Teen gamers - upgrading PC - is it worth it?

[amy kemp]

Hi Amy,

Before you go spending money on more upgrades, I think it would be worth trying to understand what's really going on here. You say that the FPS has "slowly gone down again". In the space of four months, there's really no obvious reason why that would happen, unless your storage is completely full again.

Are we talking about the same games, played at the same settings, but slowly having worse FPS? If so, my first question would be "how much has the FPS dropped?", followed by "how do you know?".

Call me a cynic, but if I had teenage sons that were telling me "The computer's getting slower, we need an upgrade", I would not necessarily take their word for it

If the same hardware is performing worse at the same tasks than it was four months ago, then that's a separate question which many people on this forum will be better equipped to help you with, but I don't think further upgrades should automatically be your first choice without a bit more investigation

ok, I've just asked them those questions:
they are playing Rust
When they find the best server, the FPS was 80 after upgrading the nvme m2 ssd (and also around the same time stopping epic games running in the background). Now when they find the best server its normally 50-60 (which apparently does make a big difference)
The FPS shows up on screen and they explain it by saying its like watching an old film, the screen is slow.

 

[mickyflinn]

ok, I've just asked them those questions:
they are playing Rust
When they find the best server, the FPS was 80 after upgrading the nvme m2 ssd (and also around the same time stopping epic games running in the background). Now when they find the best server its normally 50-60 (which apparently does make a big difference)
The FPS shows up on screen and they explain it by saying its like watching an old film, the screen is slow.

An nvme drive will not give you more fps it will load quicker and eliminate stutters making the game smoother but more fps no.

 

[amy kemp]

What's the board model as 5000 support should be getting added to all am4 boards?.

Edit: ok it seems you listed the board as the GA-A320M-S2H V2 earlier in the thread and looking at the bios it seems support was added with bios T53B.

Thank you
So with this bios T53B what does that mean i can now add to the PCs? amd wise?

@amy kemp upgrading the motherboard wont give you much of a performance boost it will add pcie4 if you go b550. B450 will just add more ports, etc but is still pcie3 the same as you have now.

Pcie4 gives you faster m2 drive support but has little effect on gpu performance, even the top tier graphics cards cant utilize pcie4 gaining 3 to 10% boost if lucky.

I understand upgrading the motherboard alone wont give a performance boost, but i thought if i upgraded that then i would be able to put a higher AMD in there? as with the one i have at the moment, the max i can have is ryzen 5 but we were hoping for ryzen 7?

Amy, I am in the South also (J4 M3 area) so depends where you are in relation to that.

As Mickyflinn said, replacing the motherboard you have won't necessarily give a performance boost, but you will find that the components on a decent B450/B550 will likely be better for the future (I am thinking of the VRMs and cooling, which will be better and likely handle more powerful Ryzen processors better than your existing motherboard) but it's certainly not a necessity.

I would suggest you re better off getting a Ryzen 5600 and dropping that into your existing setup, assuming you have a BIOS to support it.

I just checked and you are over 2 and a half hours away, but thank you for the offer.

support was added with bios T53B - unsure if that would support Ryzen 5600? as on page 2 of this thread i think someone mentioned that the max i could use is a 3600 which wouldn't increase the FPS enough to be worth doing.
would that bios support higher now the support was added?
I'm not sure how simple a BIOS upgrade is to do, i would be worried about damaging something. Unless it is simple enough with a tutorial?

Hi Amy, you could also use WinDirStat to get a visual idea of what programs are using up most space. I have a teenage son who installs loads of games, plays for a week and then moves on. We uninstall a bunch of them every now and again. He also harps on about FPS, but really they're fine and it's things like online servers being laggy. May also be worth hardwiring to the interwebnet if you're currently using WiFi.

Yes sometimes the servers do impact it but they do say even when on a 'good' server its still only 50-60 max. We do quite often have a clear out, but will do this again, thank you for the reminder and we'll give WinDirStat a go

I will let others carry on in regards to the hardware side of things. However, it is also useful to note that you can often increase the frame count of a game by turning down settings of the graphic options in the game, sometimes without really noticing the difference very much. There are sometimes guides on youtube for a good graphics settings for a game,

Thank you, i have heard them adjusting their settings, but will remind them again

 

[ASMB]

ok, I've just asked them those questions:
they are playing Rust
When they find the best server, the FPS was 80 after upgrading the nvme m2 ssd (and also around the same time stopping epic games running in the background). Now when they find the best server its normally 50-60 (which apparently does make a big difference)
The FPS shows up on screen and they explain it by saying its like watching an old film, the screen is slow.

Apparently a number of players are stating that the fps has gone down in Rust following recent changes to the game, 50 or 60fps should be playable without issues (although most players will obviously prefer higher fps), but according to this article a recent update has also introduced stutters.
Rust players complain of low FPS & stutters after recent update (piunikaweb.com)

 

[mickyflinn]

@amy kemp

Your motherboard is a GA-A320M-S2H V2 which I checked and can support the latest ryzen cpu all the way up yo 16 cores . While I wouldnt sugest having a 16 core a decent 6 or 8 core would be fine, the reason I would pick 6 cores is not to be chucking money for little performance gain between 6 an 8 cores.

This is the cpu support list for your motherboard , bios t53b adds support for 5000 series cpu. 5600 is on there .

https://www.gigabyte.com/Ajax/SupportFunction/Getcpulist?Type=Product&Value=6753

In the end it's your call just don't want you to overspend chasing fps .

Which revision is your motherboard ?

 

[amy kemp]

Apparently a number of players are stating that the fps has gone down in Rust following recent changes to the game, 50 or 60fps should be playable without issues (although most players will obviously prefer higher fps), but according to this article a recent update has also introduced stutters.
Rust players complain of low FPS & stutters after recent update (piunikaweb.com)

Thank you, so that could definitely have something to do with it. I just asked them if its just Rust and they said yes Rust sits at around 50 fps, Sea Of Thieves is about 100. So that confirms you theory is right.

I feel like i've learnt too much not to try an upgrade now lol.

@amy kemp

Your motherboard is a GA-A320M-S2H V2 which I checked and can support the latest ryzen cpu all the way up yo 16 cores . While I wouldnt sugest having a 16 core a decent 6 or 8 core would be fine, the reason I would pick 6 cores is not to be chucking money for little performance gain between 6 an 8 cores.

This is the cpu support list for your motherboard , bios t53b adds support for 5000 series cpu. 5600 is on there .

https://www.gigabyte.com/Ajax/SupportFunction/Getcpulist?Type=Product&Value=6753

In the end it's your call just don't want you to overspend chasing fps .

Thank you - just so that i fully understand. Before the BIOS support was added (t53b) i could only add a 3600 max. But now its been added i can just pop a 5600 in without doing an update to the BIOS?
(also, has this support definitely been added to our PC's? how do i check)?

By adding a 5600 - what increase would this do as the 3600 was 10-15% i think.
would it be worth the spend? Do you know what a good price for a 5600 is so i know i'm looking in the right price bracket.

Thank you again for your help

 

[mickyflinn]

@amy kemp .

Your motherboard has 3 diffrent revision 1 to 3 , we need to know which revision so we can get the correct bios.

https://www.gigabyte.com/Support/FAQ/864

All 3 revisions support 5000 series cpu but bios names are different.

 

[amy kemp]

@amy kemp .

Your motherboard has 3 diffrent revision 1 to 3 , we need to know which revision so we can get the correct bios.

https://www.gigabyte.com/Support/FAQ/864

All 3 revisions support 5000 series cpu but bios names are different.

Do i need to remove the board? Is it on the back?

From what i can see with it sitting in there, there is nothing on the top left.
all i can see is a serial number sticker 2/A/K2A121 00416
then in a corner printed on the board REV: 1.1

 

[mickyflinn]

Do i need to remove the board? Is it on the back?

From what i can see with it sitting in there, there is nothing on the top left.
all i can see is a serial number sticker 2/A/K2A121 00416
then in a corner printed on the board REV: 1.1

So it's revision 1 that's fine and its T53b bios if you decide to upgrade., make sure you research updating bios for Gigabyte motherboard and never do it threw windows.

https://www.gigabyte.com/us/Motherboard/GA-A320M-S2H-V2-rev-1x/support#support-dl

A 5600 is about £180 .

 

[amy kemp]

So it's revision 1 that's fine and its T53b bios if you decide to upgrade., make sure you research updating bios for Gigabyte motherboard and never do it threw windows.

https://www.gigabyte.com/us/Motherboard/GA-A320M-S2H-V2-rev-1x/support#support-dl

A 5600 is about £180 .

I wouldn't have a clue where to start researching, i clicked on the link and for the T53b it says

1. Update AGESA ComboV2 1.2.0.3 B
2. Add Vermeer and Renoir processors support
3. Change default status of AMD PSP fTPM to Enabled for addressing basic Windows 11 requirements

I'm stuck on number 1.

I assume i'd need to get someone in to do this? or is there an idiots step by step guide?

 

[mickyflinn]

I wouldn't have a clue where to start researching, i clicked on the link and for the T53b it says

1. Update AGESA ComboV2 1.2.0.3 B
2. Add Vermeer and Renoir processors support
3. Change default status of AMD PSP fTPM to Enabled for addressing basic Windows 11 requirements

I'm stuck on number 1.

I assume i'd need to get someone in to do this? or is there an idiots step by step guide?

That's a list of what the bios does not what you have to do.

Your you Ryzen 5 3350G has a bios version of f40 at least but updating bios can be straight forward . Below is a video see if you feel comfortable doing it but of your unsure is there anyone who could help you ?

 

[amy kemp]

That's a list of what the bios does not what you have to do.

Your you Ryzen 5 3350G has a bios version of f40 at least but updating bios can be straight forward . Below is a video see if you feel comfortable doing it but of your unsure is there anyone who could help you ?

Thank you for the video. sorry for the delay.
We ordered new monitors (as they were using TV screens)
We also deleted any unused games
They have noticed a slight improvement in FPS.
We know it could be Rust that has the issues and not their computers but updating them can't do any harm (i hope).

I just have a couple of questions before we go for it if thats ok:

- can i update the BIOs before ordering the 5600 (ie can they still use their 3350g on the new BIOs)?

- When we update the CPU, can you/is it worth updating the GPU too?

- Do i need to order thermal paste with the 5600 or does it come with it?

Thank you in advance

 

[mickyflinn]

Thank you for the video. sorry for the delay.
We ordered new monitors (as they were using TV screens)
We also deleted any unused games
They have noticed a slight improvement in FPS.
We know it could be Rust that has the issues and not their computers but updating them can't do any harm (i hope).

I just have a couple of questions before we go for it if thats ok:

- can i update the BIOs before ordering the 5600 (ie can they still use their 3350g on the new BIOs)?

- When we update the CPU, can you/is it worth updating the GPU too?

- Do i need to order thermal paste with the 5600 or does it come with it?

Thank you in advance

You can update the bios anytime and your old cpu will still work after.

You can get a new gpu but I would wait until you get a new cpu to see if you get any improvements, the 1660 you have is still a decent card for gaming.

A new cpu will come with pre applied thermal paste on the cooler but it's handy to get some just in case , Thermal paste is fairly cheap.

 

[amy kemp]

You can update the bios anytime and your old cpu will still work after.

You can get a new gpu but I would wait until you get a new cpu to see if you get any improvements, the 1660 you have is still a decent card for gaming.

A new cpu will come with pre applied thermal paste on the cooler but it's handy to get some just in case , Thermal paste is fairly cheap.

Thank you again for the information.

There is talk of a Rust update happening in a week and FPS has been mentioned but they've now stopped playing it as it's not worth playing with how bad their FPS is apparently. But others are still playing so I think we'll still go ahead with the BIOS and Ryzen upgrade.

It's just me and my husband and neither of us really know what we're doing but we'll give it a go.

Can I just check which one we need? / Is best?
Ryzen 5 5600 or 5600x or 5600g ?

 

[mickyflinn]

Thank you again for the information.

There is talk of a Rust update happening in a week and FPS has been mentioned but they've now stopped playing it as it's not worth playing with how bad their FPS is apparently. But others are still playing so I think we'll still go ahead with the BIOS and Ryzen upgrade.

It's just me and my husband and neither of us really know what we're doing but we'll give it a go.

Can I just check which one we need? / Is best?
Ryzen 5 5600 or 5600x or 5600g ?

Make sure you do your research and good luck, any problems come back. After updating the bios all settings will set to default so you will have to select correct boot device and enable xmp profile for correct memory speed.

5600 is best value at £180
5600x is slightly faster but very miniscule at £200.
Forget the 5600g it comes with onboard graphics hense the g and clocked lower, so slightly slower.

 

[ASMB]

It's just me and my husband and neither of us really know what we're doing but we'll give it a go.

You will need to be careful not to damage the cpu or the socket on the motherboard when you remove the current cpu, hope this helps

 

[amy kemp]

Hi, me again

Rust update made a slight difference but we have now got the new CPUs (AMD 5600)

Can I please ask how do I work out what the correct boot device is

and how do I enable xmp profile for correct memory speed

Many thanks

 

[MissChief]

Hi, me again

Rust update made a slight difference but we have now got the new CPUs (AMD 5600)

Can I please ask how do I work out what the correct boot device is

and how do I enable xmp profile for correct memory speed

Many thanks

XMP is enabled in the BIOS.

 

[tamzzy]

correct boot device

That is the drive with windows installed. Presumably the SN550 SSD that you bought previously.

 

[Craig_d1]

Hi, me again


and how do I enable xmp profile for correct memory speed

Many thanks

From about 2min 30sec in vid below..guy doing xmp on same board. Basically in Bios, go to M.I.T tab along top, then click on 'Advanced memory setting', next it'll come up with page and say, 'Extreme memory profile', which will be diabled..you need to make sure it's enabled and just click the profile it comes up with, as this will be the profile created my manufacturer. That should change the memory frequency and timing. Save and exit will then reboot the pc, and xmp will be enabled and ram should be running at full stated speeds