Upgrade but on a budget

slothmeister · 27 Apr 2021 at 12:35

Hello you helpful bunch, i've got a machine that i need to make some necessary upgrades to but i don't have a large budget at all, only about £500

I will need a new case, but don't care what it looks like as it's going to live under a desk, i don't care for RGB at all but i don't want a huge case.

I have a LG 34" ultrawide 4K monitor so won't need to upgrade that, but would like to be able to play full screen if possible, i am aware that this might not be possible with that budget though.

I also have a 10th gen i5 - not entirely sure on the model at the moment so won't need to upgrade just yet.

I have 16GB RAM at the moment but that's with 4x4GB sticks

My current graphics card is only a gtx740

So effectively all i need to be specc'd for is:
New Case + fans
Power Supply
Motherboard with 4 RAM slots, or I can look at replacing ram if not available.
Graphics Card

Please can you help, although i'm aware that now might be the best time to be looking for a new card, but if i know what model to look for i can keep my eyes out.

mickyflinn · 27 Apr 2021 at 13:09

With your budget you would have about £300 to £350 to spend on a gpu and unlikely you would be able to play 4k gaming but you can dowscale the resoloution.

Here is one option.

E My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x MSI B460M PRO-VDH WIFI (Socket LGA 1200) DDR4 Micro-ATX Motherboard= £96.95
1 x be quiet! System Power 9 600W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply= £64.99
1 x Aerocool Aero One Mini Eclipse ARGB Micro- ATX Case - Black Tempered Glass= £49.99

Total: £224.23 (includes shipping: £12.30)

Kurgen · 27 Apr 2021 at 13:15

have i missed something, why are you replacing your existing motherboard

ninjag · 27 Apr 2021 at 13:19

Press Windows+Pause on the keyboard and it should show your processor model under Device Specifications.

If it helps, I run a 34" ultrawide at 4k on a GTX1660 Super and games such as Total War Shogun 2 etc run a max settings nice and smooth as do many other slightly older games and those which are slightly less demanding. The latest and greatest may need settings reduced a little although Zombie Army 4 and Metro Exodus seemed fine at high settings. I can't get Ray Tracing though. When stocks return to normal this card should be more than within any remaining budget, it's done me good for sure.

slothmeister · 27 Apr 2021 at 14:12

Kurgen said:
have i missed something, why are you replacing your existing motherboard

My current case is a mini-ITX and i wanted a slightly bigger case so that i could get a larger graphics card, i assumed that a micro-atx motherboard wouldn't fit into a bigger case

Kurgen · 27 Apr 2021 at 19:36

slothmeister said:
My current case is a mini-ITX and i wanted a slightly bigger case so that i could get a larger graphics card, i assumed that a micro-atx motherboard wouldn't fit into a bigger case

your all over the place with your sizes.... if your case is mini ITX then a micro ATX board wouldnt fit in it . unless u cut the side off. If your getting an new mid tower Case then full ATX and MATX and ITX motherboard will fit. also i doubt you have an ITX case as you said you had 4 ram modules and there arent any ITX boards with 4 ram slots... so reading between it all... you have a MATX case and MATX board. this will fit fine in a Mid Tower ATX case .

do you also need a new PSU, the current one might be fine? any idea of model