Upgrade Advice

Associate
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I'm looking to spend around £700. I'm a fairly casual gamer. I'll generally do small upgrades over the years, i.e. change GPU not change out CPU. I probably won't overclock. I prefer to pay extra for quality.

No surprises but so far I've plumped for a Ryzen 5 3600 4.2GHz CPU, and GTX 1660 Super GPU to provide the grunt. A few questions:

  • Mobo wise I'm seeing suggestions for the B450 Tomahawk Max - is there a better suggestion here? I'm not really sure what benefits it really provides over others.
  • PSU I have little clue on, need some help here.
  • RAM wise I'm not sure, something 3200 16GB?
  • Case wise I like the Fractal Meshify cases - can you see an issue housing?
  • Do I need anything other than stock cooling? Happy to spend the money if it adds value.
Everything else should be covered.

Thanks!
 
Soldato
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Hi

Around that price point there is only the MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon that is better. It doesn't support the R5 3600 out of the box though, so it would mean flashing the bios with the flash bios button at the rear of the board. If you want plug and play then stick with the Tomahawk MAX.

A 550W psu would handle that spec. Something like a Super Flower Leadex III 550W would be a good choice.

A 3200MHz kit is fine for the Ram.

No issues with that case either. It has good airflow. Always seems to be out of stock on here though.

The stock cooler is ok. If you want something that will run quieter and keep the cpu a bit cooler under load, then you have good budget coolers like the Arctic Freezer 34 esports duo for £35, or the Scythe Mugen 5 Rev.B for £43.
 
Associate
OP
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thanks for the responses.

Any there any cheaper mobos that are considered just as good, again not really sure what I'm paying for here.

Stupid question but whats the difference between say my current PSU which is 6-8 years old and the new ones? both 550W, have there been advances since then?

This seems like a very good shout for RAM? https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...md-ryzen-tuned-ddr4-memory-kit-my-4bw-cs.html
 
Soldato
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Stupid question but whats the difference between say my current PSU which is 6-8 years old and the new ones? both 550W, have there been advances since then?

A PSU has the ability to destroy the innards of your PC when it fails. Your PSU is old and thus more likely to fail so people are playing safe. It makes sense to change it now.
 
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OP
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Oh I'm happy to change it, I'm fairly sure I'll sell my old PC anyway so it makes sense to bundle it together - I just mean't has anything changed over 6-8 years, what's the most reliable manufacturer to use?
 
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Associate
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I'd stick with the stock cooler for the time being and perhaps just get another couple of fans for the case to give you a bit more flexibility to blow air through:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/arctic-cooling-f12-pwm-fan-rev.-2-120mm-fg-047-ar.html

You could always add a new cooler later if it's not performing that well. The stock coolers with the Ryzen chips are much better than the rubbish you used to get given in the olden days.
 
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