Basic build, no GPU, upgrade advice?

SuperBOB

SuperBOB

SuperBOB

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Hey all,

I built four of these for my kids

Case SilverStone Fara B1 Black ATX Case
Powersupply SilverStone 550W Essential Power Supply
Motherboard AMD Socket AM4 - MSI - B450M-A PRO MAX
Memory Memory - DDR4 - Thermaltake - R002D408GX1-2666C19D
Processor 199 AMD Ryzen 3 3200G
Storage 55 Seagate 1TB BarraCuda
Mouse + Keyboard 25 Logitech MK120 Corded USB Desktop

They work great for home schooling but lack a bit of punch with Fortnite / CS:GO etc.

Whats the next step?

GPUs look too expensive, is there something I could do as an interim step before the bottom falls out of crypto?

Cheers,
Bob
 
So what memory do you have in them? Is that a single 8gb stick of 2666mhz RAM? If it is then two 8gb sticks (might as well go for 16gb total) at 3200 or 3600mhz should offer a noticeable improvement, especially for an apu playing games.

Putting Windows and frequently used games on an ssd will make the systems feel faster for general use and speed up loading times etc too. If it's just stuff like fortnite and csgo then 256gb would probably be enough, although 500gb+ would be less restrictive.

I might try this upgrade in one of them to see how much of a difference it makes and whether it might be worth doing all four:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £103.68 (includes shipping: £8.70)
​

If you had slightly more to spend:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £133.68 (includes shipping: £8.70)
​

NB could get a 1TB ssd for another £15: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cruc...i-e-3.0-nvme-solid-state-drive-hd-070-cr.html
(lower grade than the p5 drives above, but would still be fine for your purposes if you might want extra ssd storage).

Could also try overclocking the graphics chip if the motherboard lets you, some people seem to get pretty good improvements doing that.
 
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jigger said:
5600G and overclocking the RAM. I’ve had that crucial RAM running pretty fast.
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I'm intrigued... What GPU would this be comparable to? Obviously an estimate.

Also I saw that the 5600g has max 2gb of video ram that can be allocated, but an i511600k has more.. is that right? In theory could the i5 be loaded with a large portion of the ram to boost the video performance?
 
Pickers said:
I'm intrigued... What GPU would this be comparable to? Obviously an estimate.

Also I saw that the 5600g has max 2gb of video ram that can be allocated, but an i511600k has more.. is that right? In theory could the i5 be loaded with a large portion of the ram to boost the video performance?
Click to expand...

I haven’t used the 5600G yet, but how much system RAM can be allocated is likely down to the motherboard. The 5600G is somewhere around a GTX 1030 in performance.

I’ve pretty much got Intel’s fastest IGP so far, paired with super highend 3800 memory and it’s fair why off 5600G performance.

If you are thinking about an upgrade to an i5 11600K I’d look at the 5700G and some faster RAM, or go all out and spend a little more on a graphics card like a RX 5500, 1660 super.
 
Me personally, I can't afford a GPU right now, but holding out for a £300-400 FE if I get lucky - then I would want to do flight sim and fallout 4 with enhancement mods.

Eventually I'll get bored waiting for a GPU - I know the 5600g would be best as a stop gap, but once a GPU is found, the i5 would be the better CPU... Feels like a game of poker with myself!
 
Pickers said:
Me personally, I can't afford a GPU right now, but holding out for a £300-400 FE if I get lucky - then I would want to do flight sim and fallout 4 with enhancement mods.

Eventually I'll get bored waiting for a GPU - I know the 5600g would be best as a stop gap, but once a GPU is found, the i5 would be the better CPU... Feels like a game of poker with myself!
Click to expand...

Im not sure TBH the 5700G I was messing around with was a powerhouse of CPU. A very solid all rounder.

I guess with an RTX card you would want the fastest CPU possible if the main use is gaming.
 
I don't think the 5600G's game performance is better by enough of a margin to make it a worthwhile upgrade from a 3200G personally. Looks like you could get around 25% more FPS in cs:go for example, at the cost of £230 per PC (or say £120 per PC if you manage to sell each 3200G for £110). NB that's on top of a RAM upgrade, which would be needed to get the best out of either APU.

Cs:go and fortnite should be quite playable on a 3200G even at 1080p if you turn the settings down, once you get dual channel memory.
 
GreatAuk said:
I don't think the 5600G's game performance is better by enough of a margin to make it a worthwhile upgrade from a 3200G personally. Looks like you could get around 25% more FPS in cs:go for example, at the cost of £230 per PC (or say £120 per PC if you manage to sell each 3200G for £110). NB that's on top of a RAM upgrade, which would be needed to get the best out of either APU.
Click to expand...

That crucial RAM is pretty good stuff from my experiences.
 
jigger said:
That crucial RAM is pretty good stuff from my experiences.
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That's good to hear, decent memory should make quite a difference for integrated graphics. Don't have any myself but put it in a few suggested builds now because the specs look decent for the price.
 
GreatAuk said:
That's good to hear, decent memory should make quite a difference for integrated graphics. Don't have any myself but put it in a few suggested builds now because the specs look decent for the price.
Click to expand...

IIRC I ended up running at 3600 c16. Can’t remember what IC’s crucial used now.
 
Pickers said:
I'm intrigued... What GPU would this be comparable to? Obviously an estimate.

Also I saw that the 5600g has max 2gb of video ram that can be allocated, but an i511600k has more.. is that right? In theory could the i5 be loaded with a large portion of the ram to boost the video performance?
Click to expand...

Do not allocate any ram to the 5600g. It makes no difference to performance in games and all it does is deny the system use of that ram.

Jayz2cents did a yt vid on this when 5700g was released and is worth watching.
 
Best option would be a cheap 2nd hand GPU like a GTX 660ti which come up for around £40-50 used and are almost 3x as fast as the much more costly 5600G which would seem more like a costly sidegrade.

Had a GTX660ti in the kids PC for a while and did well in fortnite with around 100+fps at 1080p medium

 
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Thanks all,

I did double up on the memory, so they each have 16GB now. The computers are working well, the kids dont know any better either, but i'm keen to get them a bit further along (i might have opened fortnite once or twice).

Given i've already gone to doubling the ram since I posted this (which made the machines feel a lot better in terms of time to load games, but did not impact the in game experience) it sounds like I should reinstall them onto smallish SSDs - with the games also installed on those SSDs and then consider a budget GPU.

Thanks again for the advice all, and here is hoping GPUs take a nose dive in pricing!
 
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I have just been given some great advice on another thread on here which included considering a used graphics card. I did some research and picked up a GTX970 in mint condition, original box, leads, driver disk and instruction booklet for £130.00

Well worth a look.
 
bilirubin said:
I have just been given some great advice on another thread on here which included considering a used graphics card. I did some research and picked up a GTX970 in mint condition, original box, leads, driver disk and instruction booklet for £130.00

Well worth a look.
Click to expand...

This is 100% the way to go. Without naming names, you can easily pick up a GTX 1050 for £90-ish from used retailers, which will include a warranty. Perfect for something like Fortnite when paired with the systems you've described.
 
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