Upgrade challenge for gifted second hand PC

[Jaammesss]

Hi,

Apologies as am fairly new to all of this. My friend has very kindly gifted me most of an old gaming PC and I'm considering upgrading it but I'm wondering if its too old to make it worth it.

If I'm going to spend a bit of money I'd like something that can run games at 1440p including shooters at reasonable frame rates or games such as the total war series, which I have a feeling might be a bit of a stretch for the current computer so I'd accept 1080p if that's all that is going to be possible.

Budget would be £600 if re-using parts , but would be willing to spend up to £1000 if I could guarantee it would be able to be upgradable in the future.

This is what is in the current PC:
Motherboard: Asrock OC Z97M Formula
CPU: Intel i5 2500k
RAM: 2x HyperX 4GB 512M x 64-Bit DDR3-1600. HX316C10FR/4
Case: Node 804 Micro-ATX computer Case.

So even assuming its worth reusing any of these parts I would need a PSU, GPU, SSD/ HDD.
Happy to consider all options including upgrading some, but not all, or just buying completely fresh. Also happy to consider options for the cheapest way I could get this

I have a monitor (up to 1440p), mouse and keyboard that I can use already.

Interested to hear all options really!

 

[Deleted member 77746]

Budget would be £600 if re-using parts , but would be willing to spend up to £1000 if I could guarantee it would be able to be upgradable in the future.

Right here is the important part. That’s enough cash for a brand new build lol

 

[atomixers]

Right here is the important part. That’s enough cash for a brand new build lol

Totally.

Consign the old parts to tinkering/soldering practice/museum status and reuse the Fractal Node 804 if you want to stay within the limits of mATX.
It's not a bad little case but you'll find a lot less choice when looking mATX or ITX motherboards.

For 1440p gaming you're going to want a fairly decnet GPU, which would take up a large chunk of your £600 minimum spend. If prepared to drop to 1080p then you could increase your options elsewhere.
How about looking at something like this as a starting point to get an idea of whats possible.
My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x ASUS TUF B450M-Plus Gaming (Socket AM4) DDR4 MATX Motherboard= £83.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core 4.2GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £218.99
• 1 x Corsair RM Series RM650 650W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020194-UK)= £87.95
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX Black 16GB (2x8GB) 3600 MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4 Memory Dual Kit= £79.99
• 1 x Crucial MX500 500GB SATA 2.5-inch SATA 6.0Gb/s 7mm Solid State Drive= £79.99

Total: £562.01 (includes shipping: £11.10)



It's no definitive list, and I'm sure other AMD experts could provide better specific parts advice but that sort of component list, with a suitable GPU would give you a decent platform to build on.​

 

[Kelt]

For the love of whatever god you may or may not believe in, if you have a grand to spend then buy a new computer and put the one you've been given in the great PC dumpster in the sky.

 

[atomixers]

A Geforce 1660 Super if you could find it close to £200 when added to the build I posted above would be a decent build for around £750ish

 

[Jaammesss]

Hi all,

Thanks for the advice. Very much taken on board.

That build looks like a good one for the budget so will seriously consider that.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

Hi all,

Thanks for the advice. Very much taken on board.

That build looks like a good one for the budget so will seriously consider that.

Do you REALLY need a new machine and spend all that money?

 

[EsaT]

1 x ASUS TUF B450M-Plus Gaming (Socket AM4) DDR4 MATX Motherboard= £83.99

That board is brand hype trash for the price with MSI B50M Mortar having lot better CPU VRM actually capable to supporting all advertised CPUs and having lot better upgrade options.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/msi-b450m-mortar-max-socket-am4-ddr4-matx-motherboard-mb-348-ms.html