Update or get new

Pete Davies

Pete Davies

Pete Davies

Associate
Joined
20 Jul 2020
Posts
8
Hi everyone, I would like some advice please.
My present pc is getting on a bit, it's an amd Athlon 64x2 5400+ 2.8ghz, 4gb ram, Radeon R7 200, 500gb main drive with 1tb back up drive running Win 10.
Is it worth trying to update this or am I better off buying new? If I go for new I don't want to spend more than £500. I only play COD at the moment but would like to play it at max settings, pc is also used for photoshop. I have looked at various build it yourself videos but to be honest I dont feel confident enough to do that. You advice would be helpful.
Thanks
 
Replace it... but you’ll struggle to get a decent 1080p gaming rig for £500 or less, unless you’re prepared to buy used?

This is the best I could come up with ‘new’ without skimping too much on important components. But you’d have to build it yourself, it’s really not hard at all. Think of it like Lego. Anything less than this and it’s just not worth bothering.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £567.81 (includes shipping: £0.00)
​
 
There are lots of videos helping you to build every step of the way. If you've put something together from Ikea, you're more than qualified. Just take your time and if you're not sure, think, google and/or ask.
Use your existing PC to practice on if you like, you'll bound to feel more comfortable fiddling with that rather than brand new hardware.
 
Hi Tetras, Resolution 1920X1080, Info for card says R7 200 series?, COD4 but also have Modern Warfare (not played yet, I'm old....lol).
Thanks Sparx, it looks like I need to get new, if I have to I can stretch to £700 but would prefer not to. Prices seem to fluctuate a lot, sure things were cheaper a couple of months back...lol. Will look at more self build vids and suss it all out :)
 
If you don't want to go higher on the spend, just settle on the £560 build I suggested or similar. It'll run 1080p well still. You can always upgrade the CPU and/or GPU in the future as well if you get more into it.

If the 480GB SSD isn't enough, you could re-use your 500gb/1tb HDDs as storage if you wanted too. But obviously make sure you install Windows and your games on the SSD for the best performance.

This lad did a decent step by step video recently on how to build your own PC.

 
Might be worth waiting for black friday & doing research until then so you know what to keep an eye on. Could save you £100 easy, I reckon.
 
Another thought, OcUK's pre-built aren't that bad... My only gripe is they use iffy PSUs (Kolink) which are far from ideal. The best bit about building your own, is getting to pick the exact components you want.

If you're not comfortable building, ask OcUK if they'll build this I've configured - but see if they'll let you swap the 3200G processor for a 3100 (as it's noticeably faster for the same cost)

All you need to do is buy a Windows 10 key, which you can get for about £5 on a popular auction site. ;)

You'll still get better components building your own though - I'd rather the RX 580 GPU to the Nvidia 1650 when there's only a £2 difference, between building your own and pre-built with inferior parts.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
  • 1 x OcUK Gaming Kinetic R3 - AMD B450 Configurable Ryzen 3000 Series Gaming PC = £565.04
    • Case:Kolink Inspire Series K2 ARGB Micro-ATX Case - Black Window
    • Processor:AMD Ryzen 3 3200G Quad Core 4.0GHz (Socket AM4) APU with RX Vega 8 Graphics - MPK
    • Graphics Card:*Build Stock* Asus GeForce GTX 1650 Phoenix OC 4096MB GDDR5 Graphics Card
    • Memory:Team Group Vulcan Z T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey
    • Primary Drive:TeamGroup 500GB Vulcan SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 3D NAND Solid State Drive
    • Secondary Drive:Unwanted
    • WIFI:Unwanted
    • Operating System:Unwanted
    • Security Software:Unwanted
Total: £565.04 (includes shipping: £0.00)
​
 
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Quartz said:
The OP can shave £90 off that price by re-using the existing PSU and case. Not that I'd want to re-use the PSU, mind.
Click to expand...

That’s kinda the point, who’d want to re-use a nearly 14 year old PSU? Assuming he got it not long after launch... Also means that case be nasty but each to their own lol
 
Ok, I have had a major rethink...
After looking at many other posts and how much people are spending on their machines I have got what might be a decent set of components. Not worried about a case as there are plenty to choose from later. Have I missed anything out or are there any mismatches? Thanks

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £706.04 (includes shipping: £11.10)​
​
 
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That PSU won't work, it's a 1U server rack power supply. Get this Phanteks AMP 550w for your PSU. 10 year warranty, modular cables and made by Seasonic (who are one of the best PSU manufacturers).

Also you need to identify what size your case will fit motherboard-wise to avoid a huge ball ache for yourself as potentially couldn't fit lol.

If it's micro-ATX then that mobo will not fit, so you'd need a micro-ATX mobo like the one I suggested in my earlier post (which is also £50 cheaper). If it's mini-ITX then that's pretty much the smallest form factor you can go, so you'd need a mini-ITX size mobo. But having ITX would also change your PSU choice, as you'd probably need a SFX size power supply as well so it all fits. Or if it turns out it is just a standard ATX size case, then the above components will all fit no problem. ;)

Otherwise the CPU, SSD, GPU and RAM all look good. Having a quick look at RX 580 benchmarks on the latest COD MW - running 1080p at high settings you should average 90 fps.
 
Ok, thanks Sparx, have updated basket with case and psu. Whats the benefit of having the B550 over the B450, (apart from price), I chose the B550 because one of Pauls hardware vids suggested it. May also go for a monitor too as I only have a crappy BenQ GL2450H but dont fancy a curved one so suggestions for that would be great.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £782.23 (includes shipping: £12.30)​
​
 
I wouldn't get that case, it's quite dated now. With the optical drive bays and the layout is less than efficient for tidiness and cable management etc :p If you want something plain and simple, then anything like the Zalman S2 or Kolink Castle will be nicer to work with and cost less ££... Or if you want something nicer for same price as that Corsair case, the Phanteks P400 Air is a solid choice with good airflow.

There are a few benefits with B550 - like PCIe 4.0, 2.5Gb LAN port, guaranteed Zen 3 CPU support etc. But if you're not bothered about any of that, then an MSI B450 Max board will do the same job. MSI did say they will support Zen 3 on their B450 Max boards but that may change. So if you want future proof a little then sure get a B550 board. But if you're trying to keep it within the above budget, I'd rather put that £50 difference on a better GPU like the 1660 Super, instead of the RX 580.

If you're after a decent 1080p panel, I'd recommend the AOC 24G2U - nice quality 1080p IPS screen, 144Hz refresh rate, FreeSync, 1ms response time etc.
 
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Hi everyone, an update! I have had my new rig for a few weeks now and its great! I went with an Overclockers rig and got them to build it to this configuration:
Kolink Castle Midi Tower Case
Kolink Modular Power 700W 80 Plus Bronze Modular Power Supply
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Eight Core/Sixteen Thread 4.35GHz Processor
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER OC 6144MB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card
WD Blue 3D NAND 500GB 2.5" SATA 6Gbps Solid State Drive (WDS500G2B0A)
Alpenfohn Brocken ECO Advanced CPU Cooler
Gigabyte X570 AORUS ELITE (AMD AM4) DDR4 X570 Chipset ATX Motherboard
I already had a 1tb hard drive which I installed as storage. Its all worked well. Sadly it has not helped my gaming, I'm still crap at it...lol.
Thanks for all your input and suggestions, much appreciated. :D
 
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