I need help with deciding what to do with my PC.

JaiCaliber · 4 Apr 2020 at 17:46

Hello so I built my desktop about 2 years ago for next to nothing from parts I got from friends but as I want to start stuff like twitch streaming I need a more powerful computer.

I currently have an Asrock Z97 anniversary motherboard, Intel Core i5 4570, gigabyte GTX 1050ti, 16gb of ddr3 ram, a 120gb SSD boot drive and 2x 1 TB HDD drives. It works fine for most of the games I'm playing but it's streaming and some editing software I use where it really struggles.

There is a PC in my area for sale for £470 which is an Omen desktop, it has a gforce gtx 1060, core i5 8400, ddr4 SDRAM, doesn't say what motherboard it has.

My question is would this PC be much better than mine by a noticeable difference for things like twitch streaming, as far as I'm lead to believe that processer isn't that great. Would it be worth buying this or what would you do?

Would you build your own from bits, or would you buy a pre-built and what would you buy, I'd like to pay no more than about £700ish

Thanks for any help you can offer, I know a bit about computers but can't really get into the nitty-gritty of it.

Quartz · 4 Apr 2020 at 18:08

The motherboard in the Omen will likely be a custom HP job. You need to be careful with the GTX 1060 as there are two versions: the one with 3 GB VRAM is not much bbetter than your 1050 Ti but the 6 GB version is a good step up.

But in your case I'd buy new.

Here's a starter:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x MSI B450M Mortar MAX (Socket AM4) DDR4 mATX Motherboard= £89.99
1 x AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core 4.2GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £199.99
1 x Team Group Vulcan TUF Gaming Alliance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-28800C19 3600MHz Dual Channel Kit - Blac= £79.99
1 x Zotac GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER Twin Fan 6144MB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £229.99

Total: £611.06 (includes shipping: £11.10)

More cores - the Ryzen 3700 for an extra £100 - will help streaming and video work and the 1660 Super will be a nice boost over your 1050 Ti. The MSI Tomahawk Max is a full ATX board and a few pounds more expensive.

JaiCaliber · 4 Apr 2020 at 18:23

Wow thanks mate that's a lot better than what I was piecing together when searching for bits

Dave Burton · 5 Apr 2020 at 08:51

As another option, you could look for a "K" version CPU and install it, using overclocking to get a little more bang for buck. A friend of mine has the K version of your chip, and with an AIO cooling (not really needed) it it's running happily at 4.5Ghz, you couldlikely get this with a decent air cooler too.

You'd still need a GPU, keep that part from the post above

Minibiker · 5 Apr 2020 at 08:59

Only problem is if @JaiCaliber goes for a 'K' series they'll be looking to upgrade again pretty soon, It's an older Gen quad core CPU and will struggle if gaming... As we all know newer games are getting more demanding and require more power, I think that's why @Quartz has recommended the Ryzen route.. Faster, newer RAM and a considerably faster CPU

Dave Burton · 5 Apr 2020 at 09:05

Minibiker said:
Only problem is if @JaiCaliber goes for a 'K' series they'll be looking to upgrade again pretty soon, It's an older Gen quad core CPU and will struggle if gaming... As we all know newer games are getting more demanding and require more power, I think that's why @Quartz has recommended the Ryzen route.. Faster, newer RAM and a considerably faster CPU

Oh, don;t get me wrong, I agree with the post above, I was going for a really low budget end option, as a stop-gap

Joxeon · 5 Apr 2020 at 09:05

the 4790k goes for almost as much second hand as a brand new 5 3600 and is totally outclassed by the latter.

Dave Burton · 5 Apr 2020 at 09:07

Joxeon said:
the 4790k goes for almost as much second hand as a brand new 5 3600 and is totally outclassed by the latter.

Wow, the second hand Intel CPU market is almost as gougey as retail, no wonder AMD are kicking their asses this time round!! Forget I said anything, nothing to see here... *whistles*

Joxeon · 5 Apr 2020 at 09:17

Dave Burton said:
Wow, the second hand Intel CPU market is almost as gougey as retail, no wonder AMD are kicking their asses this time round!! Forget I said anything, nothing to see here... *whistles*

Yeah, my friend recently sold his z97 4790k and 16gb of ram for £300 then dropped £250 on a ryzen 7 3700x, was blown away by the perf increase and couldn't believe people would pay so much for old Intel tech that was far inferior.

Minibiker · 5 Apr 2020 at 09:23

Dave Burton said:
Oh, don;t get me wrong, I agree with the post above, I was going for a really low budget end option, as a stop-gap

Ahhh OK I see what you mean