Upgrade / New PC, £500/£600 budget

perri perri · 21 Dec 2025 at 21:02

Hello!

Currently I'm running:
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i3 8100 @ 3.60GHz
Coffee Lake 14nm Technology
RAM
8.00GB Single-Channel DDR4 @ 1066MHz (15-15-15-36)

Motherboard
Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. Z370P D3-CF (U3E1)

Graphics
KB242Y G0 (1920x1080@60Hz)
RG240Y (1920x1080@75Hz)
2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB (NVIDIA)

Storage
111GB KINGSTON SUV400S37120G (SATA-2 (SSD)) 31 °C
931GB Seagate ST1000DM010-2EP102 (SATA )

Think i bought this setup around 10+ years ago and it's time for a refresher, I don't want anything top of the range or too pricey, just something that'll run games more smoother on mid graphics that's "middle of the road" in terms of spec. I have around a £500 budget but I can be a little flexible with this.

I'd love for someone to be able to build/recommend me a setup, the games I play are WOW, League, Fortnite. I never really have played games on high graphics i've always just defaulted to low.

hornetstinger · 21 Dec 2025 at 21:02

perri perri said:
Hello!

Currently I'm running:

Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-8100 CPU @ 3.60GHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB

Think i bought this setup around 10+ years ago and it's time for a refresher, I don't want anything top of the range or too pricey, just something that'll run games more smoother on mid graphics that's "middle of the road" in terms of spec. I have around a £500 budget but I can be a little flexible with this.

I'd love for someone to be able to build/recommend me a setup, the games I play are WOW, League, Fortnite. I never really have played games on high graphics i've always just defaulted to low.

Unfortunately the price of RAM pretty much ruins chance of PC upgrade.

Gray2233 · 21 Dec 2025 at 21:12

What are the EXACT and full specs of your PC?

If you don't know how to check, download this and tell us what the summary section lists:

Speccy - Free Download

Download Speccy - the System Information tool

www.ccleaner.com

The free version is absolutely fine. Knowing what PSU you own would also be beneficial, you might need to take the side panel off your case to check but in this instance it probably isn't critical. I doubt anything remotely within budget will require any more power than what you already have, but that's a big "if" and frankly might require you to pick up some second hand parts.

As noted by hornet, it's not the best time to buy due to skyrocketing costs with anything memory related. However, we might be able to advise you on some second hand options to upgrade what you have for a good uplift bump in the games you're playing.

ED209 · 21 Dec 2025 at 21:13

As mentioned above ram prices are insane at the moment so I would hold off for the time being.

The cheapest ram of 32GB 6000mhz C30 ram is £209!

Other option is to maybe do a little upgrade on your current system. What's the full spec?

perri perri · 21 Dec 2025 at 21:16

Gray2233 said:
What are the EXACT and full specs of your PC?

If you don't know how to check, download this and tell us what the summary section lists:

Speccy - Free Download

Download Speccy - the System Information tool

www.ccleaner.com

The free version is absolutely fine. Knowing what PSU you own would also be beneficial, you might need to take the side panel off your case to check but in this instance it probably isn't critical. I doubt anything remotely within budget will require any more power than what you already have, but that's a big "if" and frankly might require you to pick up some second hand parts.

As noted by hornet, it's not the best time to buy due to skyrocketing costs with anything memory related. However, we might be able to advise you on some second hand options to upgrade what you have for a good uplift bump in the games you're playing.

Hello,Should be updated now on the post

perri perri · 21 Dec 2025 at 21:16

ED209 said:
As mentioned above ram prices are insane at the moment so I would hold off for the time being.

The cheapest ram of 32GB 6000mhz C30 ram is £209!

Other option is to maybe do a little upgrade on your current system. What's the full spec?

have just updated the full spec i think

Tetras · 21 Dec 2025 at 21:24

perri perri said:
the games I play are WOW, League, Fortnite. I never really have played games on high graphics i've always just defaulted to low.

Those games aren't super demanding.

If it was me, I'd get something like a 8600K or 9600K (bios update might be needed for the 9th gen) and a new graphics card, RTX 3060 12GB or RX 6600 (or better). 9060 XT 16GB if you really want to splurge.

ED209 · 21 Dec 2025 at 21:28

The ram, is it 2 x 4GB sticks or is it a single stick of 8GB ram?

If its a single stick of ram this will be hurting performance in gaming

I would go with what Tetras has mentioned above and then save the rest for a better upgrade once the prices for ram go back to normal prices.

Gray2233 · 21 Dec 2025 at 21:29

Tetras said:
Those games aren't super demanding.

If it was me, I'd get something like a 8600K or 9600K (bios update might be needed for the 9th gen) and a new graphics card, RTX 3060 12GB or RX 6600 (or better). 9060 XT 16GB if you really want to splurge.

The biggest issue is that 8gb of RAM in single channel followed by CPU, even if OP can find another 8gb stick to bump into 16gb dual channel it'll have a hefty performance improvement.

From a 1060 almost anything is going to be a big boost, it's just making sure it uses the same or less power. A 6600 is a good shout, a 9060XT even better, I'd consider the Intel B580 at £250 also but do look at reviews vs the games played.

Gray2233 · 21 Dec 2025 at 21:30

ED209 said:
The ram, is it 2 x 4GB sticks or is it a single stick of 8GB ram?

If its a single stick of ram this will be hurting performance in gaming

Single channel 8gb stick, so it's one. Speccy is actually pretty good at detailing stuff like that, it's why I tend to recommend it.

ED209 · 21 Dec 2025 at 21:31

Gray2233 said:
Single channel 8gb stick, so it's one. Speccy is actually pretty good at detailing stuff like that, it's why I tend to recommend it.

Its going to be hurting gaming performance for sure lol

perri perri · 21 Dec 2025 at 21:31

Can maybe someone build me a £500-600 setup? Im bad with pcs so wouldnt want to be replacing things here and there would prefer a whole new setup

I have seen this one - https://www.amazon.co.uk/ADMI-Gamin...fos.a56bf500-33e2-4a49-b21f-ee6fbd593a4c&th=1

tamzzy · 21 Dec 2025 at 21:35

that's a terrible pc. the gtx 3050 6gb is no faster than the gtx 1060 you have!

Gray2233 · 21 Dec 2025 at 21:37

perri perri said:
Can maybe someone build me a £500-600 setup? Im bad with pcs so wouldnt want to be replacing things here and there would prefer a whole new setup

It's not going to happen mate, RAM prices even for DDR4 are through the roof by hundreds of percent. It's the worst possible time to look for a new build unfortunately.

The upgrades being mentioned are not that expensive or difficult to implement, and of course we'd help you work through things.

CeX sell the following and have actual stock online as of my posting (I'm assuming this is fine as per OCUK rules, EoL products that are not stocked in the store anymore):

1. 8GB PC19200 DDR4 2400MHz - £8
2. Intel Core i5-8600K - £35

After that you'd be looking at a GPU. AMD tends to have less driver overhead, Intel is a good budget option usually but in your situation could be a very bad buy.

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Asus Radeon RX 9060 XT Dual 8GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-ASU-05199) = £269.99

Total: £273.98 (includes delivery: £3.99)

Usually I'd suggest the 16gb model, but I'm not sure it's worth it with what you're working with unless you can spend a lot more for a full platform update.

tamzzy · 21 Dec 2025 at 21:37

honestly for £600, and if you don't feel like taking apart your computer piecemeal...then you only have 2 options:
1) sell your current pc and add to the budget for a new pc
2) buy another used/second hand pc

tamzzy · 21 Dec 2025 at 21:38

Gray2233 said:
2. Intel Core i5-8600K - £35

the 8600k is extremely limiting, if really desperate to upgrade that obsolete platform the 8700/8700k will have better longevity because...hyperthreading

even the 9600k is even slower than the ryzen 3600 nowadays

Tetras · 21 Dec 2025 at 21:42

Gray2233 said:
I'd consider the Intel B580 at £250 also but do look at reviews vs the games played.

Not sure how widespread rebar is on 8th gen PCs, Intel suggest 10th or later for Arc.

Gray2233 · 21 Dec 2025 at 21:42

tamzzy said:
the 8600k is extremely limiting, if really desperate to upgrade that obsolete platform the 8700/8700k will have better longevity because...hyperthreading

even the 9600k is even slower than the ryzen 3600 nowadays

I don't disagree, but price wise it's the cheapest for the platform and right now it's spending good money after bad potentially. Coming from his i3 it's still a massive improvement, but it's an admittedly difficult situation.

The outlet I suggested (which offers warranty, thus the suggestion) sells the 8700 for around the £70 mark.

tamzzy · 21 Dec 2025 at 21:43

Tetras said:
Not sure how widespread rebar is on 8th gen PCs, Intel suggest 10th or later for Arc.

z370 d3 that op has, has rebar option

Gray2233 · 21 Dec 2025 at 21:43

Tetras said:
Not sure how widespread rebar is on 8th gen PCs, Intel suggest 10th or later for Arc.

Aye, I kinda clarified that in a later post but I believe some platforms back then supported it? I think newer drivers are less reliant on ReBAR too but I honestly haven't read into it enough to be certain.