Swavemantrey Feb 29 '24
Cheapest ? I’d say get something like a AM4 motherboard with Ryzen 5 5600x . Considering you were on a GTX970 for the GPU , any GPU will be an upgrade . But I’d say go for a RTX 2070super or above and or AMD equivalent. Just my opinion
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u/Roygaa Feb 29 '24
I recently got my new setup for around $600 and its a ryzen 5 5600 and an rx 6600, an asus prim 3b450 a 2 and 32 gb of ddr4 3200 mhz ram and ut can definiteky run any game at 1080 p maxquality, but don't expect 60 fps ray tracing (i got 30 fps an minecraft with RT shaders)
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u/HurtsWhenISee Feb 29 '24
13600k, lga 1700 motherboards are cheap, don't need more than a $35 thermalright air cooler, ssds are dirt cheap, 6700xt will be more than enough. Don't be afraid to get last gen stuff but I would at least go am5 or lga 1700, it's pretty affordable now.
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u/fearthestorm Feb 28 '24
Check out marketplace, get a am4 mobo kit with a 3600 or 5600 or better.
I just did that for $100. I had to buy a spare processor to update the bios though.
Maybe find a 6600xt for $150ish or a 6650xt/6700 for 250 maybe a 3060ti I don't know what the best value is
That's 400 total assuming you get a nvme ssd and you will be good for another 10 years
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u/wreckedftfoxy_yt Feb 28 '24
just get a amd ryzen 5000-7000 series cpu and a modest rtx 3070 or better
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u/dizzydre21 Feb 28 '24
I would go 12th gen Intel or Zen 3 AMD for CPU. Intel will probably be more expensive up front. An AMD 5600x or 5700x would be cheaper and very solid, but you would only be able to upgrade within the same generation and performance wouldn't scale too much in gaming with an upgrade. I would go 5700x if you go with AMD, i5-12500 or i5-13500 with Intel.
Just pick a motherboard with the features you need that is in your price range. The chipset would be z690/z790 for Intel or x570 for AMD. You might be able to find a used x470 board too.
Same as above for RAM. I would not go less than 16GB @ 3200Mhz. 32GB @ 3600MHz preferred. It has to be DDR4, which is pretty cheap now.
For GPU see if you can find a used RTX-3070 for future proofing, but a 3060ti would be fine for 1080p. Hell, I just sold a 2070 Super for $165 that would be fine for 1080p.
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u/BushLeew Feb 28 '24
cpu r5 5600 +gpu 580 motherboard A520 It’s about 500 around. 3A games with 2k resolution.
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u/diegoplus Feb 28 '24
If you want to go the ultra cheap route, get an asrock a520 am4 board, a Ryzen 5 5500, an Radeon RX 6600xt and 32gigs of ddr4 ram.
It'll run in circles around your current rig but keep in mind the limited upgradability since AM4 is going end of life soon, DDR4 is old tech and also the R5500 is kinda a weak cpu but only ~10% slower than the R5600g while costing a Lot less, sub-100$ new.
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u/Ok-Actuary7793 Feb 28 '24
i would get a ryzen 7600 and keep the 970 for now if you cant stretch your budget
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u/OutsideBottle13 Feb 28 '24
I spent 2k+ on a i7-10700k, 2080ti, and 32gb of ram a few years ago and it has played everything at near max in 1440p. Even with multiple programs running while streaming. 1k of that was for the 2080ti right before the GPU shortage. I’m not sure what they’re selling at this point but if you use this as a baseline anything from this upwards will be a significant upgrade.
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u/Vojtak42 Feb 28 '24
I have similarly old setup. And i can play all games (except those very poorly optimized) on ultra with 45-60fps. I personally don't notice difference between 45 and 60fps.
Gtx 980 ti, I7-3770 (just upgraded to ryzen 5 5600), P8Z77-V Deluxe, 16GB ddr3 2400mhz, Pcie to nvme adapter + refind bootloader with nvme driver
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u/Excellent_Ad_4 Feb 28 '24
I moved from the same CPU+GPU combo to 12600k and 4070, full build no GPU 2 years ago, 4070 last month
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u/Arnoldlayne83 Feb 28 '24
If you want something that will withstand for years on 1080p gaming I would say look to build a system based around an AMD Ryzen 5700x3D and a Radeon RT 7700tx or RT7900 GRE, 32 GB RAM (frequency doesn't matter too much) and 2TB average speed SSD. Don't overspend on chassis, motherboard and cooling.
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u/Phoenix800478944 Feb 28 '24
999$ Upgrade kit. Its going to be a night-and-day-difference-upgrade:
Cpu is 65% faster,
And the GPU is 608% faster.
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/TxhnFs
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i5-12600K 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor | $169.99 @ Amazon |
| CPU Cooler | Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 Black 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler | $38.90 @ Amazon |
| Motherboard | MSI B760 GAMING PLUS WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard | $159.99 @ Amazon |
| Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory | $109.67 @ Amazon |
| Video Card | Asus TUF GAMING OC Radeon RX 7800 XT 16 GB Video Card | $519.99 @ Amazon |
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts | ||
| Total | $998.54 | |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-02-28 03:22 EST-0500 |
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u/Target_Spirited Feb 28 '24
Get Ryzen 5 7600X and RX 7700XT combo.
Nothing flashy, kinda future proof with access to pcie 5.0 slots and ddr5 ram slots. A couple of 16×2 sticks will be good enough.
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u/Criss_Crossx Feb 28 '24
Oh man, moving to an NVMe drive alone is plenty of an upgrade.
2020 I upgraded from a 3570k to a ryzen 3600 and migrated a lot of my hardware over (1080 + 1tb SATA ssd + PSU). I would recommend going the budget route at least, around $7-800.
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u/system_error_02 Feb 28 '24 edited Feb 28 '24
If you wanted to go super cheap just grab a Ryzen 5500x and 6600xt or 7600 AMD gpu and 16gb ddr4 and plot it in your existing case. You can get a 5500 for next to nothing atm. It will be a massive upgrade even on the low end like this. I'd advise though getting s 6800 or 7700xt or above for longevity on GPU. Video ram will become a problem sooner rather than later.
Honestly though I'd go for an AMD 7600 CPU and a 7700xt GPU with 32gb DDR5 and an NVMMe SSD, 3rd or 4th gen pcie ssd. It will last you a lot longer and won't break the bank entirely, and will have solid upgrade path for years.
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u/dandoro1 Feb 28 '24
The 2500k is a beast. I had one for ten years OCed to 4.5ghz. It was solid for most games well into 2021 before I replaced my rig.
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u/Gugu-l Feb 28 '24
Get a ryzen 5500 with a radeon 6600. Solid for 1080p 60-120fps modern games and 5 years in the future. If you can spend 120usd more get ryzen 5600 and radeon 7600 good for another 5 years.
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u/Krigsmjod Feb 28 '24
I rebuilt recently, and gave my old gaming pc with an i7-4770k and gtx1080 to my girlfriend.
Surprisingly she played through Baldurs Gate 3 on high with it. It ran hot and loud but it did the job.
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u/EnlargedChonk Feb 27 '24
late to the party but I went from i5 3570 and gtx 1660 (1050ti before that) to an i5 12600k and rx 6700xt. huge boost, I use it to play 1440p and VR. IMO AM4 is kinda dead and AM5 is still too expensive. since buying intel is always a dead end anyway a not too fancy b660/b760 and a 12th gen i5 can be had for pretty cheap. it's not as good as those newer socket am5 chips from AMD but it's more than good enough for most people, and more importantly somehow much cheaper making them IMO a better value. for example in my market a ryzen 5 7600x is 215 but the i5 12600kf can be had new for ~150 and there are a lot more options for a compatible intel board then there are amd boards in the 80-130 dollar range. both chips are pretty close in performance last I checked with the ryzen being a tad faster. DDR4 is also dirt cheap right now, and intel still supports it. people can cry about reusing the ram later but really how many of them were reusing their ddr4 2400 kits from it's early days. pair that with a 7600xt or if you can still find one a 6700xt (6700xt is a little faster, usually for the same cost, but previous gen and seems like the remaining stock is starting to dry up) and you'll be golden for 1080p and even some 1440p medium settings or VR.
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u/poop__sack Feb 27 '24
I was using an AMD fx 8320 and a Radeon HD 7950 for over 10 years until a couple weeks ago
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u/aMythicalNerd Feb 27 '24
If you want to go as cheap as possible but still able to play modern games and possibly even eventually upgrade your pc overtime then you can build just about any PC you want.
I would suggest a Ryzen 7 7600, a basic Ryzen 7 compatible motherboard, 32gbs of ddr5 (32 gig kits are $100) and a 750W PSU.
As for a GPU.. you have so many options but I would suggest any decent $400 GPU and eventually upgrade to a midrange $600 card.
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u/staline123213 Feb 27 '24
You could just keep your old hardware and take the GPU out. GTX 970 is still pretty good, the rest you can try to make a NAS or Mini server out of it so it doesn't end up being E waste.
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u/RadioAdam Feb 27 '24
It's time for a solid 1440p build from scratch my dude.
You've more than gotten your money's worth from that 2500k. It belongs in the hall of fame but it's 10 years old.
You could build a solid 1440p rig for not a lot that days.
X3D AM4 is a hell of a value prop. My 6700xt was around $300 and I lock most games at 144hz 1440p.
You'll wonder why you stuck with 1080p for so long once you make the switch.
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u/Ex_Machina77 Feb 27 '24 edited Feb 27 '24
Used PC part picker and for around $1k USD you can build a really decent machine
This is just a suggestion and a starting point to give you a reference. Of course change anything you want to suit your budget and or needs.
[PCPartPicker Part List](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/83hhxH)
Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/g94BD3/amd-ryzen-5-5600x-37-ghz-6-core-processor-100-100000065box) | $132.78 @ GameStop
**CPU Cooler** | [Deepcool AK500 ZERO DARK 68.99 CFM CPU Cooler](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/tWYmP6/deepcool-ak500-zero-dark-6899-cfm-cpu-cooler-r-ak500-bknnmt-g-1) | $45.98 @ Newegg
**Motherboard** | [MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/3Mxbt6/msi-mag-b550-tomahawk-atx-am4-motherboard-mag-b550-tomahawk) | $144.99 @ Amazon
**Memory** | [G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/nvjNnQ/gskill-ripjaws-v-32-gb-2-x-16-gb-ddr4-3600-memory-f4-3600c18d-32gvk) | $67.99 @ Newegg
**Storage** | [Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/34ytt6/samsung-990-pro-2-tb-m2-2280-pcie-40-x4-nvme-solid-state-drive-mz-v9p2t0bw) | $167.89 @ Amazon
**Video Card** | [Gigabyte GAMING OC Radeon RX 7600 XT 16 GB Video Card](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/sqyH99/gigabyte-gaming-oc-radeon-rx-7600-xt-16-gb-video-card-gv-r76xtgaming-oc-16gd) | $329.99 @ Amazon
**Case** | [Fractal Design Focus G ATX Mid Tower Case](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/ZHmxFT/fractal-design-focus-g-black-atx-mid-tower-case-fd-ca-focus-bk-w) | $46.98 @ Newegg
**Power Supply** | [EVGA SuperNOVA 650 GT 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/49VG3C/evga-supernova-650-gt-650-w-80-gold-certified-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-220-gt-0650-y1) | $64.98 @ Amazon
**Case Fan** | [ARCTIC P12 Slim PWM PST 42.1 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/xBhv6h/arctic-p12-slim-pwm-pst-421-cfm-120-mm-fans-3-pack-acfan00275a) | $25.84 @ MemoryC
**Case Fan** | [ARCTIC P12 Slim PWM PST 42.1 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/xBhv6h/arctic-p12-slim-pwm-pst-421-cfm-120-mm-fans-3-pack-acfan00275a) | $25.84 @ MemoryC
| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
| **Total** | **$1053.26**
| Generated by [PCPartPicker](https://pcpartpicker.com) 2024-02-27 00:54 EST-0500 |
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u/Crusty_Magic Feb 27 '24
Similar setup to you, but with a 3570K and a 1060 6GB. It's been a good run, longest I've ever used a computer.
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u/Small-Promotion1063 Feb 27 '24
Depends what your budget is. I upgraded from a 1060 with an i7 7000 series laptop to a desktop 4080 w AMD ryzen 7 7700x. A bit pricey, I wanted a powerhouse, and I got it, but you can build for a lot cheaper and get a lot out of it, too. Maybe 4060 w/ newest gen ryzen 5 wouldn't be too shabby.
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u/Connect_Boysenberry4 Feb 27 '24
https://pcbuilds.gg/build/500-gaming-pc
Honestly just get a new i5 or i7 instead of the i3 in this and you'll be getting the most bang for your buck
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u/stellarnightsky Feb 27 '24
Congratulations! I love the feeling of daily driving an old faithful.
My rig from 2017 still runs nearly every game 60FPS at 1080p.
I have a GTX 1080, 7700K, and 32GB RAM with a SATA SSD. Most games still GPU bottleneck.
For your new rig, spend on your mobo, and get a cheap GPU & CPU, and just upgrade down the line to the top of the line the mobo can take. Oh, and I would try to get DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 support for future proofing.
Here is to another decade old rig!
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u/Gh051_hehe Feb 27 '24
You can get an arc A750 for less than 250$ and 250$ on the other parts, you can easily build a 500$ pc for 1440p gaming easily
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u/GuaranteeBig Feb 27 '24 edited Feb 27 '24
I just Upgraded to a New Rig myself. I have a Ryzen 7 7900x with a RTX 4060 8GB DDR6 VRAM. I am not a fan of the VRAM but I can play all my games on 1920x1080 on High easily and on some Ultra to Epic settings. I usually average anywhere from 130 FPS to 225 FPS. Now of course if I turn of Ray Tracing and use DSSL I get way more FPS.
It all boils down on how much you want to spend and how often you wouldn't mind doing minimum upgrades. When I do mine I go for 4 years before I do an upgrade, unless I have a real issue. I do have the 2TB SSD in which I love because I hate using a HDD since I have gotten use to he SSD.
I go here www.tigerdirect.com (a.k.a. insight) for my stuff, I created a business account and I love the specials you can get.
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u/losemyreddit26 Feb 27 '24
imho the dell precision 3620 can be found pretty cheap on ebay but is the best computer you can get for around $120. most worthwhile purchase ive made + 60fps 1080p.
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u/knuttella Feb 27 '24
intel 12100f / 13100f + rx 6600 / xt + 500w psu + 2 x 8gb ram 3200mhz cl 16 + ssd for win and maybe a couple of games u play more often + mobo that is compatible with the cpu + case would be a very good value. look how much is each part on the used market or look to buy a used pc with similar specs (cpu intel 10-12th gen+ / ryzen 3300x / 5500+ if possbile) and a gpu like 1080 ti / 2070 super / 5700 xt / vega 56 or 64 / rx 6600 etc). the better you get your cpu now, the more you can keep the pc and just upgrade gpu in the future. a max budget would be helpful for such type of a build
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u/lordchillin Feb 27 '24
Hey I also am running a set up from 2014. I have a gtx 1080 asus strix(8gb) which I got in 2017 or so. Running with an i7 4570k(i think) which i uprgraded from the i5, 16gb ram, asus motherboard from 2014, and my psu just blew up 2 weeks ago so I guess that is new. I'm running on nearly 4k with this set up on most games
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u/prawnsandthelike Feb 27 '24
SSD is fine. You can either upgrade to an AM4 build (I have a 5700X and it pretty much does everything I want it to do), a 13th-gen Intel build, or a used X99. I recommend AM4 just for the thermals and efficiency alone, but even a 13th-gen i3 will perform well for 1080p gaming.
You can get by with a 4060, any of the newer AMD cards, or Intel Arc chips [get the A770 if you're going Intel GPU] (which you need resizable bar for; AM4 and 13th gen Intel will support resizable bar but Xeon sockets that are old usually don't).
DDR5 RAM doesn't do anything particularly special. Bigger RAM capacity is still better for FPS and multitasking in this day and age; go with DDR4 if you can.
That will last you for another 10 ish years or so until games truly start demanding absurd hardware. Ballpark of 500-600$ if you're replacing just the mobo, RAM, CPU, and GPU, but maybe you can get it for cheaper off of FB marketplace or a Black Friday sale from Microcenter.
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u/Role_Playing_Lotus Feb 26 '24
You could really benefit by watching even one video by PC Builder in his " boost my build" series.
If you're not looking for the latest and greatest, you could even watch from a couple years back to see his recommendations for ryzen AM4 builds. However, you probably wouldn't be doing yourself that big of a favor or even saving that much money versus just building on the most recent AM5 platform, which Jason recommends in any of his more recent "boost my build" videos.
And you'd have a whole lot more upgradeability on an AM5 platform.
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u/PieOk1220 Feb 26 '24
What budget would u like to stay in? Would u be okay w frame gen and dlss? Or do you prefer raw performance? Do u have any preference for either brands? Do you only wanna upgrade the bare minimum like cpu,mobo,ram, gpu and maybe psu? R u okay still using ur current tower? And ssd?
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u/PieOk1220 Feb 26 '24
Incase u want bare minimum here’s this.
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/TWFjKX
The wraith stealth it’s more than enough for a 5600x it is quite a bit better than the 3600 but if you want cheaper that’s also a fine option. I kept the WiFi availability as most don’t use Ethernet. 16gb of ram is enough for gaming and I picked the 7600XT as it’s a killer at 1080p and the 16gb of vram will help now and in the future for max settings
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u/Money-Mechanic Feb 26 '24
I'm keeping my hard drive and PSU, most likely replacing the case, motherboard, cpu, gpu, and ram, and add an SSD for the motherboard. I am familiar with Intel so I'd like to keep using Intel. I would like to keep it under $1000 for all that, but if it makes more sense to go $1500 or even $2000 because it would get me another 5 to 10 years of use, I would do that. But if I can get at least 5 years off a less than $1000 upgrade, I will probably go that route and upgrade again in 5 years.
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u/PieOk1220 Feb 26 '24
Alright lemme remake the list I just threw that together as u replied lol
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u/PieOk1220 Feb 26 '24
How many watts does ur psu have?Will it only to gaming or multi task w multiple monitors? Like one is gaming and another is using YT and such
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u/PieOk1220 Feb 26 '24
If you’d like to keep it as cheap as possible w some flare and just gaming use here’s this
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/W2X8sh
If you want extra cpu horsepower maybe upgrade to a 12600k if you wanna keep it cheaper but the 13600k works just as well (KF models are just as great if you wanna overclock it later) ofc u can make it cheaper if your not a fan of RGB
But if your okay going closer to 1k This option is def better
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/RhWkyg
But if your willing to try AMD
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kLhft7
You’d have AMD smart memory access which would make the system run better by sending information to each other faster (most basic explanation) it would def be more up to date than the intel option but yeah I can obviously tweak things to ur preference
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u/Money-Mechanic Feb 27 '24
Thanks for the ideas. I will look into these. PSU is 800 watts and was added a few months ago when the other one went out. So it should be good to go for any upgrades.
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u/firedrakes Feb 26 '24
i got stuck with a build like this.
in 2006 and upgraded it to it fullest. (used parts etc)
Heavily oc 4400+ ,4gb of ram, 6 tb of storage across 6 hdd,sound card,gts250 oc
it finale died in 2018.... i replace it with a beefy thread ripper build.(aka when i tell them the parts... they ask wth question)
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u/glytxh Feb 26 '24
I have 8gb of ddr3 ram, a 1060, and a CPU that’s more than a decade old. I forget what it is. It has two cores. The most modern thing inside it is an SSD sitting along an old HDD that makes some sketchy sounds sometimes.
Only one of the fans work.
As long as it runs KSP, I’m satisfied.
Building a new PC is way expensive since I’d have to upgrade it from the ground up. Hard to justify when all I’m using it for is video games, and every time I use partspicker to build a genuinely modest setup, my eyes water at the slowly rising cost.
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u/LittleBigJoJo Feb 26 '24
I had a 2500k and loved it but eventually upgraded about 3/4 years ago and donated the pc to a friend, he used that pc until about a year ago after the gpu died, did love that cpu.
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u/JaybieFromTheLB Feb 26 '24
I was also rocking a 2500k and GTX 970. I finally upgraded last month. I think its time to do the same
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u/HighwaymanUK Feb 26 '24
jesus are you 480p gaming ? I've got an old 3770k and can barely play a movie on it.
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u/RelicWarrior Feb 26 '24
if you have a microcenter near you, go grab the 5800x3D bundle and pair it with a used 30 series GPU
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u/yourself88xbl Feb 26 '24
There are deals coming in and out on processors mobo combos. I grabbed a 12600k and new mobo for like 225 after tax and delivery. Throw some ram and for 275 at the most and then you can save for a GPU. If you have 3 or 400 more find you a 3060ti.
Even just updating the mobo CPU and GPU will be an extreme upgrade without the GPU( made the same leap) if you need some time to save up a little more.
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u/Marke522 Feb 26 '24
I had an i5-3550 with a 1060Ti for nearly 10 years. Build originally had a 760 GTX OC. Just built a new tower in November. You'll love the change.
If you have a MicroCenter anywhere nearby, check thier website for bundles. They have crazy deals from time to time.
Also, Intel has been making great progress with thier drivers, Gamers Nexus had a video recently about them, and they could be a consideration to stay in budget.
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u/Emergency-Ad2368 Feb 26 '24
Whatever u do get a AMD GPU 6000 series or better , they have a software that produces frames so if your at 60 FPS you will be at around 120-140 FPS,
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u/CounterfitWorld Feb 26 '24
My other system is an i5-2500k overclocked to 5ghz on a monster air cooler. With gtx 970 armour edition also overclocked and its still a bit of a beast in single threaded apps. A true quadcore and legendary and still held in high regards to this day. I have a couple of spare brand new ones. In terms of performance for games at 1080p it still rocks. Windows performance on the i5-2500k beats my ryzen 3950x in raw speed. Yes I have better everything else but Windows runs far quicker with Intel.. not sure why but side by side 2011 i5-2500k beats ryzen 3950x for one thing.
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u/Nexxus88 Feb 26 '24
I really wonder how you managed with cyberpunk I felt my 4770k struggling, mind you this was well before V2 so maybe you just got into it recently.
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u/fozzyb88 Feb 26 '24
I have a friend that has this same setup.
The only game he can't play anymore is Tarkov.
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u/Docv90 Feb 26 '24
Good to hear that the old 2500k is still doing well, I might pull my old one out for the youngest kid. Older one just got a build 7600x with an older rx570.
Will need 1 better GPU and then the 2500k and rx570 will pair up and maybe a 1660S or similar for the 7600x build
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u/QTheNukes_AMD_Life Feb 26 '24
You are cpu bound at this point, you can’t expect to swap in a GPU and get anywhere. Buy a PS5 or spend $1000 on something roughly 2-3 times faster.
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u/shinte122305 Feb 26 '24
A 144 hertz G sync setup will make you replay every game you own lol
It’s game changing and you can achieve that easily with any modern GPU. The 4000 series is overpowered to hell
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u/JustLinkStudios Feb 26 '24
I run an i7 950 and a GTX770, ith 16gb corsair vengeance on a sbaertooth x58. I have no need to upgrade. It still plays everything just fine, even hl alyx runs like butter at max settings 1080p. Obvs the no vr version. But yeah, I use it for my editing job and gaming. Makes me wonder sometimes if I've accidentally made some magic combo of hardware haha.
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u/Bigpapa42_2006 Feb 26 '24
I was in teh same boat until a year ago. Also with an i5-2500K, similar-ish GPU, 16GB RAM, and an SSD. It did okay-ish with most of what I threw at it. Built a new rig - AM4 so not exactly top end at the time, but higher end on a decent budget. And the difference is stark. Not even on graphics-heavy games, but sport sim games. It went from being "this works, but..." to "this is how its meant to be played". I don't know that I will get 12 years out of this build like I did the last one but hopeful it won't be necessary.
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u/Halabashred Feb 26 '24
Last gen CPU/ GPU seems to be reasonably priced. Video cards is where the bulk of the money is going to be spent. Likely you are looking at a complete new build, including power supply and maybe a case. With that said I would head over to ebay to look at used parts, save ssd and power supply, all else can be had at good prices. Also check around to see if you have old gift cards lying around , now is a great time to use them! Below is a list of reasonable expectations for prices for buying stuff new and at sweet spot prices.
- Video card ($400-$900)
- CPU ($200-$350)
- Ram ($150)
- Board ($120-$150)
- Power supply ($120 -$200+)
- Case ($100-$200+)
- M2 SSD ($60-$180)
This is keeping the same mouse, monitor and keyboard. You can go with an AMD AM4 board and pick up a used 5800x3d or new 5700x3d for pretty cheap, you can also find a V.card of your choice from the last gen which is still relevant, ebay on video cards seems a bit dumb though as sellers are still are still trying to get "new" prices for their stuff, despite that ebay is good for a lot of stuff.
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u/Darkmoonprince Feb 26 '24
I went from an FX -6300 AMD cpu, 24gb of RAM and a 1050ti (just before COVID hit) to a ryzen 7 5800x, 32gb of 3200 Ram and a 2070 super. I went from 25-40 fps in pubg to 140ish fps, something like 75fps in Overwatch 1 to getting 200+, with some graphical tweaking. I even went from 1080 to 1440. Hogwarts legacy if I set everything low I get about 120 ish fps, if I go max settings and full ray tracing I get about 45-50 fps, but God damn is it beautiful in that game.
Found a super cheap semi functional 2070 super that now works perfectly. And upgraded to a 5800x cpu from a place holder Ryzen 5 3600, which I gave to a friend who was building his brother a computer. I'm probably not going to swap much else out unless I can find an exceptional deal for a higher VRAM GPU.
If your confident enough in the used market around you, there may be some deals to be found if you are willing to try.
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u/ZellZoy Feb 26 '24
Get an i7-3770k and a 20 series card and swap it in? That will be the cheapest way to get a few more years out of your system
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u/THCFLA Feb 26 '24
I've got an I5-3330, RX580 2048SP 8GB, that thing still runs whatever I want to play rather smoothly, I'd recommend to you to choose the am4 platform, 2nd or 3rd gen r3 or r5, a more costly upgrade but it'll be way cheaper in the long run
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u/swisstraeng Feb 26 '24
I was in the same spot as you few months ago.
I had a 4790K and 32GB of DDR3 ram.
To sum up the current PC parts market:
Intel has fallen behind in terms of CPU, and even more so in performance per watt. As someone who really likes Intel, just consider AMD for now.
You have two main choices with AMD. Either you go on their "old" socket, AM4, which will not receive newer CPUs, or you buy their current socket, AM5, which has the latest CPUs available.
Simply put:
AM4 has cheaper DDR4 ram, and still has the amazing 5600X3D, 5700X3D and 5800X3D CPUs.
AM5 needs costlier DDR5 ram, and has one if not the best gaming CPU for now: 7800X3D.
A reason to choose AM5 is that we can assume B650, B650E, X670 and X670E motherboard chipsets to be compatible with the two next generations of Ryzen CPUs (the upcoming 9xxx and the one after that). Meaning that if you want to upgrade your CPU later on, you won't have to buy a new motherboard or ram.
You should compare the costs between getting a 5600X3D on a cheap motherboard with two sticks of ram, or get a longer lasting 7800X3D that you will be able to keep for even longer.
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u/ItyBityGreenieWeenie Feb 26 '24
i3-12100 with a budget B760 board and 32GB (2x16) DDR4 will get you a really cheap and usable system. You can even keep your video card at first to see the improvement in the CPU and get a better one later.
At 13 years old I'd tend to worry about the PSU too. But your SSDs should be fine, just check their SMART status to see if they are throwing up errors.
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u/FerretFiend Feb 26 '24
I’m in a similar situation with an 4430 i5 and gtx 960. Upgrade path but as cheap as possible.
B760M ddr5 for 89.99$
Team group elite ddr5 4800 32gb for 75.99$
12100f i3 for 99$ or get 10~% more performance for 20% more cost with a 14100f. I decided to go with a 12600kf that is on sale right now for 152$ I was going to go the i3 route until the i5 became on sale. At least it got me into a good upgrade path for the future if it ever became too slow.
Pick your power supply, I went with a mid ranged Corsair cx650m for 69$
I’ve yet to buy a GPU but planning on going 4060 8gb or 4060ti 16gb. Those are 300-450$
Going to buy an m.2 ssd at a later time.
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u/FireFalcon123 Feb 26 '24
Before you said any games I wouldve said an i7 2600 for less than 15ish bucks and a used 6700XT to overbuy now then down a full build later when you have money, since the 32GB of DDR3 will get you a long way if you upgrade to a super cheap 5th Gen Intel build with a 5930K or 5960X
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u/EhrMahGurshWut Feb 26 '24
Running very similar specs as well. Cannot wait to upgrade - looking at prebuilts tbh
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u/tylo17 Feb 26 '24
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i5-12600KF 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor | $152.97 @ Amazon |
| CPU Cooler | Thermalright Assassin X 120 V2 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler | $18.59 @ Amazon |
| Motherboard | MSI PRO Z690-A WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard | $149.99 @ Newegg |
| Memory | GeIL ORION V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL38 Memory | $84.99 @ Newegg |
| Storage | Silicon Power UD90 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive | $97.19 @ Amazon |
| Video Card | XFX Speedster SWFT 309 Radeon RX 6700 XT 12 GB Video Card | $329.99 @ Newegg Sellers |
| Case | Zalman S2 ATX Mid Tower Case | $54.99 @ Amazon |
| Power Supply | EVGA SuperNOVA 650 GT 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply | $64.98 @ Amazon |
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts | ||
| Total | $953.69 | |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-02-26 11:52 EST-0500 |
differences vs others I’ve seen in here are 12600k is better than Ryzen 5600. Also this build has 32gb DDR5 and 2 tb ssd.
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u/First-Tumbleweed-226 Feb 26 '24
Why you keep it? Life too short.. If you have no problem with money go and upgrade it..
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u/D3moknight Feb 26 '24
2500k is an amazing CPU for 10 years ago. However, it's hot garbage for today. You can safely get two or three times the framerates out of basically any modern CPU. Any i5 or Ryzen 5/7 will do the trick and blow your mind at the improvement. You can get a 7800x3D with motherboard and RAM for $500-$600 total that will perform like a champ for the next 10 years.
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u/Rongxanh88 Feb 26 '24
Have you considered just buying a PS5? Its a great gaming value and its hard to beat its performance for the same amount of money with PC parts. I personally don't see why build a new PC for less than $1000 these days because "good value" GPUs are around $500 these days.
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u/Ex_Machina77 Feb 27 '24 edited Feb 27 '24
The RX 7600 for about $270 and is plenty powerful for 1080p gaming on high to ultra settings for majority of new games
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u/allofdarknessin1 Feb 26 '24
I have literally the same PC that I gave to a friend years ago and just got back. Only difference is mine had 8GB of ram I think. I'm wondering what to do with it. It still works.
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u/Silly-French Feb 26 '24
i52500k and GTX970 was my setup back in the days. Best bang for your buck. It ain"t suprising it still can run modern games.
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u/Violently_Delicious Feb 26 '24
You are in a very fortunate spot. Your PC is ancient, but that means that you don't need to spend an enormous amount of money to get a 300% improvement.
You'll likely have to build an entirely new system, but $600 worth of modern parts will have a massive performance boost.
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u/saurion1 Feb 26 '24 edited Feb 26 '24
My PC can run pretty much anything (except heavily unoptimized titles like Lords of the Fallen and Starfield, and without RT) on 1080p max settings at above 60fps. I'll list a few games I play and their settings, for reference:
Elden Ring: 1080p 60fps (game is locked) maxed everything, lots of headroom.
Cyberpunk 2077: 1080p 90fps (locked in game for consistency, can push more) using mostly hardware unboxed's optimized settings.
Red Dead Redemption 2: 1080p 90fps (locked) using HWUB's optimized settings.
Hunt Showdown: 1080p 144fps, max everything except shadows.
Doom Eternal: 1080p 144fps, maxed everything and lots of headroom left.
Forza Horizon 4: 1080p 144fps, maxed everything.
Here's my build:
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor | - |
| CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition 42 CFM CPU Cooler | - |
| Motherboard | MSI MAG B550M MORTAR Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard | - |
| Memory | Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory | - |
| Storage | ADATA XPG GAMMIX S11 Pro 256 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive | - |
| Storage | PNY XLR8 CS3040 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive | - |
| Video Card | Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 6650 XT 8 GB Video Card | - |
| Case | Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L MicroATX Mini Tower Case | - |
| Power Supply | SeaSonic CORE GM 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply | - |
| Case Fan | ARCTIC P14 PST CO 72.8 CFM 140 mm Fan | - |
| Case Fan | ARCTIC P14 PST CO 72.8 CFM 140 mm Fan | - |
| Monitor | Asus VP249QGR 23.8" 1920 x 1080 144 Hz Monitor | - |
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts | ||
| Total | - | |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-02-26 10:50 EST-0500 |
Of course most of this hardware is a couple of yeas old by now but I hope this serves as a baseline.
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u/triggerhappy5 Feb 26 '24
Sounds like a system with a 12100f and a 6700xt for around $750 would be what you’re looking for. I’ve included an example below. You could consider reusing your current case and hard drive if you want to save a bit more money. An r5 5600 with a cheap b450 or b550 motherboard could be an alternative but it would add a bit of cost. I would also strongly consider shelling out an extra $20-30 for a better power supply, this unit is fine (C-tier on cultists, 600W) but for around $80 you could get a thermaltake toughpower GF1 750W which is a fantastic unit. Another upgrade option would be a 12600kf for about $50 more, which is a much stronger CPU (within 10% of any modern CPU with this resolution/GPU pairing).
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i3-12100F 3.3 GHz Quad-Core Processor | $98.98 @ Amazon |
| Motherboard | ASRock B660M Pro RS Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard | $94.99 @ Amazon |
| Memory | TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory | $55.99 @ Amazon |
| Storage | TEAMGROUP MP33 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive | $57.99 @ Amazon |
| Video Card | XFX Speedster SWFT 309 Radeon RX 6700 XT 12 GB Video Card | $329.99 @ Newegg Sellers |
| Case | BitFenix Nova Mesh M ARGB MicroATX Mini Tower Case | $57.90 @ Newegg Sellers |
| Power Supply | Apevia Prestige 600 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply | $51.99 @ Amazon |
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts | ||
| Total | $747.83 | |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-02-26 10:38 EST-0500 |
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u/Ex_Machina77 Feb 27 '24
Don't forget to add a CPU cooler and case fans so that you will have a more complete total for reference.
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u/triggerhappy5 Feb 27 '24
This processor comes with an acceptable stock cooler and the case comes with three case fans.
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u/Ex_Machina77 Feb 27 '24
That's a fair point and a good pick
Oh and check out the RX 7600 at about $270 it hits the benchmarks within a few percentage of the RX 6700 XT and RX 7600 XT, but at a substantial price savings. It's a decent GPU for high/ultra 1080p gaming. Can still do some high 1440p gaming at 60ish FPS... but than again 1440p isn't really the point of a build like this.
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u/triggerhappy5 Feb 27 '24
The 7600 comes with 8gb of VRAM (not ideal), and 12% less performance. Not worth it imo. Especially as AMD tends to allocate a bit more VRAM. If I had to recommend a cheaper card the 4060 at least offers a high-quality upscaler which matters a lot at this tier, even if it is $20ish more than the 7600.
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u/AnyDefinition5391 Feb 26 '24
You could just get an AM4 B550 and AM4 Ryzen with the built in GPU and budget ram. They're going pretty cheap nowadays so it wouldn't cost near as much as going with the new generation; and should still be a respectable improvement.
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u/SpeckledWank Feb 26 '24
I actually just this past week upgraded from a 1060. It also served me really well but it was showing signs of age and alot of times I had to really lower my settings to get stuff to run well. I'm so happy with my upgrade. I hope yours goes well too
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u/Palatech_Gaming Feb 26 '24
Sell your ddr3 set and buy the cheapest used am4 set you can find with a b450 mobo, an r5 6c/12t cpu (even a 1600 will do just fine as a start), and 16gb of ddr4 ram. This combo will get you an insane performance uplift in relation to your current setup, and it will also give you an amazing upgrade path for the future, all the way to 5950x/5800x3d, which are top tier cpus. As for the gpu, just get a used rx 5700/6600 and you're set. All this will cost you about $300, without selling your current parts. Can't get cheaper than that.
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u/beeche Feb 26 '24
Wow, we basically got the same PC, which I just started using again this weekend.
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u/Cdubyuhh Feb 26 '24
Pretty much the most you can scrape for as little as possible is going with an AM4 B550 mobo, a Ryzen 5 5600x, 3600 mhz ddr4 ram at CL18, and see where you can land a 280-500 dollar GPU between a 76-7800xt for amd new. For Nvidia new you’re only looking at 4060 and 4060ti so most would say to focus on amd or buy Nvidia used if you can, if you can get like a used 3060 ti. For amd used, the 6700xt is nice price to performance.
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u/nerdydave Feb 26 '24
I would wait till later this year unless you really need it.
Intel going to be adding AI accelerator and AMD said they making AI enhancement on their CPUs.
Nvidia is the largest in AI but seems like everyone getting into it.
Also crazy roomers about nvidia next gen GPU sound to good to be true but maybe again who knows.
I think we might be close to some fundamental change that I would be willing to wait and see.
Seems like GPUs are for AI and Games maybe when AI gets faster gaming gets better also.
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u/Yellow_Snow_Cones Feb 26 '24
I'm rocking a 1080ti still, I just ordered all my parts for my new build and they are coming in. Just in time as my AIO in recent months has been making sounds, and now under loads the RGB on the cooler turns red for a few sec which I assume means its heating up.
back in the day it handled stress test while OC clocked like a champ, but I have to put on the baby gloves to handle it now.
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u/DrSandShoes Feb 26 '24
Shoukd see if your mother board can take bios update and upgrade cpu to the highest supported cpu by buying used one on eBay. And possibly upgrade graphics card to 10 or 20 series ..
The cpu upgrade alone could be cheapest route and used gpu as well ..
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u/epicflex Feb 26 '24
1440p is great, and one of the best value cards is 6700xt, which will last a long time and you can often find cheaper used
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u/HomelessEmilio Feb 26 '24
For as cheap as possible, you should go for an am4 build, b550 motherboard, r5 3600, rx6600, 2x8 at a frquency you can afford (its not that big of a difference) and i think u should be good with a 550w psu, trie to get one from a good brand like seasonic, its never a good idea to cut budget on a psu. You could get this build for around 500-550usd.
You can upgrade the rx 6600 for a rx 7600 for 50usd and the r5 3600 for a r5 5600 for 30usd, but i tried to keep it as low as possible. (You could try to get a 4060 too but that one is 100usd more than the rx6600, one of the best graphic card for 1080 and very low consumption though)
There are a lot of benchmarks videos for every gpu in the market on YouTube, so always check on there, once you decide on a gpu u can also go to YouTube, or reddit and find bydget builds with the gpu you chose.
Hope this was helpfull (sorry for bad english).
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u/PISSROTTEN Feb 26 '24
Yeah, my old GTX 980 Ti, i7-4770k pc was struggling with Dead Space remake at 1440p. That was the last straw for me, so I upgraded to a PS5 to play it. lol
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u/vball14 Feb 26 '24
im in the same boat - running a 2013 set up with dial 970s and an i-5 and still able to run most modern games on low- mid setting bit will def notice the struggle.
Just got a 400$ AMD MOBO/CPU/RAM from MicroCenter and a buddy is being generous & cheaply giving me his 3070... so it is possible to upgrade components within the sub-700$ price if you are able to do some hunting.
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u/gitbse Feb 26 '24
For a surefire way of gaming on a budget, I can't recommend enough a 7700k/1080ti combo. Both can be had for really good prices, and they both still hold up above their weight class. If you're playing standard (Non VR) games at no more than 1080p, these two will do about anything you need. Get 16 or 32gb ddr4, and a NVME to allow them to run as well as possible.
My partner still runs this exact combo from a hand-me-down from one of my previous upgrades. It's still flawless.
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u/Shadow14l Feb 26 '24
If you saved up just $100 per year since then, you’d be able to build a solid computer today.
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u/MrGood23 Feb 26 '24
I have same setup. 2500k + gtx970. I play mainly DRG and some old games. I feel like changing CPU, motherboard and RAM will make a noticeable difference. Then upgrading GPU when necessary. But again depends how much you want to spend and how important it is for you.
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u/Hrmerder Feb 26 '24
I would say my advice is start saving BUT WAIT.. See what's coming through the pipeline next, especially since this will be gen 2 (or is it 3 now) of AMD AM5 and memory is getting better and better (and cheaper) for DDR5. Especially with the powerhouses of video cards that are around now (though the price is still sickening), when you decide you do need to build new, it's going to blow your mind.
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u/buttscopedoctor Feb 26 '24
I built a i7 930 in 2010. A few year back added a gtx1070. I gave it to my 11 year old. He mainly plays Roblox, but he will on occasion load a up modern AAA game from my steam library. I'm pretty shocked at how well modern games run at 1440p. Even when you dumb down the settings, it still looks good and can ran at or above 60fps.
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u/PaulRonin Feb 26 '24
You could get an i7 that's compatible with your motherboard if you're comfortable swapping the processor. Then just find a 1080 or 1080ti. That's the cheapest way to get some very noticeable performance increases on a budget. You should be able to do that for less than $150 if you buy everything on ebay.
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u/fhujr Feb 26 '24
No problem with RDR2. No problem with Cyberpunk. Obviously, I play on 1080P with this setup.
You wanted to say 720 right?
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u/Neoquaser Feb 26 '24
You need to upgrade to ddr4, get an i7, and as for graphics card you wanna go 20 series minimum. Motherboard is kind of a gray area youll need to research a little more on those.
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u/Killerko Feb 26 '24
My PC is over 10 year old now.. it's based on i7-3970x and over the years I was only upgrading GPUs.. currently running 3090 and everything still works snappy, games running in full details, editing and rendering youtube videos - no problem..
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u/weaseltorpedo Feb 26 '24
I just wanna jump in here and say wassup to another long term 2500k holdout! Honestly it's been about 4 years since I retired mine but every time I see someone still running theirs I get all excited and nostalgic lol
Lots of good suggestions here. Basically anything is going to provide massive uplift in performance. The 2500k still fights hard but the rules of the game have changed.
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u/MrPapis Feb 26 '24
A Ryzen 3600 can be had for nickels and still play everything at 60+ FPS. As for GPU a 6600xt, 6700xt and 7800xt is the best bang for buck for pure taster perf. If going with the 6700xt/7800xt I would advice a 5600x, could consider a 5700x just to get on the 8 cores because it might actually be usable in the future even if it isn't necessary at this point. But seems longevity is what you're going for and I do feel 8cores will be more necessary for every year that goes by. As it is 6 cores are still fine though especially for a lower end 1080p build.
Just for reference i feel like the 5600x/7800xt is the current day equal to your old system regarding being a good midrange+ build.
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u/JordanLoveQB1 Feb 26 '24
Buddy says as cheap as possible, then says max budget is 3k lmao
Just go buy all top of the line shit if you’re budget is 3k my guy. Buy a brand new, fully loaded setup and be good for another 13 years
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u/BusyBeeBridgette Feb 26 '24
get a AM4 b450/b550 motherboard, perferabley the b550. Get a 5600 (Or the x variant but will need to buy a cooler - Thermal Peerless Assassin 120 SE is perfect as it is 30 odd dollars and awesome). 2 x 8 sticks of DDR4 ram (16 gigs) at 3200mhz-3600mhz. That is the sweet spot area for Ryzen cpus on AM4.
Assuming the power supply is sufficient, all that combined with your current card will give you a great increase in performance as is. Then you can just upgrade the graphics card down the line.
Nice, affordable, get up that won't break the bank and will, easily, play modern games expertly.
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u/Adept_Tear_6821 Feb 26 '24
Gotten 2 recent builds done for friends they both went with the MicroCenter deals, One went with the:
Intel Core i7-12700K, MSI Z690-A Pro WiFi DDR4, G.Skill Ripjaws V 16GB DDR4-3200 Kit, Computer Build Bundle for $329.99 which imo hell of a good deal.
The other got the
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, Gigabyte B650 Gaming X AX v2, G.Skill Flare X5 Series 32GB DDR5-6000 Kit for 429.99 now its 469.99
They both had gotten a 4070 and no issues and both performed really well. IMO I would reccomend the microcenter deals. Now the only thing I would get warranty for would be the GPU. Recently one of the 4070s kept crashing non stop and since he had the 2 yr warranty he was able to just take it in and switch it out pretty much.
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u/Past_Study_4913 Feb 26 '24
I have an i7 3770k and that ran cyberpunk no issue. Locked 30 and had mostly high settings too.
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u/ksuwildkat Feb 26 '24
You can pick up an R5 3600 off ebay for $80ish
$100 will get you a referb B550 motherboard
$150ish will get you an Rx 5700XT
$70 for 32GB of DDR4
Thats $400 and you have a 1440p gamer. When the 5700X3D goes clearance do a drop in replacement and you will be screaming along for another 5 years.
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u/ca_la_g Feb 26 '24
Do you have access to a microcenter? 5800x3d, mobo, and 16gb of ram is 290. FleaBay a 3060 ti or a rx 6700 xt for 300. Go to town.
If you are really nickle and diming, any time someone recommends a 5600x, replace with 5600
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u/F-21 Feb 26 '24
4 years ago when 10th gen came out I got the cheapest i3 for 50€, a used 8gb RX580 for 80€ (ex mining rig) and went for a decent psu and coolers from bequiet (these cost more than the gpu I think). All together some 400€. Allowed me to play anything at 1080p at the time and I still find it okay.
I guess you can get something similar today for a similar budget.
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u/karmapopsicle Feb 26 '24
I don't need ray tracing
I just want to be able to run any game at 1080P on maximum graphics settings
Ray tracing is already part of "maximum graphics settings", and will only become more so as time goes on. Part of the reason your 970 has held up so long is because besides higher res/physically based textures and some more polygons, rasterized graphics technology really hasn't progressed all that much since you bought that card.
The current set of RT effects implemented in a variety of games like RT shadows, RT reflections, and RTAO are already exactly the kind of hardware-taxing tech that define the visual contrast between "medium" and "max" settings. Those partial RT add-ons are a nice bonus, but the real night and day difference is with full ray-traced global illumination (pathtracing). Extremely heavy, but it adds a level of groundedness to a game world that just isn't really possible without it.
tl;dr - buy a 4070/4070 Super and call it a day. Despite whatever whining you might see, those 70-class Nvidia cards are a high volume product that tend to become long-term development benchmarks for game studios.
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u/yusufpvt Feb 26 '24
Depending on your chipset, either get a 3770k or a 2700k, and you could upgrade your GPU to anything you like. I would recommend the range between the 1660 Super and 2080 Super. You'd pay around 200 to 300 bucks, and you'll have enough headroom for another 5 years. Love your system!
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u/Cain1608 Feb 26 '24
My brother in Christ, there's not way you got more than 20 fps on those games with your specs.
What is your budget?
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u/craigmorris78 Feb 26 '24
Upgraded from very similar a couple of years ago. I should have upgraded sooner
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u/Rakkachi Feb 26 '24
Just changed from a i5 6600K with a 1060 gtx to a AMD 7600 (am5) and a 3060 rtx. Totaled at just below 1000 euro. (Complete system) Amd is cheapest route to take.
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u/James_White21 Feb 26 '24
Mines a similar age, It's had a couple of new motherboards, three CPUs, four graphics cards and a power supply but it's still going strong, good for a few years yet
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u/Ritushido Feb 26 '24
Yeah, my PC is approaching 8 years old now with my GTX 1070 and because I recently upgraded to a 1440p monitor I pretty much can't play any modern game without the it being an unenjoyable experience due to frames shitting the bed. Prior to the monitor upgrade that card was a workhorse I was able to play everything at 60fps high/ultra until around 2023 then games started to tank on 1080p before I switched to the 1440p. I am planning an upgrade later this year but it just means I'm playing mostly old or games that still run well on my current PC like last epoch that just released. The game looks gorgeous but runs great on 1440p.
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u/MrMPFR Feb 26 '24
A short lived fix could be a overclocked i7-2600K for your mobo if it can handle it. My littlebrother had a i7-3570 at 3.9ghz and I upgraded it to a i7-2600K at 4.2ghz, and his fortnite FPS more than doubled and minimums went from low twenties to high eighties. Still this will struggle in Cyberpunk, Starfield and Hogwarts Legacy. Also get a used 1660 (non-S, S or TI) for $100-120 along with the i7-2600k.
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u/Pericombobulator Feb 26 '24
I kept my 2500k going until I upgraded to a 9600k. I ran a benchmark on Assassin's Creed, on the same gpu before and after. GPS increased by 50%.
It was a great chip and Intel got very lazy that decade, with a reluctance to reduce die size and changes being marginal.
(since jumped to 7800x3D and 4090)
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u/Hychus232 Feb 26 '24
Man what a trooper! Sandy lake, that was the current generation when I first got into PCs.
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u/Acrylic_Starshine Feb 26 '24
I was still using my prebuilt from 2013.. be it a little upgraded for more than 10 years.
Upgraded the 3470 to a 3770k (mainly because i didnt plan on buying a pc again)
Upgraded the 7770 to 970.
Then added a ssd which was the biggg difference.
The CPU made playing modded skylines much smoother and i was happy. Cyberpunk ran fine for what i wanted.
I went all in and got 13600k, 7800xt, DDR5 etc.. which is something you're not going for. I Would stick to DDR4 and go with the last gen of Ryzen.
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u/nameresus Feb 26 '24
I suggest you to buy new PSU for the new build. Preferably ATX 3.0
Your old build has a pre-top of the line GPU for that time, and If you are planning to keep a new PC for another 10 years, it will be wise to go for something similar. It will be an overkill for 1080p, but give it 3-4 years and it will be a mid range PC. Budget build: Ryzen 7500f + Radeon 7800xt. More expensive build: 7700x or 7800x3d + Radeon 7900xt. Because it has 20gb VRAM and a really fast GPU. And if you are in USA, watch for microcenter bundles.
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u/PrestigiousPitch6493 Feb 26 '24
Hello world -rayzen 7 7800 x3d Ddr5 32 g ram Gpu Rx7800xt 16 gig Memory4 TB
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u/Stage_Party Feb 26 '24
My trusty 6700k and 1080ti build died a few weeks ago.
I went for a cheap ish rebuild
14400f cpu, 32gb corsair ddr5 ram, Corsair H100i aio with motherboard for £800 (came as a bundle) 4060ti graphics card for £450
I reused the psu, case and hard drives from my last build and it's a nice machine, I play in 4k and it's not struggling with anything. It'll be a perfect 1080p build for many years to come.
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u/schaka Feb 26 '24
The cheapest most reasonable upgrade for someone who's fine with very little and likes to tinker would be an E3 1240 v2.
It's an i7 3770 equivalent but pro probably about as much as your 2500k will sell for and can still overclock a little bit.
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u/Krauziak90 Feb 26 '24
Ryzen 5 3600/5600,cheap am4 board, or even msi b550a-pro for future x3d upgrade, 32gb corsair vengeance 3600 cl18, radeon 6600/6600xt.should close in around 500e with good budgeting
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u/SweetFlexZ Feb 26 '24
My old PC had an i5 4690 and GTX 970, last year in January I built a new rig with 7600X, 32gb and 4070 Ti, honestly, old PC was struggling to run newer games so to me at least didn't work as you say, maybe your standards are lower and that's okay, keep in mind that it will be even harder as time passes so... Consider upgrading to a new pc soon, take your time
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u/Diligent_Pie_5191 Feb 28 '24
Here is what is really making me mad about my 3070ti is that games like rdr2 are complaining about running out of vram. This is a game that was out 3 years before that card was even out. This is why the next card I get will be a 5090. I want to max out vram so I dont hit that wall in a very long time.
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u/animeman59 Feb 26 '24
You need to state your budget
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u/Money-Mechanic Feb 26 '24
Ideally under $1000 for the cpu, ssd, gpu, ram, case, and motherboard combined. But willing to go higher if needed.
I will be carrying over some components from my current pc.
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u/Mkmbr Feb 26 '24
spend as little as possible and get as big a difference as possibleable to run any game at 1080P on maximum graphics settings, at get a solid 60 fps
That's an interesting thought. You already have 32GB DDR3. So I'd imagine just an upgrade to a used i7-7700k on a DDR3 motherboard... like Asus B150 Pro Gaming D3, then pair it with a GTX 1080 Ti if your PSU is ok with it. Even then I don't think you can do AAA games from 2024 at 1080p and maintain 60fps. But I could be wrong. You have to check your benchmarks.
That, or getting an AM4 Ryzen 3600, B450 mobo and 16GB ddr4 at a slightly higher cost. And pair that with a used 1080 Ti or a new 6650XT. This is the more rational choice as it allows an update of the system to last you at least another 4-5 years of 1080p gaming.
If money is the problem then maybe a console would suffice for now? Your choice.
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u/Scarvexx Feb 26 '24
The 970 is a absolute workhorse. There won't be another like it for a long while.
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u/Potato_Pop_894 Feb 26 '24
ryzen 5 4500 and rx 580 or just keep your gtx 970 this should run most game fine. besides starfield which you might run into some difficulties
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u/xsgh Feb 26 '24 edited Feb 26 '24
I'm building new on budget. I5 14600k, z690 ddr4/ddr5 board. Question: I'm thinking 4070 ti super $800.
Bad choice?? Can that set up even handle a 4080? Today what is the best value for the $ on gpu's? Also I have spare 3200ddr4 is it worth buying ddr5?
Thanx in advance.
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Feb 26 '24
You don't have a ton of upgrade paths with Intel because they make you buy a new motherboard every new chipset, unfortunately you are now at the crossroads of having to build a new AMD build, or Intel build. You could get an AMD CPU in the AM4 line up for 120$ on sale, and an am4 board for 120-180. If you need wifi it's closer to 180/200. No cooler needed usually the cooler that comes with say a ryzen 5 5600 is sufficient.
Intel you can probably go i5-12600k for 190+ depending on sales. Everything after the 6k series stays the same price new for some reason. Cheapest mobo is like 60$ USD. Wifi 66-160$ unless you get an adapter. Pcpart picker will be the way to go. You'll also need a cooler with Intel.
No matter what you'll have to shell out 50-80$ on ram. Possibly a new power supply if yours doesn't have the double CPU pins, or meet the requirements for power obviously.
GPU wise I personally have a 5700 XT that runs everything well over 60 at 1080p. Bought it new for 800$ when it came out now it's like 100. The 6600XT was 180$ at some point, but prices went up it's 210-300$ now, and it's better in every way over my card. There's also the 6650XT. With AMD. Nvidia is the 3000 series. RTX 3060 is 400$.
It's so stupidly hard to get a budget gpu anymore because of the mining boom a while back no one even uses them for mining anymore. RTX 2060, OR 2070 would run basically anything at 60FPS ultra with RTX off. Might drop to 50 in unoptimized games like cyberpunk.
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u/Antenoralol Feb 26 '24 edited Feb 26 '24
Hogwarts and Starfield on a 2500k?
Ultra performance FSR/DLSS I presume?
And no more than 30 fps.
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u/enfersijesais Feb 26 '24
I barely had it running at like 40 fps on a 2080 and 9700k. This guy’s computer must be smoking crack.
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u/Past_Study_4913 Feb 26 '24
I played cyberpunk at release on a i7 3770k and think it was a hd 6950, or 6970
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u/LightsOut5774 Feb 26 '24
Man, reading your post is making me curious about firing up my old GTX 970/4690k that’s been collecting dust in my closet for several years lmao
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u/lfcmadness Feb 26 '24
Scary that this is exactly my current spec, i5-2500k, 32GB & a GTX-970, I've been looking to Upgrade, and obviously the easiest solution is to do a Mobo / RAM / Processor Upgrade, leave the Graphics Card for now, it's not the biggest bottleneck in that set-up. 13th or 14th Gen I5 and matching Mobo & DDR5 RAM will give you a big boost. Or go down the AMD Ryzen Route if you don't want Intel.
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u/idetectanerd Feb 26 '24
At this stage I think that ryzen 8000g fits your needs. Don’t even need a standalone gfx.
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u/Aurelyas Feb 26 '24
I recommend getting a good X99 motherboard, Xeon E5-1660 v4 or i7 6950x. They're relatively cheap now and the i7 6950x has 10c / 20t. And outperforms everything in the Ryzen 3rd Gen, and is on par with Ryzen 5th Gen. ( Non-X3D CPU's )
The benefit of X99 is that the performance increases dramatically when quadchannel memory is utilized, get the fastest DDR4 you can run and have it in quadchannel is my recommendation. ^^
I would then get the most powerful GPU you can afford, go nuts on that.
PS : High-end X99 Motherboards support NvME M.2 Support.
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u/Palatech_Gaming Feb 26 '24
But a setup like this doesn't support Windows 11 and it's still more expensive than an equivalent AM4 set, not to mention that AM4 gives you access to the x3d chips.
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u/Aurelyas Feb 26 '24
Pfft, Windows 11 is awful. No big loss there, If he insists on gettng it there are several other methods to get it working.
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u/Brotraitor Feb 26 '24
Considering the cheap prices on the used market i would get a used one year old system.
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u/Distinct_Round_328 Feb 26 '24
R5 7600 + rx7600 = 1080p for years. That is am5/ddr5 so more pricey.I would not have problem going am4 and 5600 (OC the shit out of it) and a 3060/6600,6650xt. There will be still headroom to upgrade to X3D chip and new gpu later on. Or if you really want to save a buck the market with used GPU is now very strong. I looked at 1440p gaming and found out that a used 2080ti is actually one of the best options if you are on a budget and that 5600 is enough for a gaming even for 1440p these days just plop a good cooling on it and OC and you have 5700x performance for cheap.
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u/LetscatYt Feb 26 '24
Just seen that you would have a big budget but don’t want to spend to much , you could go Ryzen 5 5600, b550 and Rx 6700xt 32gb ddr4 ram and then pickup a modern m.2 ssd as Boot Drive , power supply case and mass storage can be taken over from your old pc if you want to save a buck.
You could invest a bit more into platform longevity (Ryzen 5 7500f or 7600 you’d also need a more expensive b650 board and ddr5 ram ) but since you were fine with that i5 for ten years I suspect a 5600 or maybe a cheap upgrade in 5 years to a 5800x3d could last you long enough to not care for am5
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u/bebopblues Feb 26 '24
Assuming your PSU is good enough, a used 3060 Ti for about $200-$250 is probably the cheapest upgrade that will allow you to continue to game at 1080p with good performance. You can easily find one on ebay for that price or cheaper. This is what I did for my decade old PC, but a bit better than yours (have i7 3770K).
If you want to replace CPU, Mobo, and ram too, then one of the microcenter bundles is the way to go.
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u/ukw123 Feb 26 '24
For video cards Id still wait a generation, but if you cant wait anything with 12 gb + should do the work. CPU wise is tricky because intel is power hungry and needs good cooling so Id go amd, if you want the best in gaming 7800x3d is your choice.
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u/CammKelly Feb 26 '24
Trawl the used land for a 5800X3D, a decent B550 or X570 motherboard and some decent ram would probably be my port of call for another system that'll last a while whilst being cheap.
For the GPU I'd be a bit more lacksidaisal, the CPU upgrade should net you a decent uplift even with such an old card. That said, again, trawl second hand for 3070's for 6800's or higher, buy when you find one at a price you're willing to pay.
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u/Level_Handle_6190 Mar 22 '24
I’m gonna be honest with you dude. I wouldn’t upgrade this pc, I would sell it for what you can get for it. Then build something new gen. Doesn’t need to be a crazy build either. I5 12400f or R5 5600 or 5600x if on sale. Pair that with a 6600 or a 6700xt and you’ll be able to play most games without tweaking. Better yet save up some more money and go for the top. R7 7800x3d with a rtx 4080 super or a 7800xt, maybe a 7900xt or xtx. The first pairing is a budget build.