Upgrade Advice Please

[Rob 540]

Hi Folks,

Newbie here; I tried to stick to the ‘Template' guidance but happy to take feedback if I've missed anything.

I have and old Medion Gaming PC and I’m looking to buy some components to upgrade it myself. I’m keeping the case (it supports EATX motherboards but these are pricey, and I think an ATX will suit my needs anyway). I’m hoping the PSU is powerful enough for modern components; it’s an 'FSP GROUP INC, Fortron/Source, model FSP450-60EMDN’ with a DC Output of 450W.

I’ve already purchased an AMD Ryzen 5 9600X CPU, and 32GB of DDR5 RAM (like most, I’m gutted to have missed out on the lower prices, but have bitten the bullet and gone ahead). I went for the ‘Kingston FURY Beast EXPO 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C36 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit – White', as OC have it on a good discount at time of writing.

I plan to buy the rest of the components ASAP and would be grateful for advice on the following:

Motherboard: Main criteria are that I want to be able to fit a higher spec Ryzen chip in the future, like the Ryzen 9, and I imagine the commonly seen, four memory slots would be enough for my needs also. I would like plenty of capacity for future SSD storage, and support for a minimum of 3 monitors. My old PC has a WiFi card, but I doubt the connections are still current (if it helps, the motherboard is an MS-7658 VER:1.1), so WiFi is probably needed. Apart from that, it would be good to have plenty of USB sockets and lastly (although this isn’t a deal-breaker) it would be handy to have at least two monitor outputs, so I can make use of the CPU's onboard graphics while I save up for a dedicated GPU!

At time of writing, the CPU is still out for delivery so does anyone know if it comes with the necessary cooling and paste and, if not, what would be the approximate cost for buying these?

Usage: I’m not much of a gamer; if I do play anything it tends to be retro stuff. The main use will be general productivity but also video editing. My requirements may change over the next few years so I’m keen to make it as upgradeable as possible to ‘future proof’ it, as much as I can anyway!

I don’t know much about the latest components but from what I've seen, I’m thinking a budget of £150-200 for the Motherboard, but willing to pay a bit more if it makes it last longer in terms of future upgradeability. Does that sound sensible?

Any other sundries, like the cooling solution and paste, I’m not sure what these would cost but I’m guessing a little under £100 for a typical setup?

Would my PSU be powerful enough for all this, taking into account future upgrades? If not what should I expect to pay for an upgraded one which supports the above requirements please?

Lastly, thanks for reading!

 

[Tetras]

At time of writing, the CPU is still out for delivery so does anyone know if it comes with the necessary cooling and paste and, if not, what would be the approximate cost for buying these?

I'm afraid not. The non-X does, but the X CPUs don't have coolers in the box for AM5. What size cooler can your case take? I'm thinking mainly about the height.

I don’t know much about the latest components but from what I've seen, I’m thinking a budget of £150-200 for the Motherboard, but willing to pay a bit more if it makes it last longer in terms of future upgradeability. Does that sound sensible?

Main criteria are that I want to be able to fit a higher spec Ryzen chip in the future, like the Ryzen 9

Most of the boards will support a Ryzen 9, but they can get a little toasty on the cheap-end. I'd suggest MSI's B850 Tomahawk Max or Asus B850 TUF-Plus, which both have strong VRMs and slotted in near the top in HUB's thermal testing (here). The non-MAX Tomahawk did alright and is below budget, the other boards I suggested are mildly above.

I would like plenty of capacity for future SSD storage, and support for a minimum of 3 monitors.

3x outputs is kind of rare, except when a Type-C is used (mainly with USB4 on X870 boards). The MSI boards only have 1 (HDMI), the TUF has DP and HDMI. Funnily enough, 2x DP, 1 HDMI is a semi-common config on Micro-ATX boards, I guess 'cos they expect them to be used for office/HDTV purposes, whereas an ATX board it is assumed will use a dGPU instead.

Storage, are you referring to SATA ports or M.2 slots? Boards in your price range will usually have 3x M.2 and 4x SATA ports. X870/X870E may have more, but there's often lane/bandwidth sharing involved.

Any other sundries, like the cooling solution and paste, I’m not sure what these would cost but I’m guessing a little under £100 for a typical setup?

A £30 peerless assassin can cool all of the AM5 CPUs, but I don't know if it would fit in your case. Fans: that depends on the graphics card you fit later. I'd want a minimum of 1x 120mm intake and 1x 120mm exhaust, but if you're going higher-end like a 9070 XT or 5070 Ti, then more cooling would be helpful for overall system temps. I suspect your old case won't be ideal for cooling and will need modding to fit enough/larger enough fans, with the PSU replaced when the graphics card is fitted.

Would my PSU be powerful enough for all this, taking into account future upgrades? If not what should I expect to pay for an upgraded one which supports the above requirements please?

From what I can find online, it looks like it has:
24 pin motherboard
4 pin CPU
6 pin graphics

That may work, but is not a PSU I'd buy on purpose.

I'd expect at least 1x 8 pin EPS12v for the CPU and 1x 8 pin PCIE for the graphics, which suggests this is old/dated unit. I think it is still standard ATX though (a lot of OEMs use proprietary parts that can't be replaced except with their own).

I can't recommend a replacement without knowing if it is definitely not proprietary and what (ballpark) graphics card you plan to use. Generically, if you're getting a lower-end card like an nvidia 4060/5050/5060 or AMD 6600/7600 then a decent 550 or 650 PSU is enough. 750/850 has better future utility, especially with you thinking about a Ryzen 9 in the future.

Something like this would suit almost any upgrade, but note it is 10mm longer than your current PSU:

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x MSI MPG A850G ATX 3.1 PCIe 5.1 850W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-00Y-MS) = £104.99

Total: £108.98 (includes delivery: £3.99)​

 

[Rob 540]

I'm afraid not. The non-X does, but the X CPUs don't have coolers in the box for AM5. What size cooler can your case take? I'm thinking mainly about the height.

Case height is about 450mm; it's a hefty old thing - the current CPU fan is pretty big (it has a large funnel-shaped cone attached, which is about 120mm across). If you're talking about the height of the fan above the CPU, i.e. from the plane on which the motherboard sits to the side of the case, it would be around 150-160mm. Two additional fans on the top of the case, which are also 120mm. I'll try to get some pics attached...

Most of the boards will support a Ryzen 9, but they can get a little toasty on the cheap-end. I'd suggest MSI's B850 Tomahawk Max or Asus B850 TUF-Plus, which both have strong VRMs and slotted in near the top in HUB's thermal testing (here). The non-MAX Tomahawk did alright and is below budget, the other boards I suggested are mildly above.

3x outputs is kind of rare, except when a Type-C is used (mainly with USB4 on X870 boards). The MSI boards only have 1 (HDMI), the TUF has DP and HDMI. Funnily enough, 2x DP, 1 HDMI is a semi-common config on Micro-ATX boards, I guess 'cos they expect them to be used for office/HDTV purposes, whereas an ATX board it is assumed will use a dGPU instead.

Apologies, I should have been clearer - I meant support 3 monitors with a graphics card. If this is common, then no worries but as I said, I'm really out of touch with the latest components. Thanks for the recommendations; I'll look into the 'slightly above budget' ones in more detail and make a choice. As I said, I can stretch a bit for a better component.

Storage, are you referring to SATA ports or M.2 slots? Boards in your price range will usually have 3x M.2 and 4x SATA ports. X870/X870E may have more, but there's often lane/bandwidth sharing involved.

Not familiar with 'M.2', but my current setup has a couple of HDDs and one SSD which are connected via SATA, so the above sounds like it would allow me to continue using them (I'd like to do this at least for a while as I'm trying to minimise my initial outlay).

A £30 peerless assassin can cool all of the AM5 CPUs, but I don't know if it would fit in your case. Fans: that depends on the graphics card you fit later. I'd want a minimum of 1x 120mm intake and 1x 120mm exhaust, but if you're going higher-end like a 9070 XT or 5070 Ti, then more cooling would be helpful for overall system temps. I suspect your old case won't be ideal for cooling and will need modding to fit enough/larger enough fans, with the PSU replaced when the graphics card is fitted.

Hopefully the photos will help; like I said it's quite a hefty old case and it looks to me (although I'm no expert) like it's big enough to take an EATX board. I'm hoping this will be large enough to allow extra cooling if needed in the future?

From what I can find online, it looks like it has:
24 pin motherboard
4 pin CPU
6 pin graphics

That may work, but is not a PSU I'd buy on purpose.

I'd expect at least 1x 8 pin EPS12v for the CPU and 1x 8 pin PCIE for the graphics, which suggests this is old/dated unit. I think it is still standard ATX though (a lot of OEMs use proprietary parts that can't be replaced except with their own).

I can't recommend a replacement without knowing if it is definitely not proprietary and what (ballpark) graphics card you plan to use. Generically, if you're getting a lower-end card like an nvidia 4060/5050/5060 or AMD 6600/7600 then a decent 550 or 650 PSU is enough. 750/850 has better future utility, especially with you thinking about a Ryzen 9 in the future.

Something like this would suit almost any upgrade, but note it is 10mm longer than your current PSU:

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x MSI MPG A850G ATX 3.1 PCIe 5.1 850W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-00Y-MS) = £104.99

Total: £108.98 (includes delivery: £3.99)​

Thanks for the advice on this too. Think I'll go for a new PSU; the last thing I want is to overload all my new components and toast them!
In terms of the extra 10mm, I've also attached a photo - looks like I have a bit of space to play with.

Addendum: OK I give up, is there a way to attach photos? Cheers!

 

[Tetras]

Apologies, I should have been clearer - I meant support 3 monitors with a graphics card. If this is common, then no worries but as I said, I'm really out of touch with the latest components.

Yeah, almost all cards will have 3x or more outputs, unless you're going very low-end. Watch out for 2x HDMI on recent AMD cards though, see here.

If you're talking about the height of the fan above the CPU, i.e. from the plane on which the motherboard sits to the side of the case, it would be around 150-160mm.

Yeah, I meant that one. A peerless assassin is ~155mm.

You could get an unused stock cooler from somewhere if you wanted, though they're not ideal.

Not familiar with 'M.2', but my current setup has a couple of HDDs and one SSD which are connected via SATA, so the above sounds like it would allow me to continue using them (I'd like to do this at least for a while as I'm trying to minimise my initial outlay).

M.2 is the new standard, they're like a little stick and plug directly into the board, so no power/data cables to bother with. SATA drives are rare now and not easy to find good ones.

Hopefully the photos will help; like I said it's quite a hefty old case and it looks to me (although I'm no expert) like it's big enough to take an EATX board. I'm hoping this will be large enough to allow extra cooling if needed in the future?

The size isn't necessarily meaningful, what you want are fan mounts, but if it has 2x 120mm in the roof I expect you're fine on that front.

In terms of the extra 10mm, I've also attached a photo - looks like I have a bit of space to play with.

On old cases with top-mounted PSUs, the main problem with longer models is usually a clash with the DVD/optical bays.

Addendum: OK I give up, is there a way to attach photos? Cheers!

I'm not sure, the one I used to suggest is banned in the UK now

 

[Rob 540]

Shame about the photos; thanks a lot for all the advice. My PSU is mounted at the bottom and loads of space between it and the drive bays, so should be fine. I'll let you know what I end up with! Noted what you say about SATA...

 

[freddie64]

Use imgbox for your pics.